We help capable people sound like the leaders they already are.
Uplevel Communication is a coaching and training company based in Austin. We work with professionals, leaders, and teams who are great at what they do and want the way they communicate to match it.
Microsoft
GE Vernova
Communication is a skill, not a personality trait.
Most people are told to be more confident or to work on their presence, and nobody tells them how. We think that gets it backwards.
Confidence comes from competence, and competence comes from practicing the real moments you face with someone who gives you honest, specific feedback. That's the whole idea behind Uplevel, and it's why our clients change how they show up, not just how they feel about it.
The Uplevel Formula
Every program we run follows the same four steps, whether it's one professional or a whole leadership team.
Awareness
See how you actually come across, not how you think you do. We start with a baseline so you know exactly what to work on first.
Knowledge
Learn simple frameworks you can use under pressure, like how to give an update, answer a hard question, or open a presentation.
Practice
Rehearse the meetings, presentations, and conversations already on your calendar, out loud, with a coach in the room.
Feedback loop
Get specific notes, adjust, and try it again until the new habit holds when it counts.
Mike Acker had to learn this himself first.
As a kid, Mike had a speech impediment that made speaking up feel out of reach. He worked through it, went on to compete in college debate at the national level, and has spent 25 years helping people communicate with confidence. For the past seven years he has coached professionals and executives full-time.
Mike wrote Speak With No Fear, which has sold more than 100,000 copies, has been translated into six languages, and was featured by Forbes among books that help readers conquer the fear of public speaking. He also wrote Speak With Confidence, published by Wiley. He has spoken at TEDx Warrenton and TEDx Sawmill Lake, and he has coached leaders at Amazon, Adobe, Microsoft, and GE Vernova.
Andres Soto
Andres is an Uplevel certified coach who works with Speaking Academy and Speaking Catalyst clients alongside Mike. He has acted in The Flash and Riverdale and teaches at Vancouver Film School, so he knows how to help people own a room and sound like themselves while they do it.
Read Mike's books
Speak With No Fear is the top-rated book in the world on overcoming the fear of speaking. It has helped more than 100,000 readers get past that fear and has been translated into six languages.
Speak With Confidence, published by Wiley, goes deeper into the skills behind clear, persuasive communication.
Every Uplevel coach is trained by Mike.
Uplevel coaches are speakers, business leaders, and former college debaters. Each one is trained by Mike. Uplevel Communication is a certified SpeakerBrand coaching company, which means every session draws on the 10 Speaker Identities.
SpeakerBrand shows how you naturally come across when you speak, which helps your coach pick the few skills that will move you fastest. You can try it yourself with the free assessment.
Find your Speaker Identity at speakerbrand.com →In Austin and online.
Our home is the Uplevel Training Center in Westlake, where we run team workshops, Uplevel Nights, and the Kids Speaking Lab. Coaching sessions happen in person or on Zoom, so clients join from wherever they work.
Uplevel Training Center · 1101 S Capital of Texas Hwy, Building F, Suite 250, Austin, TX 78746 · 512.877.1040
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Let's talk about where you want to go.
A consultation is a short conversation about where you are, what's working, and what's getting in the way. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
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