About

Cathy knows how to make people laugh and help them learn. At the same time.

Women's Convention, Detroit, October 2017

Why did I start "Women Speak Up?"
As a communications professional, Cathy has worked with everyone - men, women, college students, leaders, front line people, salespeople, and incarcerated women. And she's enjoyed every minute of it.

In recent years, it's become crystal clear to her that women need to get a bigger voice in our world immediately. If that's going to happen, women who want to lead need support, training, and coaching in public speaking. Her work with women in jail, the community, or in businesses has made building women's confidence in public speaking a real passion for her.

Cathy with Voices from Inside performers

With Ken Blanchard after my workshop

Cathy's passion is helping people communicate so that they can make things happen. She does that through her work as a corporate communications trainer, a presentation coach, and an interactive keynote speaker. Along the way she's also been a stand-up comic, founded an improv comedy troupe, and taught improv techniques in businesses. She's also been a lecturer in the Boston University Questrom School of Business and Executive Director of Voices from Inside, a program to help incarcerated women with writing, speaking, and performance. And recently, she had the honor of being a TEDx speaker!

Cathy’s motto is “You can say it better. I'll show you how." Even if you already say “it” or present “it” pretty well, Cathy can help you be more persuasive, more compelling, and more engaging, no matter who your audience is. So what do you need to “say better?” Maybe it’s a speech at a conference, a presentation to leadership, a business pitch, a stump speech? Cathy works with any group or individual to develop, design and deliver high-stakes talks, speeches, or presentations that must succeed.

So how does she get people – like, say you - to “say it better”?
First, she knows how to get you to dig deep to find and articulate your most important audience takeaway - that “one message” the audience must remember. She knows how to figure out what the audience needs to hear so that they agree with you. She knows how to help you engage and persuade your audience with the stories, facts, and insights built around that “one message.” And she knows how to create slides that actually work for you - and not against you. And finally, she knows how to help you become a more confident and powerful communicator of your message.

As a corporate trainer, Cathy’s specialty has been helping teams and individuals develop and design compelling presentations. She’s worked with executives, software engineers, finance professionals, and salespeople at Fortune 500 companies in the US and Europe. She especially loves working with leadership development teams on presentations.

As leader of “Women Speak Up, Speaker training for women who want to change the world,” Cathy gets to work with women activists, advocates, candidates, and social entrepreneurs - the change makers and innovators who need to sell ideas, change minds, and move people to action. Through workshops, coaching, and keynotes, Cathy helps women gain the confidence and skills they need to make their voices and their ideas stand out in our world.