Speakers Club
Public Speaking Courses
Meet the Coaches
Octavia Gilmore
Octavia Phoebe Gilmore is a public speaking coach and team trainer. She equips speakers to authentically connect with an audience, enabling them to inspire action through engaging and effective communication.
In her coaching, Octavia draws on her experience in acting, writing and improvisation. After reading philosophy at university, Octavia trained in acting at ArtsEd. As an actor and improviser, she has toured nationally and internationally. She has also worked in film, both on and off screen. Her writing includes a sellout play and sketches featured by the British Comedy Guide.
She is passionate about empowering speakers to find their unique voice, refine their message and share their big ideas.
Max Dickins
Max Dickins is a published playwright, actor, presenter, comedian and author of the best-selling book Billy No Mates. On the page, Max’s writing has been featured in the Observer, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, and GQ. On the stage, Max’s critically acclaimed play Man on the Moor has toured nationally. On the airwaves, his radio show on Absolute Radio was nominated for a Sony Award. While on screen, Dickins has appeared numerous times on BBC One’s Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.
In his other life, Max is also director of Hoopla, the UK’s first dedicated improvised comedy theatre and school. In these unprecedented times, he believes that improvisation is THE key skill that all of us need both at work and in our personal lives. He spreads the gospel in interactive workshops and keynote presentations with amazing clients like Google, Facebook and Accenture across 4 continents, with The Financial Times dubbing his work ‘transformative.’ His book Improvise! will show you how to use the secrets of improv to achieve extraordinary results at work.
Phil Yarrow
Phil is a performer, puppeteer, presenter and improviser. Phil has toured nationally and internationally, and has a passion for developing projects for younger audiences. He was part of the devising and performance team for the Olivier nominated ‘Room On The Broom’, and has worked at The Polka Theatre, Wimbledon for ten years.
Aside from performance, Phil has carved out a career as an educator and a career coach. He thrives on unlocking potential and has coached thousands of students through application processes for companies such as EY, Ofcom, Ford and Pernod Ricard.
Phil has worked as a presenter, and facilitator, for such companies as Eon, Jaguar Land Rover and The GLA. Phil is a regular presenter for events with Bright Network, and was the original host for the ‘Internship Experience UK’ programme, which live streamed to 80k students around the world during the first lockdown.
Lauren Silver
Lauren is a clown, actor and theatre-maker. Her work has played national & international venues including London’s Vaudeville Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Leicester Square Theatre, Theatre by the Lake & the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Lauren uses her training and experience to specialise in cultivating confidence in others. Through her career, she’s uncovered a convertible toolkit of expertise in purposeful play of which she now brings to facilitating corporate teams and leaders, including BBH Zag, Saatchi & Saatchi, ITV, Wizz Air and Accenture.
She enjoys working with companies and communities to develop creative, productive and supportive teams with a focus on the importance of improving and maintaining their collective mental health and wellbeing.
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