Meet your founding coaches of Speaker Skills Academy.
Founded by real speakers for real people who want to become better at speaking. They’re the spark behind the drills because they know you only get better at anything when you run the drill!
Speaker Skills Academy was founded by Cathey Armillas and Marc Williams after one simple realization:
You do not get better at speaking by speaking. You get better by drilling.
Between them, they have coached world-class speakers, executives, and entrepreneurs. But SSA was built for anyone willing to practice.
Alongside Cathey and Marc, our Community Coaches help lead sessions and keep the energy strong. They are members who have grown inside SSA and now help others do the same.
Our global community is made up of people who want to communicate with more impact and tell better stories in real life, whether that is in team meetings, client presentations, podcast interviews, or everyday conversations.
We meet virtually each week for our signature Skills Drill™ sessions, host Show and Tell experiences, and run Power Drills™ twice per month for focused, high-intensity skill work.
Every session is active. You will not sit and listen. You will participate.
This is not a traditional speaking club. It is a place to practice.
Explore our weekly, monthly, and annual programming to see how it works.
Cathey’s journey to coaching speakers began when a client of hers was invited to deliver a TED Talk and asked for help. Today Cathey is a sought-after TED/speaker coach and author of 3 books :
The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing: 9 1/2 Ways to Get People to Love You
How to Rock a TED Talk
A Kids Book About Public Speaking
Cathey has enjoyed a vibrant 25+ year as a professional marketing and speaking expert. She is an avid pickleball player and a big sneaker freak!
Her clients range from people who’ve never spoken on stage before and want to rock a TED Talk to professional speakers to leaders at some of the most successful and creative organizations like:
TED
Nickelodeon
Nike
JP Morgan
Tillamook
OHSU
Cathey is very passionate about elevating storytelling into an art form for anyone who is driven to make a meaningful impact with their ideas. Her mission to empower people to share ideas in way that breeds curiosity and connection.
Founding Coaches Cathey Armillas & Marc Williams pictured at an awards ceremony where Marc was honored as a
winning speaker.
Marc is an educator in America’s school systems, and his years of experience as a professional speaker together have taught him that clear communication is more than a luxury.
He has taken that learning to many large stages globally.
Marc was a finalist from the World Championship of Public Speaking, TEDx Talk and author of 2 books:
The Rules of Engagement for Public Speaking
Beyond Limitations: From a Boy Without Promise to the Man I Am Today
With over 20 years of experience in the field of education, speaking, and communication, Marc coaches professionals from a variety of fields, ranging from sales to academia to non-profit and civil service to real estate, business, and technology, and has worked with organizations like:
Marts & Lundy
The Young Professionals Network
New York University
The National Society of Black Engineers
Jack & Jill of America
YMCA
Marc's mission as a speaking and communication coach is to help people express themselves and their ideas in a way that makes them feel interesting, without letting their nerves get in the way.
