The Practice Space - Richmond, California

Maya

The Practice Space (TPS) is a women-led nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, that provides communication strategies, concrete techniques and coaching to individuals of all ages.

I am a “early career” professional whose job requires almost monthly public speaking engagements. To be honest, I have never been a strong public speaker and shied away from it as a child. Recognizing the need to meet the expectations of my new role, I began searching for professional development opportunities. My employer recommended TPS. Initially, I was skeptical and embarrassed to sign up for 1:1 coaching, since most TPS’s portfolio focuses on enhancing the public speaking skills children and teenagers. However, I soon realized that I couldn’t have chosen a better or safer organization to support me in this area.

Since my first session, my coach, Maribel Lopez, facilitated a culture of safety and empowerment. She took time to understand my cultural context and the dynamics that shaped and impacted my willingness to engage in public speaking. As a young black woman in predominately non-black spaces, I’ve often felt silenced, leading little opportunity to develop or sharpen my public speaking skills. Maribel intently listened and carefully created a culturally responsive “curriculum” for me. The resources, tools, and guidance provided were not one-size-fits-all, but instead tailored for me.

Under Maribel’s expertise, I’ve grown significantly. Now, I will not say that I don’t stumble over my words or get anxious before speaking to a crowd (because that would be a lie!), but I have tools and resources that feel comfortable to reference and use in my current role and beyond.

Lastly, TPS offers a sliding scale payment program, allowing individuals to dictate to pay what they can afford. This sliding scale system opens up professional public speaking coaching — historically an inaccessible and elite service — to those who need it most: our society’s youngest learners, as well as historically silenced voices!

aayalin614

My daughter had a wonderful time at The Practice Space’s Teen Speech & Debate Camp this summer. It was well-organized, with excellent coaching, a warm and encouraging environment, an opportunity to try different disciplines, and a low-pressure exhibition at the end. The commitment to and passion for cultivating young people in developing their voice is evident. My daughter really enjoyed herself and came away with new skills and with a sense of accomplishment. We are grateful!

Rose Slam! Johnson

I feel so lucky and grateful that I got to work with the folks at Practice Space. Their approach to public speaking is compassion forward with a foundation of experience and skill. My presentation is 100x better then where I was on my own. I am amazed at how much progress I make during each session. I am more clear on what I am saying, I am able to speak from my heart, and my audience is more connected and engaged.

MARIBEL PEREZ

This is a wonderful location to have your kids educated on public speaking, which the best foundation you can give your child regardless of whether or not they want to major in communication one day. My 11 year who participated in the young speakers camp loved participating, and he had so much fun engaging in different important topics with his peers, like global warming and how to address bullying. They taught him how to confidently speaking in public and the technics on how to calm his nervousness, breathing exercises, how to change our vocal tone/color, how to improve volume, how to enunciate, and storytelling. The staff is fantastic, and they keep you informed on what your child is are learning. My son's biggest takeaway was the basics of debate and "speaking on the spot" drills. He loved it and is now looking forward to having fun in their Debate Camp.

Jenn Guitart

I love AnnMarie and the Practice Space! I have done one-on-one public speaking and interview prep coaching there, and my son has participated in their debate camp for high schoolers. Such a fantastic experience for me and my son felt the same way. Their staff are super knowledgeable, kind, and fun, and really impart a passion for speech and debate. The Practice Space is such a special place!!

Caroline Clarke

My 14-year-old son just completed the two-week online summer debate camp. It was an excellent experience, full of great content and the instructors were supportive and very well organized. He said the camp adapted very well to being online. Overall a high-quality experience and at a very reasonable cost. Highly recommended.

Dil S

Kid enjoyed every single day spending here. Every day he was looking forward for this class to start. There are so many activities that kept him busy ; one of his favorites was monologue. I am pretty surprised with the result as I couldn't expect him to be so active, creative, and vocal.
Thank you! Looking forward for the next summer camp

Fizza Hasan

My 11 year old daughter loved being part of The Practice Space camp and benefited in articulating thoughts and talk about them tremendously. She is looking forward to enrolling in another session soon!