Testimonials
B. Wang, Ph.D.
Viral Immunologist
Gritstone bio, Inc.
Enthusiastic Recommendation for Laura Darius - Exceptional Leadership and Communication Coach:
I am thrilled to wholeheartedly recommend Laura Darius as an outstanding coach in the realms of leadership, communication, presentations, and interpersonal skills.
Having had the pleasure of collaborating with Laura to refine my communication abilities, I can confidently attest to the transformative impact of her guidance. Laura's meticulous feedback has significantly elevated my ability to communicate with clarity and confidence.
Laura's coaching style is both encouraging and insightful. She imparts practical tips on relaxation, posture, and maintaining a commanding presence, contributing not only to enhanced speech but also positively impacting my overall leadership presence. Her emphasis on non-verbal cues has proven invaluable in various professional settings.
What truly sets Laura apart is her unwavering commitment to her clients' success. Her keen eye for detail and profound understanding of effective communication have played a pivotal role in my growth as a leader. Laura's coaching sessions are not only productive but also enjoyable, creating a positive and empowering learning environment.
Laura's dedication to excellence is palpable in every session. I attribute a significant part of my progress in leadership and communication skills to her expertise. Her encouragement and support have been instrumental in refining my interpersonal skills, rendering me a more effective and confident communicator.
I take great pride in endorsing Laura Darius for her exceptional coaching in leadership, communication, presentations, and interpersonal skills. Undoubtedly, she is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to amplify their professional presence and effectiveness.
C.L., San Diego Senior Staff Talent Development Specialist
"Through my role working in Talent Development in support of our organization, I have had the pleasure of working with Laura Darius over the past 5+ years. Laura has taught groups and individuals of senior executives who needed to improve their American Pronunciation, Speech Clarity and Accents. Her attention to building a custom learning plan, her focus on the individual's improvement and her deep impact on the learners are very impressive. She ensures whether teaching a group or an individual that she is focused on providing them the right support and training to move their progress forward. The individuals and groups that have worked with her have definitely benefited from her deep expertise and knowledge.
Laura is a pleasure to work with, she is flexible and a great partner. I have very much enjoyed working with her to support our executives needs and look forward to working with her on future projects."
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
“I had the great fortune to attend your oral communication and professional image class today. I am one of the active duty pilots you had as a student. Please, let me say it is a complete joy to watch a lifetime of study and practice at work translating skills which will ripple throughout history. I attended the class because I trust the Miramar Leadership Development department to put out good information; and, it is a challenge for personalities such as mine to participate in such an open forum. I LEARNED A LOT! I wish I had had these thoughts, notions and skills in my past battles. I have already taught several of the concepts to my kids. I am practicing already and pegged your outlines into my development binder.
I have never seen anyone work as a "performer" in front of others like you did today. We crush people - you made them better and only pushed them as far as they could handle. A true work of art. Thank you so much, and I am glad to have such a great resource in San Diego.”
C Li Associate Director, Software Development - Becton Dickinson
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
"Last Thursday, I finished my last session with speech coach Laura Darius. Looking back at the past 3 months of working with Laura, I am so grateful for all the confidence that she has instilled in my communication within the business setting, especially in the context of being a leader. Laura was quick to identify my shortcomings and by the end of our first session, she had already created a customized plan to help me improve. During each session, she put me in situations that simulated real world scenarios, a unique teaching style that made her advice applicable to my work. She would listen attentively and point toward areas to work on, such as speak speed, vowel pronunciation, word choice, tone variation, etc. Following her assessment, she would demonstrate ways to speak more effectively, offering more expressive phrasing, clearer sentence structures, and more appropriate tones. Immediately after, she would instruct me to practice the corrected version. The process of practice, assessment, correction and practice again allows me to establish a self-reflection mechanism that I can apply to my everyday speaking going forward.
Laura’s training has been transformative for me, and I highly recommend her as a personal coach for speech, accent reduction and executive presence. Catherine is one of those success stories where dedication, persistence and thoughtful coaching resulted in her promotion. This has been a highlight to watch and greatly appreciate your role in this process!"
