Testimonials

Presentation Skills Class

"In my career as an advance clinical practitioner working in administration, my biggest struggle has been with enunciation and grammar. However, during the "Successfully Speaking" course I have learned so much about how to speak with different tones, calming nervousness, subject-verb agreement, adding "s" to the endings of words when appropriate and creating PowerPoint presentations (writing and presenting). Many of the techniques Mrs. Lynda taught in class are simple and easy to incorporate into your daily professional lives. Mrs. Lynda has a very neutral, engaging way of teaching and interacting with the class, no matter your professional status or your comfort level. I think that many LBH employees can benefit, as I have."

Tamika Gladney RN-BC, MSN, CNS
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Acute Care Services

"Before taking this class I was not confident when public speaking or presenting to large groups of people. I became nervous and awkward. I really didn’t know how it felt to “own the room.” Now I feel much more confident and secure and have the tools to handle anxiety and fear. Peer review and videotaping was effective for me and provided me the opportunity to improve each week and work on my verbal and visual skills. The techniques and skills that I developed will definitely help me to present my ideas and data in a more effective way and help to portray a positive image for my profession and workplace."

Mary C. Wallace RN, BSN, CIC
Manager, Infection Prevention and Control
Northwest Hospital

Business Communication Skills

"Your Successfully Speaking class has been sometimes tough on me but I am amazed how often I remember things right before a meeting or a presentation, such as: 'project your voice', 'collect your talking points before you walk in a meeting room', 'use the correct intonation', 'loosen and relax your jaw and mouth', 'vowels make the sound not consonants' etc. I am the best student in taking a class, passing the final test and then forgetting everything within two months. For whatever reason I keep unpacking what you taught me and every word still looks like a wave to me. Last year, we renovated and added on to our house. ...........the architect asked if he could send the renovation to HGTV. They are now coming after they made sure that my wife's and my voice are suitable for a TV show. We went through two telephone interviews and two short videos. I am sure your class helped because I remembered to work my voice and give the best technical explanation."

Armin Groeschel
Director of Finance
Atapco Properties, Inc.

"Language modification is a great tool for professionals like myself who are looking to be part of the American Dream. The key to a successful career still remains the ability to communicate, not only well but clearly and effectively. Keep up the good work."

Mansour Mbaye, CSR
Signature Flight Support
Washington Dulles Airport

"After taking the Successfully Speaking Sessions with Lynda Katz Wilner I could see a big improvement in my awareness of my speech patterns. I’m now able to catch myself when I am speaking and when my subjects and verbs don’t agree. Not only am I catching myself, but I am able to catch others in meetings and public settings. In a very short time she was able to begin correcting my southern accent; with continued practice I am sure that this problem will be corrected.

Lynda is very easy to work with and makes you feel really relaxed during the speech sessions. She was very flexible and really great at accommodating my challenging schedule; she always had a time that worked great for me. Thanks for the great learning experience!"

Lee G.
Supervisor in the Insurance Industry

"I want to thank you for your valuable input and the tips you gave me. My speech at Church on Sunday was very well received and everyone said they loved it. I took your advice and didn't write the speech out.....I thank you again from the bottom of my heart because without your help I don't think my speech would have had the impact on the audience that it did. Everything I said came naturally from me as opposed to being stiffly read from a piece of paper."

Adolph Hanson

"I just wanted to thank you so much again for your presentation to our group. I was at a show last night and I had you in my back pocket. I loved your presentation so very much. It helped me so much and you were such a wonderful teacher and trainer. I felt so confident last night when I was presenting to a group and all the things you talked about came rushing back to my mind. I kept my hands right in the middle of my body and was calm and used my breath and all the other things you talked about. You really made such an impact on me and I know the whole group. Thank you so much again!"

