Yes, every Vocal Power program runs online. You work live with Earl Sky over Zoom, one-to-one or as a team, from anywhere in the world, and you start with a free consultation to decide what fits.
What "online" means here
Most online public speaking courses are a set of videos and a quiz. That can teach you the theory, but it cannot hear you. Speaking is a physical skill: breath, pace, volume, posture, what your hands do when you lose your place. Somebody has to watch you do it and tell you what they see.
So online training at Vocal Power is live. You speak, Earl listens and watches, stops you, and has you do it again differently. It is the same coaching as an in-person session. The only thing that changes is that the room is a video call.
Earl has been earning a living with his voice for more than 30 years: as a broadcast journalist with CBC Radio and City TV, as an announcer and voice-over artist, and as an instructor in the broadcasting and public speaking programs at Humber College. A microphone and a camera are his home ground, which is a useful thing in an online coach.
Your options online
| Option | Best for | Format |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one coaching | One person with a goal: a presentation on a date, nerves, a voice you want to change | Private one-hour sessions, booked as many as you need |
| Corporate training | A team that presents, briefs and runs meetings | Virtual, on-site in the Toronto area, or a hybrid of both |
| Media training | Executives, founders and spokespeople facing interviews, podcasts or cameras | Mock interviews and live drills, including at short notice |
| Teen program | Ages 12 to 18 | Small groups, with online sessions for families outside the Toronto area |
| Free workshop | Anyone who wants to see how Earl teaches before booking | A live Zoom session, no cost |
What happens in an online session
There is no fixed curriculum, because two people rarely need the same thing. A first session usually starts with you speaking: a few minutes of a real presentation, or simply telling Earl about your work. From there the session goes where your delivery needs it to go.
- Voice: breathing from the diaphragm, projection, pace, and getting emotion into a voice that tends to go flat.
- Delivery: eye contact with a lens, gestures that fit a camera frame, and standing rather than slumping behind a desk.
- Structure: an opening and a close you know cold, and a middle that is easy to follow.
- Nerves: what to do in the minutes before you speak, and in the moment your mind goes blank.
- Practice with feedback: you try it, you hear what worked, you try it again. Most of the hour is you speaking.
Video feedback has always been part of how Earl coaches. Online, it comes built in: you can see your own delivery while you speak, and you can record a run-through and watch it back afterwards.
What you need
- A laptop or desktop with a working camera and microphone. A phone works in a pinch, but a bigger screen is easier.
- A quiet room where you will not be interrupted for an hour.
- Space to stand up. Standing changes your energy and your voice, so we would rather you were not wedged behind a desk.
- The material you are working on, if there is any: slides, notes, a speech draft, the job description for an interview.
Is online as good as in person?
For most of what people come to work on, yes. And for a lot of it, online is the more honest rehearsal. If your hardest speaking moments are video meetings, client calls, recorded interviews or webinars, practising on video is practising the real thing.
Online is also easier to keep up. Progress in public speaking comes from repetition, and a standing weekly hour is much easier to protect when it is a link rather than a drive across the city.
There are times when the room matters: rehearsing a keynote on a real stage, or a team that wants a full day together. In-person coaching is available in the Toronto area, and corporate programs can run on-site or as a hybrid. If you are not sure which you need, ask on the consultation call.
Who this suits
- Professionals who present to clients, boards or their own teams and want to sound more confident doing it.
- People with a specific date coming up: a conference talk, a pitch, a job interview, a wedding speech.
- Anyone outside the Toronto area, in Canada or elsewhere, who wants to work with Earl without travelling.
- Teams spread across offices, or working remotely, who need training in the medium they already use.
- Parents looking for an online option for a teenager aged 12 to 18.
How to start
- 1Book a free consultation and tell us what you are preparing for, and by when.
- 2We will suggest a format: one-to-one, team, teen group, or the free workshop as a first step.
- 3Book your first session. One-to-one coaching is booked an hour at a time, so you decide how many you need.