Delivering Your Presentation: Coach or class?

Choosing between a coach and a class

If you want personalized instruction (and can afford about $1,200 to $3,000 a day for the service), there are dozens of professional presentation coaches and consultants who will come into your business and work with you or a group of your co-workers to help you polish skills or prepare for a big presentation.

Some coaches also offer something the Communispond, Decker and Dale Carnegie courses don't: expert advice on presentation technology, tips for using technology to create and deliver presentations, and custom designed services to help you create eye-popping computer-based presentation slides.

Some of the top coaches in the country include Tom Mucciolo (212.682.2250), Claudyne Wilder (617.524.7172), Diane Booher (800.342.6621) and Jan D'Arcy (206.881.3098), but there are many others. Some coaches, such as Tom Mucciolo, offer reasonably priced one-day public seminars as well as one-on-one training.

If you don't have the time or money to hire a pro, the next best option is to attend one of the presentation skills courses reviewed here.