Christine Herrmann
Image Consultant/Manager
Jafra Cosmetics International

"When I began researching professional speaking courses online, I had no idea I would meet such a thoughtful, kind and genuine instructor. I really enjoyed our one-on-one sessions because you truly personalized the course for my needs and target areas. Not only has my diction improved but my confidence has heightened since completing the training course. I would recommend your professional speaking course to anyone looking to improve their verbal communication skills. Your course has truly added value to my life. I look forward to signing up again!"

J. Leigh
Social Insurance Specialist
Social Security Administration

"Lynda is an excellent coach and tailors her approach according to both the needs of the business and the individual client. Her overall partnering skills are excellent, identifying appropriate touch-points throughout the engagement to ensure alignment and focus on skill improvement."

Cecilia P. Matthews
Director, Corporate Capabilities
MedImmune

"Lynda Katz Wilner helped me raise the effectiveness of my verbal and non-verbal business communication which I am pleased to say is generating positive results. Her program is well thought out and systematic, but also customized to work on the skills that I needed to improve upon the most. After she completed a baseline measurement, we focused on the areas that needed the most improvement. She pointed out new strategies at each session that I would work on during my business day or individually. Each session was an opportunity for me to share my results and begin new skill training to achieve new objectives. I highly recommend Successfully Speaking and Lynda Katz Wilner to business professionals who are motivated to improve their communication skills in their professional and personal life."

A.D., Account Executive
Baltimore, MD

"It has been a very good learning experience for me. Sixteen hours of training makes me aware of the areas to focus on, provides the tools and simple solutions to work on, and even improved my performance already in some aspects. I am confident that I will see more benefit in the future as I start applying the techniques and rules learned in this course. Ms. Wilner is very flexible and willing to tailor the training materials and content to meet the individual's immediate needs. She is very resourceful and able to provide useful references and materials for my further development in other areas."

Associate Director of R & D Finance

"I wanted to take the time to thank you for your help these last 7 weeks. I wasn't sure what to think going into this, but wow was it fun. It's unbelievable to see the results from our first session to the last session. I have the tape to prove it. You have transferred my speaking from using word fillers and run on sentences to feeling much more comfortable and relaxed speaking with clients. The pausing and slowing down sends a clean and powerful message. I highly recommend using Lynda for any issues you may have when presenting a speech or for everyday talking."

Greg Stacho
Landscape Designer
Simonds Nursery, Inc

Scientists, Engineers, and Information Technology Professionals

Communication Skills Training

"The Successfully Speaking course provided pragmatic and accessible directions to improve both the structure and delivery of my presentations. The class was also revealing in enabling me to step back from a subject I’m too familiar with, and then structure a talk that makes sense from the audiences perspective."

William Benard, Ph.D.
Cleanroom Manager
Army Research Laboratory

" (The Successfully Speaking course) helps me to increase confidence in communication with people. This class helped me (make) great improvement in attending the Conference and giving two presentations."

Research Scientist
Army Research Laboratory

"At the beginning of the course I could definitely feel butterflies in my stomach when I got up to speak, but as we interacted, my confidence level rose, and I was actually able to successfully defend my Master’s thesis when attending the course. This confidence boost was due to the interactive exercises in the course, and learning how to really prepare for a talk and feel comfortable with the structure and delivery. I would highly recommend! (the Successfully Speaking course)"

Wayne Churaman, M.S.
Electronics Engineer
Army Research Laboratory

"My public speaking skills definitely improved – I learned how to relax before the presentation, how to prepare a speech, create “focus” points within it, and make transitions between parts of presentation. The course provided a lot of useful tips. It helped me to recognize the importance of the “body language” and the “eye-contact” in my daily communications. At the end of the course I have better control of my presentation flow and rhythm. Also, I learned that I have to improve my “voice projection” abilities and literally “train” my voice by practicing special vocal exercises.

What really helped a lot was the ability to see myself from a spectator side by watching video recordings after classes. The course material also provided useful knowledge of what is important for delivering a good presentation – how to organize the material, the number of main ideas and how to keep the audience listening. Every aspect from “body language” to “speech habits” was covered."

