Michaela Ablon is a public speaking coach who helps her clients to communicate with clarity, authority, and poise. Leaders who captivate their busy and distracted audiences by messaging with warmth, expression, and purpose engender loyalty and results.
Michaela’s philosophy is simple: Speak well; be heard.
Education, Training and Qualifications
Michaela holds a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology and Change Leadership, and a certificate in the Principles and Practices of Organizational Development, both from Columbia University. Her background combines a performing arts undergraduate degree with 20+ years of professional achievement in the for- and not-for-profit sectors. Michaela is a long-serving trustee of The Field, an organization that provides strategic services for performing artists and their companies in New York City and beyond.
Clients and Sectors
As an organizational psychologist, Michaela challenges clients to think critically, systematically, and holistically. She guides speakers to recognize interpersonal and group dynamics, distill their impact, and navigate them successfully. Michaela’s clients appreciate her warmth, accessibility, humor, flexibility, pragmatic nature, and efficacy. Clients include for- and not-for-profit enterprise leaders and managers, work teams, and boards of directors, including those affiliated with:
- Hearst
- The Bank of New York Mellon
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- Sears/K-Mart
- First Aid Beauty
- Alison Lou
- Maggy Frances
- HBFIT
- The Met
- Parks Fine Art
- Culture for One
- Independent Schools in New York and Pennsylvania
Coaching Method
Whether leading an organization, managing a team, or presenting on a special occasion, speaking with clarity and style will make you stand out. Yet many of us dread speaking in public. Managing these anxieties can have profound implications for our well-being and work, and result in improved performance.
Public speaking is a skill, not a talent. Michaela employs her breadth of experience in business and creative writing to help clients produce presentations that inform and engage, and prepares clients to achieve ease and dynamism in front of audiences of one to one thousand.
Her method is three-pronged. She helps clients to achieve their objectives by adapting the way they communicate to meet the needs of their audience; she coaches clients to present themselves with polish and compelling authenticity; and Michaela prepares clients to shine for high-stakes presentations, conversations, and occasions. As the saying goes, Life is not a dress rehearsal, so professional opportunities should not be either!
In order to build a new paradigm for public speaking and integrate it through practice, an initial 1:1 coaching engagement with Michaela is three to five one-hour sessions:
- Session 1: Explore your personal style, strengths, challenges and needs with regard to communication and public speaking
- Session 2: Build up your repertoire for public speaking with regard to organization of content and public speaking technique
- Session 3: Coach your performance by working with material previously delivered in public or material you are developing
- Optional Sessions 4 and 5: Some clients want more time to integrate and opt for an extended initial engagement
Michaela is available for single sessions with established clients.
Professional Development Workshops
Communication within and across teams is one of the greatest challenges of contemporary work life. Michaela offers workshops to help groups and teams communicate more effectively, manage workflow better, and collaborate cross-enterprise with teams from other domains. Examples include helping design and marketing teams partner more effectively in product development, preparing a diverse cohort of emerging and mid-career professionals to move into leadership, and helping managers and creatives develop a shared vision and vocabulary.
A public speaking workshop ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours in length. Team communication, collaboration, and workflow workshops range from half-day to full-day in length.