Communication skills
At your home, or on video from anywhere in the world.
From $130 a session by video, $180 at your home.
55 minutes, one to one · Veterans and first responders save 15%
Communication skills coaching that starts where most communication actually breaks down: listening. We work on how you are heard and how well you hear — in hard conversations, in meetings, with the people closest to you, and in front of a room. We talk about listening properly before you answer, saying the difficult thing clearly and kindly, staying steady when a conversation turns, giving and taking feedback, running a meeting, and public speaking — which is one conversation with a room instead of one person, and the same underlying skill.
Sessions are practical: we work on real conversations and presentations you have coming up, practise them, then look at how they actually went. It suits people whose ideas are good and who keep losing them in the delivery, and anyone who dreads speaking up. One to one, fifty-five minutes, by video, or at your home in Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area. By video, a single session is $130, or take a block of four ($495), eight ($935) or twelve ($1,325) — the longer the block, the less each session costs, down to $110. At your home it is $180 a session, with blocks from $695. Veterans and first responders get 15% off.
Does this sound like you?
- Your ideas are good and you keep losing them in the delivery.
- You dread speaking up.
- A conversation turns and you lose your footing.
- You have a talk or a presentation coming up.
Communication is one skill in many rooms.
Speaking to a room is one conversation with many people instead of one, and it is the same underlying skill. So we do not teach tricks for presentations and separate tricks for difficult talks. We work on the one thing underneath: listening properly, then saying what you mean in a way the other person can hear.
It starts with listening. Being understood comes second.
Where it shows up
- One to oneListening before you answer. Saying the difficult thing clearly and kindly.
- When it turnsStaying steady when a conversation gets harder than you planned.
- FeedbackGiving it and taking it without it becoming a fight.
- MeetingsRunning one, and speaking up in one.
- A roomPublic speaking, as one conversation with a lot of people.
How we approach it
Listening comes first.
Most of us are working out our reply while the other person is still talking. We start by training the other half of the conversation.
Practise the real thing.
Not a role from a textbook. The conversation or presentation you actually have coming up, said out loud in the session.
Look at how it went.
After the real conversation, we look at what happened, not what you feared would. Then you leave with one small thing to do next.
The techniques, by name.
- Say It Back
- listening properly before you answer
- Say the Hard Thing Kindly
- saying the difficult thing clearly and kindly
- Hold Steady
- staying on course when a conversation turns
- Feedback Both Ways
- giving and taking feedback
- One Room, One Conversation
- public speaking as one conversation with a room
What a session looks like
- 1Before
Pick the one thing to work on, properly. A short note to us is plenty.
- 2The hour
Fifty-five minutes, one to one. Plain talk about what we see, and the real conversation said out loud.
- 3After
One small thing to do before the next session, then a look at how it went.
Pick One · Plain Talk · Run It Out Loud · How It Went · The Scoreboard · The Move How a session runs →
People whose ideas are good and who keep losing them in the delivery, and anyone who dreads speaking up.
A classroom course. This is one to one, built around your real conversations and presentations.
What it costs
- 4 sessions · $174 each$695
- 8 sessions · $167 each$1,335
- 12 sessions · $160 each$1,925
- 4 sessions · $124 each$495
- 8 sessions · $117 each$935
- 12 sessions · $110 each$1,325
Mix and match, every other week at home: 4 sessions $595, 8 sessions $1,135, 12 sessions $1,625. Veterans and first responders, 15% off everything. All prices →
Questions about communication skills
Is this public speaking training or communication skills training?
Both, and they are more connected than they look. Public speaking is the same underlying skill — being clear, and reading a room — aimed at more people at once. If a talk or presentation is the immediate thing, we work on that directly.
What does a communication coach actually do?
Works with you, one to one, on the specific place communication is breaking down — a relationship, a meeting, a stage — starting with listening and then moving to being understood.
I am not bad at talking. I am bad at listening. Is that still communication skills?
That is most of the work, for most people. Being understood is the second half; almost everyone needs the first half more.
Can this help with a specific presentation or talk I have coming up?
Yes. We will work the actual talk — structure, delivery, the room you are speaking to — alongside the broader skill.
How is this different from a public speaking course?
A course teaches a room of people the same material. This is one to one, built around your actual situation, and it includes the listening half that most public speaking training skips entirely.
Talk to us about communication skills.
Call or text (510) 770-6169, or email info@glcoachingsc.com. A free 30-minute call, by phone or video.