Nikolay Ter-Gabrielyan, Ph.D.
Physicist
Army Research Laboratory

" I really enjoyed the class. I would like to take it again in the future so I can see if I have been able to successfully implement all the skills discussed in class.....I am more aware of the issues I need to address in order to become an effective public speaker. I have specific areas to focus on when preparing a speech. I hope that I will be able to apply the skills I’ve learned in this class to all of my future presentations which will increase my ability to advance within the organization."

Amy Finch, Ph.D.
Chemist
Army Research Laboratory

" I liked the emphasis to always think of every speech (from answering a question in the elevator, to giving a keynote presentation at a conference) in terms of what is the key message I want to get across, and how to say it in as few words as possible....My verbal abilities were already pretty good, but my non-verbal cues probably improved a lot...........This course helped me improve my ability to make good sales pitches to potential sponsors (where stating and restating the key points in short, succinct sentences) is important, which will improve my career in all areas."

Electronics Engineer
Army Research Laboratory

" I enjoyed my training sessions by Successfully Speaking presented by Ms. Lynda Wilner. First, through the test system I was “diagnosed” for major misuse of English words and sentences. Once the problems had been revealed, all the efforts were directed to fix or mitigate the existing flaws. The classes were well organized, perfectly conducted by Ms. Wilner and supported with additional audio material. What I liked the most was from the very beginning I was given the key to the understanding of the American sound system, stress patterns, and intonation. In the past, I dealt with English mainly through illustrative material (internet, books and dictionaries), where obviously good verbal skills cannot be developed. I believe all of the above helped me to improve my spoken English. I also liked that whenever I needed to better understand the grammar, I was immediately given excellent references with detailed explanations of the subject. I strongly recommend taking these classes especially to individuals willing to master their verbal skills in using modern American English."

Tigran Sanamyan, Ph.D.
Army Research Laboratory

"I took sixteen classes of Communication Skills and Accent Modification Training offered by Ms. Lynda Wilner. It has been a very good learning experience for me. The program is very practical and systematic, but also flexible to work on the skills that I needed to improve upon the most. She diagnosed my accent problems very accurately and offered various ways to correct them. The reference materials and RULES (CD), especially RULES BY THE SOUND, were excellent tools. I used them to practice and correct the mistakes quickly. The sound loaded paragraphs give me opportunities to practice challenging sounds with linking, stressing, and to become aware of mistakes.

Ms. Wilner is a great professional coach and also flexible to accommodate my schedule. She provides excellent programs to help individual growth in communication skills and accent modification. I would highly recommend her program."

John Chang
Chief of Administrative Office Information and Technology Service
US Courts

"As a Physical Scientist at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), communication and presentation skills play a vital role at work. I took a series of Professional Speaking Skills and Accent Modification class with Ms. Lynda Katz Wilner. I was so impressed by her abilities to identify the problems (such as final sounds, sound pattern linking, thought group, etc.), and to guide and solve those problems in my communications.

Her reading materials and CDs (RULES), especially RULES BY THE SOUND, were excellent tools to practice, find and correct the mistakes quickly. The sound loaded paragraphs give me opportunities to practice challenging sounds with linking, stressing and thinking simultaneously, and polish my verbal communication and public speaking.

My speeches have improved significantly at the word and sentence, conversation, and presentation levels. During the training, I got very positive feedback from conference presentations, Lab tours, and Toastmaster speeches.

Ms. Wilner is a great professional and advanced expert in this area that I have ever seen. She provides excellent programs to help individual growth in communication skills. I would highly recommend Successfully Speaking."

Richard Fu, Ph.D.
Physical Scientist
Army Research Laboratory
Adelphi, MD

"Successful IT projects are often the result of excellent communication between the business and technology. Lingual and cultural communication issues can make success difficult. The Successfully Speaking program helped our staff to better understand and pronounce the English language which, in turn, made them much more effective at their jobs. The group who were trained grew in camaraderie and confidence as their communication with others improved. This investment in talented staff has really paid off!"