(C Li is one of those success stories where her dedication and persistence resulted in her promotion.)
Alex Anderson Senior Advisor Thomas Cook
Lt. Colonel Matthew Tolliver United States Marine Corp
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
"Working with Laura was a great pleasure and invaluable. She has a personalized approach and takes it very seriously but also has a great sense of humor. She's helped me immensely over the course of our sessions and I believe I've achieved what I wanted which is speaking without an accent but also speaking with more impact and using the right intonation patterns depending on a situation and surroundings that I'm in. Laura focuses not just on improving your accent but the whole package: intonation patterns, accent reduction, speaking with confidence and much more. If you want to feel comfortable speaking English, whether it's your job or your friends and people you interact with, Laura Darius is the best choice! You won't regret it. Thank you Laura!"
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
“Laura Darius is one of the finest coaches I have had the pleasure to work with. Her coaching style quickly identifies each client’s unique needs. She then structures a well-defined program to help her clients make lasting changes. Laura easily establishes strong rapport enabling her to have measurable impact from the very beginning of her assignments. Her structured approach insures that all identified coaching goals are met. Quite simply put, she delivers! Clients respect her intellect as well as her coaching style, which draws on a deep understanding of human nature, organizational structure and coaching skills.
I heartily recommend Laura as a coach to clients both at JPMorgan Chase and to other Human Resource professionals outside of the firm, and will always be pleased to do so- my collee Corpagues and clients have never been disappointed."
Xiongwen Rui, V.P. Risk Management American Express
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
Gerald J. Calder, Managing Director U.S. Trust Company
”I chose Laura as my language coach because of strong recommendations from several colleagues who worked with her. Laura is truly exceptional. She designed a program tailored to my individual circumstance.
She made my learning process more relevant and fun by anchoring it to my daily business communication. I felt motivated and challenged but also relaxed in every session. In the end, I made pretty noticeable improvements in a fairly effortless way.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend Laura to anyone who wants to work with the best language coach".
Gerald J. Calder, Managing Director U.S. Trust Company
Marsha Hoch, former S.V.P. Human Resources - J P Morgan Chase
Gerald J. Calder, Managing Director U.S. Trust Company
“I have sent a number of colleagues and associates to Laura Darius in the last ten years. In each and every case, the benefits of working with Laura have been immediate and long lasting. I will continue to send colleagues to Laura anytime an employee can benefit from her services.”
Mary Backstrom, V.P. Strategy, Marketing Research - ConvaTec
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
“Working with Laura has been one of my most valuable experiences in terms of professional development. Her approach was quite targeted to my specific needs and involved in-depth diagnosis followed by development of a concrete action plan moving forward. One of the things I appreciate about Laura is that she holds you accountable for making positive change. Moreover, she is a pleasure to work with.”
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
“I want to say how much I appreciated all the coaching and advice you gave me. I’ve presented twice in front of large audiences since our last session and am pleased to say I did very well in both presentations. I got several comments on what a good job I had done. I can honestly say that had I not gone through the sessions we had, I would not have been anywhere close to as prepared as I was for those presentations. “
Jill DeSimone, S.V.P. Cardiovascular/Metabolic Sales Bristol-Myers Squibb
Mark Williams, Senior Manager, Medical Strategies and Physician Education Merck & Co.
Jill DeSimone, S.V.P. Cardiovascular/Metabolic Sales Bristol-Myers Squibb
“I have worked with Laura Darius for the past 15 years. I have worked directly with her and sent many Bristol-Myers Squibb employees to spend time with her on their development. Laura has worked with members of my team on a variety of issues ranging from Communication Style to Leadership. Her insight and guidance have been invaluable.”
Walter R. Perkins, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer - Insmed Inc.
