ABOUT AMANDA
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I love to empower experts and transform the way they approach and experience public speaking. I want them to have much more ease, power, and joy.
I have coached a wide variety of folks - scientists, entrepreneurs, executives, activists, lawyers, doctors, students, brides, grooms, artists, a mountain climber, and even a top dog trainer. Clients have appeared on The Today Show, Dr. Oz, and regularly on the cooking shows America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.
I wrote Your Guide to Public Speaking - Build Your Confidence, Find Your Voice, Inspire Your Audience so I could share all I've learned so far as a coach and performer. You can grab a copy where books are sold - including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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I got my start on the East Coast, where I founded
Boston Public Speaking. I love coaching and leading workshops on both coasts. Hello frequent flier miles!
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SO WHAT'S MY STORY?
I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN PERFORMANCE
I received my MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School and I've acted in films, plays, and commercials.
I'm also a co-founder and teacher at San Diego Acting Classes. My very talented husband, Art, and I run this together and have a blast. I've also taught acting at the Film/TV Department at Boston University, New York Film Academy, The Huntington Theatre Company and at Boston Acting Classes (a studio my husband and I ran for two decades).
B E L L R O C K
S E D O N A , A R I Z O N A
HAVE I EVER STRUGGLED WITH NERVES?
​​YES ! I was very shy as a child. Avoiding drawing attention to myself, I lost myself in my books and art projects.
Gradually, I became more extroverted and began to enjoy performing. I loved the experience of making others laugh, the rush of performance and I found the craft of acting fascinating.
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There were people you could not take your eyes off of. Powerful, real, moving - they made audiences lean forward in their cozy seats. What were they doing? I was determined to find out.
However, while in grad school for acting figuring this out, I started struggling with performance anxiety. I kept thinking that if I received more and more acting training, my confidence would go up and my nerves would calm down. Alas...
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Post grad school, I was performing in plays, commercials and films. During the run of one particular new play, things became very uncomfortable for me. At first glance, everything was great! The show opened - I had a comedic part that was a fantastic fit for me, wonderful audience response and terrific reviews.
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However, every day before the show, I was overcome with stomach pain. Taking antacids didn't ease my distress. I decided that I must have ongoing food poisoning. Yet, my husband was eating the exact same things as me and was perfectly well. Hmmm..
After suffering in agony for much of the run of the play, I finally had to admit to myself, that despite the fact that I had years of training and performing under my belt, I had STAGE FRIGHT.
W H A T ?!?
This terrible feeling of butterflies punching me in the stomach was robbing me of my joy.
I also realized that the process of managing performance anxiety was its own skill set, separate from the acting training I had received.
Determined to face this STRESS head-on, I read all I could and experimented with various strategies, many of which were immensely helpful.​
I am excited to share what I have learned with you, so you won't hate butterflies and will not allow fear to limit you.
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SO I GET IT, I'VE BEEN THERE!
READY TO FACE YOUR NERVES? LET'S CONNECT!