Marion Mullauer
CIO
Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.

“I have always wanted to be a top-notch speaker. This course, while not giving ‘instant results’ that we crave, gives me the tools, techniques, and confidence that will allow me to reach my goal of being an excellent speaker. If I don’t reach that goal, it is because I did not use all the tools Lynda gave me. Of all the training I have taken, this, without a doubt, is the most useful. It will benefit me for the rest of my life.”

RH, Ph.D.
Army Research Laboratory
Adelphi, MD

"Thank you for your excellent support to the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in the area of language and communication skills development for our scientists and engineers.

Skilled people are the heart of a research laboratory such as ARL. For our scientists and engineers, one of the most important skills is the ability to communicate their work and its potential benefits to sponsors and users. You have had a superb customer-focused approach – working with us to develop appropriate programs for improving these skills. All of your efforts, in both individual and small group formats, for language skills for those with English as a second language and briefing, presentation and speaking skills were on the mark.

A tribute to the effectiveness of your various programs is the number of participants who have personally sought out ARL managers to thank them for providing your services to assist them."

Joseph J. Rocchio
Deputy Director
Department of the Army
US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Army Research Laboratory

"Several of the members of the Electrochemistry Branch have taken several courses on Presentation skills and Accent modification. They all unanimously thought it very worthwhile and most would like to continue. F.K. gave a widely acknowledged, excellent talk at the Power Sources Conference after taking the Presentation course and credited the course for his success. He would like to be able to continue improving his skills. As many of the EC branch have English as a second language, they have also expressed interest in continuing their accent modification training."

Cindy Lundgren, Ph.D.
Branch Chief
Army Research Laboratory
Adelphi, MD

"Thank you for delivering such a terrific presentation on Public Speaking. Definitely one of the best I have seen. We will continue in conversations with you so you can be part of the EMC university program from now on. It will be very beneficial to all accented employees to attend your workshop!"

Marisol Arroyave
Project Manager
EMC Corporation
Hopkinton, MA

Accent Modification and Presentation Skills

"I am happy to tell you that I testified orally this week at a hearing in Massachusetts, i.e. my first oral testimony since I completed the Successfully Speaking course. I'd like to tell you that I felt a level of confidence that I didn’t think was there before. Not that I wasn’t sure about my subject matter capability, but there was very little doubt in me about how to say or pronounce certain key words. I didn’t have that level of confidence about my oral presentation before in all of my nearly twenty years as an expert witness. As for how the testimony was received, there were not many instances where I was asked to repeat – I think that only happened two or three times throughout a cross examination of me that lasted almost two hours. All the credit goes to your communication training program, “Successfully Speaking.” Thanks a lot, and I wish you the best in 2011."

O.O., Ph.D.

"Lynda was great trainer; she helped me a lot..........I think I work and speak much better since I took the training. ...it was amazing how my life can change just by speaking a little better. Now I am speaking slower and understanding faster."

YM, Recruiter, Patient Care Services

"I was born in India and came to the U.S. when I was thirty to pursue my MBA. For the past 10 years, I worked as a corporate Business Development and Sales Executive for hi-tech companies. Recently, the president of our company referred me to Successfully Speaking to help improve my accent and pronunciation. My basic goal is to speak clearly and ensure an audience understands my verbal communication and conversation. This is particularly important since, as part of my profession, I frequently make public speeches and presentations.

I took sixteen classes of accent modification offered by Ms. Lynda Wilner and began realizing the improvement right after my 4th class. She has not only diagnosed my accent problems very accurately but also taught me the various rules involved in stress patterns of adjective, nouns, words, and sentences, and how slowing down the speed of talking helps in delivering words clearly. The reading materials and CDs (RULES) she provided were excellent tools to practice at home and correct the mistakes quickly. I have improved and learned a lot from these classes that has enabled me to pronounce words accurately, polish my daily conversation, reduce the speed of speech, have better usage of words, and gain confidence in verbal communication and public speaking. Now, I feel more comfortable talking with my colleagues and communicating my ideas better in public for which I frequently get complimented upon.