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
Jill DeSimone, S.V.P. Cardiovascular/Metabolic Sales Bristol-Myers Squibb
“I want to thank you for your evaluation and advice. As the newly appointed VP of Research and Development, your advice on projecting a strong and confident image has been vital. With your advice and coaching steps I have improved the quality of my presentations significantly. In terms of dress, I not only look nicer with my new wardrobe, but I also feel more relaxed (confident) with other executives. Once again, thank you for your help.”
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
“I have known and worked with Laura during the last three years. During that time, Laura has personally coached me in presentation style as well as projection. As a result, I have improved my effectiveness and confidence as a frequent public speaker. More importantly, Laura has coached a number of entrepreneurs in CONNECT's Springboard program at my request. These included non-English speakers. The results and impact Laura has had on these clients was remarkable and significant and has clearly contributed to the success of the entrepreneurs. I am recommending Laura and Darius Communications, Inc. to CEOs and senior executives who wish to make their public messages count.”
Tyler Orion Co-Founder, Director, Precision Healthcare Ecosystem
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Commercialization & Finance - CONNECT
Laura was engaged to work with the senior team at CONNECT to provide individualized coaching. Her results were well beyond expectations and the team members all reported excellent results. She was able to support their professional development goals while meeting our organizational objectives. I would recommend Laura's work to any company seeking performance enhancement for their executives. She has also provided pro bono support for many of our Springboard entrepreneurs with speech and communication assistance offering a great benefit to CONNECT.
Talia Carner Novelist, Activist, Public Speaker
Dan Bos, Ph.D. President of Sales AIDIUM - FINTECH
Talia Carner Novelist, Activist, Public Speaker
Having tried various foreign-accent counselors with impossibly unorthodox methods, I was greatly impressed with Laura's immediate diagnosis of the specific areas needing work. Her well-targeted exercises led to great improvement in my English pronunciation within a few practice sessions. Her grasp of the nuances of foreign accents by listening to the language helped focus on key problems that went unnoticed by previous [ineffective] counselors who approached accent issues as if they were stereotypical and uniform.
I have never seen anyone work as a "performer" in front of others like you did today. We crush people - you made them better and only pushed them as far as they could handle. A true work of art. Thank you so much, and I am glad to have such a great resource in San Diego.”
Eric Goad Director, R&D Product Engineering - Becton Dickinson
Dan Bos, Ph.D. President of Sales AIDIUM - FINTECH
Talia Carner Novelist, Activist, Public Speaker
Laura was amazing to work with over the last several months. Her ability to quickly analyze and develop a custom plan to improve my communication style has been greatly appreciated by myself, and also recognized by peers. I would definitely recommend Laura for assistance in professional/communication development!
Laura’s training has been transformative for me, and I highly recommend her as a personal coach for speech, accent reduction and executive presence. Catherine is one of those success stories where dedication, persistence and thoughtful coaching resulted in her promotion. This has been a highlight to watch and greatly appreciate your role in this process!"
(C Li is one of those success stories where her dedication and persistence resulted in her promotion.)
Dan Bos, Ph.D. President of Sales AIDIUM - FINTECH
Dan Bos, Ph.D. President of Sales AIDIUM - FINTECH
Dan Bos, Ph.D. President of Sales AIDIUM - FINTECH
I had the pleasure of working with Laura. I was initially impressed with Laura's enthusiasm, communication skills, and professional demeanor when my company hired her to work with me, as a senior executive she helped me hone my skills, she has given me confidence I didn't know I had and allowed me to prepare myself the next steps in my career growth. Working with her has been nothing short of great experience.
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Laura is a great Accent Reduction Coach. Over the course of her many years of teaching experience, she has developed some very good methods of teaching people how to reduce their accents and improve their pronunciation of English. She has a good understanding of various cultures and languages, and is really fun to work with. I have taken eight of her classes and I now feel a lot more confident speaking English.
Kate Vilaychack-Rizzo - Executive Director, Global Regulatory Affairs & Clinic
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Laura is an amazing and outstanding coach and expert on executive communications. I took a speech pacing and pronunciation program with Laura and am very happy with the results and insight she provided. Laura is very professional and well organized. Her zoom classes are practical and fun. She has an exceptional talent as a professional trainer/coach.
