Public speaking coaching for keynotes, panels, pitches and presentations
Speech writing, delivery and stage presence, coached by an Emmy Award-winning journalist. One-on-one or for teams of any size. In person in Los Angeles, virtual anywhere or on site where you are.
Facing a reporter instead of a room? See media training.
Who this is for
Executives and founders with a keynote, pitch or all-hands coming up. Experts, authors and advocates stepping onto a panel. Teams that need to present with one message. Job seekers and students preparing for job, college and scholarship interviews. First-time speakers and people who do this every week.
Olivia leads every session herself, one-on-one or with your team, and you spend most of it on your feet.
What you walk out with
- A talk with a clear structure and an opening that lands
- A breathing and warm-up routine that steadies nerves
- A recorded rehearsal with playback and notes
- A written plan for your next practice run
What happens in a session
You practice the way you'll perform. Deliver, get notes, go again.
- Message and structureWhat you want the room to remember, built into an opening, a middle that moves and a close people repeat.
- Speech writingDrafting and tightening your remarks so they sound like you talking, not you reading.
- DeliveryVoice, pace, pauses and breathing, plus how to use notes or a teleprompter without losing the audience.
- PresenceBody language, eye contact, where to stand and what to do with your hands.
- Slides and visualsWhat to cut, what to keep and how to talk over a screen instead of reading it.
- Rehearsal on cameraTimed run-throughs with playback so you see what the audience sees.
Packages
Every program is customized. These are the shapes most clients start from.
- Speaker Ready1 to 2 hoursFor anyone with a keynote, panel, pitch or important presentation coming up. Message and structure, delivery and body language, breathing and vocal technique, and a timed rehearsal with notes.
- Speaker IntensiveHalf or full dayFor executives, founders and experts preparing for a high-stakes presentation or major stage. Everything in Speaker Ready, plus story development, slide review, recorded rehearsals with playback and a written action plan.
- Team Presentation WorkshopHalf or full dayFor leadership and client-facing teams that want a consistent message and stronger presence. A shared presentation framework, individual coaching and live group practice.
- Interview Prep1 to 2 hoursFor job seekers, career changers and students heading into job, college or scholarship interviews. How to tell your story, answer tough questions and walk in calm, with a recorded mock interview and notes.
- Ongoing CoachingMonthly or as neededA trusted coach between engagements. We sharpen new talks, rehearse before major stages and review past presentations so each one lands better than the last.
Book Olivia to speak
Keynotes and panels
Olivia speaks and moderates on AI, journalism, storytelling, the future of media, ethical AI for storytellers, deepfakes and trust in news, how to talk about AI on camera, AI in the newsroom and how to get camera-ready in the AI era. She brings a journalist's eye and two decades inside newsrooms and tech.
Workshops for your event
Hands-on sessions for conferences, retreats and company offsites, for groups of any size. In person anywhere in the U.S. or abroad, or virtual.
Recent speaking
- Moderator, OpenAI journalism panel
- Panelist, ETHOS LIVE at USC: Privacy in the Age of Agentic AI
- Keynote speaker, Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference
- Workshop leader, USC Fight On! PR event
- Workshop leader, United Nations
Formats
Hourly, half-day, full-day or multi-day. One-on-one, teams or groups of any size. In person across Los Angeles, virtual anywhere or on site where you are.
Interview coming up?
Press and on-camera interviews are their own craft.
See media training and on-camera coaching.
Who leads it
Olivia Smith leads every training. She is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with experience at organizations like ABC News, Good Morning America, CNN, 60 Minutes and Meta, and a professor at USC Annenberg, where she has spent years teaching students to present with clarity. She has worked on both sides of the camera: on air for ABC News and Good Morning America and behind the camera as ABC7's first Executive Producer of Next Generation Storytelling, where she led a team of on-air reporters. Co-founder Michael Murray, an Emmy Award-winning journalist whose career spans outlets like ABC News, World News Tonight and ESPN, builds each program alongside her.
"Olivia is a pro! It was great to work with someone so prepared and detail oriented. She fully understood our organization's mission and priorities, which made it so easy for our spokespeople."Erika Guzman Cornejo, Press Manager, California Environmental Voters
Start with a 15-minute call
Tell us what's on the calendar.
We'll tell you how we'd get you ready for it.