coach Nancy du Plessis

Coaching

Presenting your work should be fun for you!

I prepare you to give a successful presentation – for an international audience, a job interview or an artistic appearance.

You learn the tools: organization, terms and expressions, how to use supporting materials. We discuss language elements, stylistic devices and elocution, body language and personal style, and practice warm-up and breathing exercises.

One-on-one video-conferencing is effective and efficient.

My clients always appreciate my ability to address their specific difficulties.

Online Writing Workshops

My considerable experience editing and translating academic texts (and as a certified EFL teacher) has made me aware of non-native writers’ “tics” in my mother tongue. Learning to avoid making common errors in grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and culturally inappropriate practices significantly improves your English-language texts.

Using AI to improve your texts is not the solution: AI generates many mistakes that non-native writers don’t notice. I can point out what you have to correct.

I do all this in online workshops for small groups. I also tutor individuals on writing English online.

5-Day "Presenting in English" Workshop

"It was great to start each day with a warm-up! The breathing exercises were exactly what I needed. Now I know how to prepare for a presentation. * The pronunciation sheets were very useful: I learned how to improve my pronunciation and strengthen my tongue and voice. * I really appreciated the way you kept correcting us. Your detailed feedback was very helpful."
5-Day "Presenting in English" Workshop (more feedback)

"I liked that we had some 'awkward' situations where we had to speak spontaneously, and your exercises were very helpful. * The workshop helped me a lot. It was interesting and a bit difficult, [but] the environment was friendly and pleasant. I learned to argue on my feet, read aloud, tell a story, deliver an elevator pitch, and make a presentation."
Interview Coaching

"Your English coaching was very successful and also, great fun. I felt very well supported – the way I needed it."

Carsten B.
(got a job at a major international company)
Calm down, warm up, check your voice, say your piece – and have fun doing it!

"Nancy was encouraging, spirited, warm… I learned helpful techniques for warming up and presenting my ideas more effectively. Definitely time well-spent. Thanks, Nancy!… A good and interesting workshop. Nancy is an excellent facilitator. Very well prepared… Nancy's workshop was very inspiring, informative and fun...very hands-on and participative… I enjoyed the physicality… Thank you, Nancy!"

Participants in 3-hour workshop at METM 2023, Mantua
Presenting in English for Researchers

"My biggest takeaway from the workshop is that I have a lot more options for how I can make presentations. I learned a lot of details to pay attention to, and have a lot to think about… I really liked that we first talked about our expectations and backgrounds. The warm-up exercises were really cool… The peer feedback was very useful. We never have the chance to get that!… It was really good to work on the English language."
Participants in Berghof Foundation one-day workshop
Debating and Discussing in English

"Very good! The workshop covered many different types of public speaking, with different and varied exercises and methods… The contents were adapted to the participants’ interests… The coach is very competent and sympathetic, with excellent technical skills, and the ability to respond to individual needs."
Participants in Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Studienwerk two-day workshop
A Two-Day "Model United Nations" Seminar

"The 2-day workshop was perfectly tailored to our needs, very well designed and just right! Very interesting and exciting… Every single exercise gave me a new perspective regarding my linguistic skills and helped me a lot… My new skills will be a big help for the future… The coach struck me as a very pleasant and empathetic person, relaxed and yet determined."
Participants in Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Studienwerk workshop
One-on-One Coaching

"After three individual coaching sessions with you, I speak English with much greater confidence and enjoy myself more. Now I understand my usual errors – especially in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary and speed – and know how to avoid them. This helps me a lot with my international clients. Thanks a lot!"

Media Trainer and Systemic Coach
Private Coaching

"I was very content with my performance… Thank you so much again for helping me to bring clarity and intention to my monologues."

Acting student