I would recommend her work to anyone who would like to express themselves more clearly, become comfortable with grammar rules and usage, as well as pronunciation and accent reduction.
Chantal Petit VP, Program Management & Strategic Planning - Kinevant Sciences
Glenn (Guoliang) Li Innovator and Engineering Leader Alpine Optoelect
Chantal Petit VP, Program Management & Strategic Planning - Kinevant Sciences
Laura was engaged by our CEO to provide individualized coaching to the Kinevant team. Laura and I just completed our 6 months coaching relationship and I'd like to thank her, not only for her coaching, but also for her patience, our conversations about France and classical music, and putting up with my French sense of humor. We zoomed in on accent reduction, which got us to review some fundamentals about the American English language (phonetics, accentuation, and rhythm). It may sound basic but it's been very enlightening. I don't expect to get rid of my accent since I have carried bad habits for more than 3 decades, but Laura gave me the tools to develop self awareness and therefore to be able to self correct. Laura also helped me identify other self-limiting aspects of my personality which I will certainly reflect on. Overall I feel I benefited greatly from Laura's coaching and I would recommend her to anyone looking to improve their communication skills.
Jeff Freedman, President, Strategy, Marketing Research - ClearPath Alliance
Qualcomm Classes - 2017 American English Pronunciation Workshop Evaluation Comments from Students:
Patricia Franklin, Head of Learning Design & Innovation - The Learning Alchemist
“Laura is an experienced speech/image coach for executives. She quickly establishes rapport, has a keen sense of the individual in the context of their organization, and brings the right balance of intuition and wisdom that enables her clients to achieve their desired outcomes. Laura demonstrates a passion for her work, has a depth of proven coaching experience, and brings the human element, along with a smile, to any coaching relationship. For these reasons, and more, I recommend Laura to any organization that has high standards for their executive coaches, and is committed to both "results" and "how" those results are achieved.”
Patricia Franklin, Head of Learning Design & Innovation - The Learning Alchemist
Qualcomm Classes - 2017 American English Pronunciation Workshop Evaluation Comments from Students:
Patricia Franklin, Head of Learning Design & Innovation - The Learning Alchemist
Laura is an astute observer whose experienced eye and practical guidance instill confidence. She is exceptionally gifted in helping others realize their hidden potential and it is a pleasure to recommend her.
Qualcomm Classes - 2017 American English Pronunciation Workshop Evaluation Comments from Students:
Qualcomm Classes - 2017 American English Pronunciation Workshop Evaluation Comments from Students:
Qualcomm Classes - 2017 American English Pronunciation Workshop Evaluation Comments from Students:
"Best pronunciation class I ever had!"
"Thank you so much. I really enjoyed the classes. Yesterday I had a presentation, and even though I can still improve a lot, I felt very confident. By the way, my presentation was a success!"
"This is a unique class that works magically to help us improve our pronunciation."
"Very comfortable way to learn and practice English pronunciation."
"I would suggest everyone who is not confident with their pronunciation take this class."
"The teacher knows exactly where the problem is."
"Every time I watch the video, I learn something I missed before."
"The videos are very helpful. I can watch my mouth very clearly and compare the difference between me and the others!"
"This workshop is very helpful, and it helps me to totally change the way I speak and pronounce English."
"I like learning the technique and mouth positions/movements needed for pronouncing each vowel and consonant. I like the video recording so I can review everything after class."
"Extremely helpful. I can watch my mouth and see if it's correct. Also with the recording I can revisit the class and really memorize everything."
"Really helpful. I have improved not only my pronunciation but also my listening. The teacher took individual time to address all of our issues with pronunciation."
"I felt really welcome and not ashamed of my mistakes but encouraged to improve."
"It helps to identify the problems we know, and problems we don't know, and provides mechanisms to correct the problems."
"I like the style in that everyone gets enough attention and the coaching is personalized."
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