Ms. Wilner is a great professional and friendly coach not only to work with her on the accent modification but also flexible to accommodate my schedules after or during working hours. I would highly recommend Successfully Speaking."

R.N., Ph.D.
Business Development & Sales Executive

"English is not my native language and I had some problems with communication in a business environment. Ms. Wilner quickly identified my problems and the corrective course. After I finished this customized training program, I now have a deeper understanding of the American English Sound System for consonants and vowels. I have increased the pitch variability for multi-syllable words and sentences. Both my communication skills and efficiency have improved significantly through this unique program.
From my own experience, I would say Ms. Wilner is an experienced instructor with an advanced level of expertise in this area. She provides an excellent program to help individuals interested in accent modification."

SK, Accountant

"The Successfully Speaking Class is a well worth English speaking class. I have benefited and learned a lot from the class, e.g. accurate pronunciation, better use of words, gained confidence, and in the area of public speaking. Also, I am now more sensitive to my speech and use of words than before. Occasionally, I am able to pick up the mistake and correct it immediately. In addition, it enabled me to correct and polish my daily conversation and enhanced my public speaking. Last week, I did a five minute presentation at a department meeting. With Lynda's advice and assistance, I was able to present the material well and gained compliments from my team leader and co-workers."

Elaine Hui, Baltimore Gas and Electric

“I work for The Upside Down Organization in the Department of Staff Development as an Instructional Coach and Presenter. I came to the US ten years ago from Spain through an exchange program. My boss referred me to Successfully Speaking to seek help to improve my presentation delivery. At the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect and I was a little bit skeptical about how much Ms. Wilner would be able to help me after all this years.

To my surprise, as I started to work with Ms. Wilner, I started to realize why, all this years, people would ask me to repeat myself, and why at times people perceived me as abrupt and sometimes angry. Learning what was I doing wrong and why helped me to modify it. Just being aware of my speech flaws and how to remediate them, made my stress level go down and my speech improved significantly. Now I can say the forbidden words without fear of being misunderstood: beach and sheet.”

Ana de Gea-Coombs
The Upside Down Organization

“Working with Successfully Speaking has been one of the best moves I have made in my professional career. I was born in Africa, but now work as a corporate executive in the U.S. Prior to working with Lynda, I had great diction, construction and language structure, but little awareness of and focus on the stress patterns that characterize and distinguish American speech. My goal was not to acquire an American accent, but rather to be clear and succinct in my communication. This is particularly important as I make many public speeches and presentations. Understanding tone, voice inflection, stress patterns - both syllable and word stress - has significantly improved my ability to communicate to professional audiences around the country. Lynda has through our one on one phone sessions and the material in her RULES book, helped me to identify, listen for, recognize, self correct and consistently apply tone and stress patterns that make my speech easy to understand. She also has a great friendly coaching style! I would highly recommend Successfully Speaking."

GG, Attorney

"The Successfully Speaking Training Program was important to help me interact fluently with my guests, employees, and friends. I have achieved excellent communication skills during my current employment. Everything provided in the program was very specific, user friendly, and clear to understand. I look forward to building my career further based on this program."

Ayub Kato
VistaHost, Inc.
Hampton Inn-BWI
Assistant General Manager

"I took private lessons with Marjorie and they were very helpful in improving my accent and pronunciation. The course workbook written by Marjorie and her colleague, Lynda Katz Wilner, is excellent in terms of contents and explaining the rules with examples. The practice exercises in the workbook are very effective. The course provided me with all I needed to know to improve my accent and it was customized for my individual needs. I am impressed with the instructor's depth of expertise in speech pathology. It was a worthwhile investment for me!!"

