Private voice and presence coaching for professionals ready to be heard at the level they’ve earned.
I work with senior professionals when the gap between their caliber and how they come across is costing them. With 15 years coaching executives— from managers to C-Suite at Fortune 500 companies, and VP’s to Managing Directors at top-tier financial institutions— I bring diagnostic precision to communication that goes beyond what traditional coaching addresses. My background spans clinical voice pathology, with training at MGH Voice Center, a Harvard/MIT affiliate, and years of professional performance and speaking, including international keynotes.
What I've learned is that very few professionals have ever been given the language or the space to understand how to speak with impact. The assumption is that if you're smart enough, you'll figure it out. Sink or swim.
But speaking is a learnable skill. One that requires preparation, practice, and agility. Once someone understands their unique instrument, the terrain they're playing in, and how to read the room in real time, they build a command of their voice that can evolve to meet changing demands and the ever-growing complexity of leadership.
My clients have gone on to promotions, new mandates, and media appearances that have positioned them as the go-to voice in their field.
Mary Falkenstern, MS, CCC-SLP
Voice Pathologist · Executive Coach · Certified in Accent Modification
Clinical training: MGH Voice Center, Harvard/MIT affiliate
Mary Falkenstern, MS, CCC-SLP
"Communication had always been my weakness. After six sessions with Mary, I started noticing real improvement — more engagement with clients, more presence in my presentations. Our work together enabled me to step into the next level of my career. Effective, impactful communication has now become one of my strengths and part of my core brand."
— VP promoted to Managing Director, leading global advisory firm
The voice your next role demands.
How I work
We start with a precise assessment across three domains:
Presence — the physical voice itself. Your signature sound and speaking style.
Perception — how others read you, and your ability to shape it in real time.
Perspective — your point of view and how you frame and structure it.
From there we map your strengths and gaps, build a skill stack designed for alignment, and apply and stress test those skills across diverse contexts — so what you learn holds up in the rooms that matter.
Before You Reach Out
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A single intensive can be 90 minutes to a half or full day. Ongoing engagements typically run six weeks to 3 months.
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Individual engagements start with a 90-minute assessment at $750. From there, ongoing work is structured as a monthly retainer at $2,000 per month with a three-month minimum. Intensives — half day or full day — are available at $3,000 and $5,000 respectively.
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Firm engagements are scoped differently. They typically involve stakeholder interviews, institutional assessment across multiple professionals, and ongoing access. Pricing starts at $7,500 and is built around the scale and duration of the work. Reach out directly to mary@speaksenseagency.com to discuss.
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Every session is prepared for you specifically. Before we meet you'll receive a pre-session note with clear expectations — what to bring, what to think about, sometimes pre-work. We don't start cold.
In the session we work directly from your skill stack. That means working from recordings — of your own speaking and of high-level communicators relevant to your context and goals — targeted skill work, and practices built and executed within the session itself. You leave with clarity around exactly how to integrate the skill/insight into your daily work so growth is embodied and fluid.
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All sessions are virtual via Zoom. However if you are local to New York City, targeted on-site support is available for high-stakes speaking opportunities, presentations, or roadshows that arise during an engagement.
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You won't know until we talk. But I've worked with over 1,000 executives across industries with my results measured after every session. I'll tell you honestly in the first conversation whether I think I can help.
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The process is the same, with one addition: the assessment always includes a phonological evaluation relative to American English, giving you a clinical baseline of your accent and how it's affecting clarity — alongside the professional impact assessment every client receives. From there the skill work is specific to your accent, your culture, your personality, and the demands of your role. This is work I've been doing with high-level executives for twelve years. The precision of what we focus on depends entirely on your unique needs.
For firm engagements — mary@speaksenseagency.com
Read the Room
Each episode, I study a voice that shaped a room, an industry, or a moment in history. What made it work. What made it fall apart. And what we can learn from it.