V.S., Director, Merchant Asset Management from India

"I really enjoyed learning how to improve my accent during Foreign Accent Modification Training. Lynda was very effective in bringing to my attention incorrect pronunciation patterns that I used. Specifically, I would like to mention Lynda's outstanding instructional style and her attitude. In my opinion, Lynda's program is well thought and organized. In addition, she focused on my most critical areas and helped me to elevate them."

Database Administrator
UMCP

"I will more than 100% always recommend this program to anyone whose first language is not English. It is very important to be able to communicate effectively with the people we associate with especially for those who are in the healthcare settings or in leadership. Please don’t wait. If you do you will only hurt yourself. If you believe in your dream you will make it happen. Thanks."

G.A., Pharmacist
Johns Hopkins Medical Center
Baltimore, MD

"I began this program reluctantly because I felt I had no problem with my speech. After listening to myself on the recorded conversations with the trainer, I realized that my speech was flat because keywords were not stressed with the correct pitch. This program has enabled me to assume the burden of making myself more clear by speaking slowly, stressing keywords, and using the correct voice pitch when I speak rather than placing the burden on my listeners to figure out what I am saying. While there is room for improvements, I feel that my listeners understand me better now because I am not told to repeat myself as much as I have been previously asked."

Charles Ulinfun
Hershey Medical Center-Dept. of Safety
Hershey, PA

Media Training and Presentation Skills

"I thought the training session was fantastic, and attacked the issues of public presentation from several angles. The trainer, Lynda Katz Wilner, also did a great deal to customize the session to the particulars of our industry.

Lynda had a number of unique approaches which I had not learned about from any previous media trainer. For example we learned techniques for preserving our voice when forced to give presentations in a loud convention floor environment, or when presenting very early in the morning or late at night. This information will come in very handy in our field!

Lynda also had a talent which I found particularly amazing: as she stepped through her own presentation in perfect form, she was able, seemingly effortlessly, to step in and out of character, demonstrating both the correct technique and several possible incorrect techniques. The incorrect techniques were delivered with such authenticity that it was much easier to imagine oneself making that mistake and to visualize the road to avoiding it."

Brian Reynolds
President, Big Huge Games
Timonium, MD

RULES Programs

"I like that RULES BY THE SOUND has the practice for the sound system in a more natural application (sentence and paragraph form) with real life situations. You can then incorporate the rhythm of American English by discussing word stress, sentence stress and intonation while at the same time having a target rich environment for the troublesome sounds. All in all, a very nice addition to the resources I already have on my shelf."

Roberta Stanwood, M.A., CCC/SLP
Director, Accent Training Resources
Houston, TX

TESTIMONIAL for RULES BY THE SOUND, © 2009

"Lynda and Marjorie must be mind readers! What a great tool we now have in “Rules by the Sound”! They have put into one convenient resource much of what I have struggled to create over the years for my clients. What a great time saver and transitional tool to get carryover into spontaneous speech!

The sound loaded paragraphs allow opportunity to practice challenging sounds with intensity while addressing the musical cadence, linking and stress rules simultaneously. Although my clients’ first look at the problem sound paragraphs in panic, as if they are a first day skier atop a Black Diamond run at a ski hill, they quickly settle in and build much confidence by the end of the page!

Thanks for saving me endless hours, Lynda and Marjorie!

“REST IN PEACE” tattered “40,000 Selected Words” book!"

Anne Maki, MS/CEO
Clear Speech Specialists, Inc.
Wichita, Kansas

"Lynda Katz Wilner has co-authored with Marjorie Whittaker, manuals that clarify the rules of pronunciation and usage for individuals whose native language is not American English. One version is specific to the medical community, while the other has more general application. The titles are aptly named: RULES. The American English pronunciation system is woefully difficult to master in terms of sound production and intonation, but these authors have managed to cogently describe some of our nuances. They give numerous and creative examples to help both the trainer working with her clients, and the trainee who is developing her skills."

Carole Kornsweig
Accent & Speech Solutions

View testimonials from medical professionals

View testimonials for the Communication for Allied Health Careers Course at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC)

Read what people are saying about RULES!