About Us

Our love of public speaking is matched only by our love of helping others with public speaking!

We have over twenty years’ experience providing coaching and workshops on communication and are passionate about helping others find their voice and learn how to communicate their messages effectively.

  • amy@sparkspeakroc.com

    Amy first discovered her passion for public speaking in high school, where she competed in speech tournaments and took over coaching the team her senior year. She quickly realized that she found helping others with public speaking more exciting and satisfying than competing herself. She carried this enthusiasm to Allegheny College, where she worked as a speaking tutor for three years while pursuing her undergraduate degree, and to the University of Rochester, where she founded the Speaking Fellows while completing her PhD in American history.

    Amy taught writing and public speaking at the University of Rochester for fifteen years while also running the Speaking Fellows and turning their public speaking peer tutoring center into one of the foremost centers in the country. She reached the role of Associate Professor before stepping away to focus solely on Spark Speak.

    What Amy loves most about public speaking is the ability to connect with people in an authentic, dynamic way. She loves helping others find their confidence with public speaking above all else. To Amy, public speaking is about connection, not performance, and she loves helping speakers find their voice.

  • maria@sparkspeakroc.com

    Maria Sepulveda began her public speaking journey by tutoring in spoken communication as a Speaking Fellow under Amy Arbogast. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Rochester before launching a career spanning marketing and higher education. In 2023, she completed her MBA at Simon Business School, concentrating in Brand Management and Product Management.

    Across her professional roles, Maria has consistently honed her presentation skills and discovered a strong passion for public speaking. Her background in marketing enhances her ability to guide speakers in connecting authentically with their audiences and delivering clear, compelling messages. Maria loves watching clients build confidence through their presentation skills and grow into effective, engaging presenters.
    As a proud introvert, Maria wants her clients to know that anyone can be a strong communicator and she especially enjoys helping clients find their unique voice and hone their strengths.

About Spark Speak

  • We equip speakers to reach their audience, tell their story, and forge meaningful connections through one-on-one coaching sessions and larger seminars and workshops.  We work with speakers of all experience and skill levels. We believe that effective public speaking starts with a spark, and we love helping speakers find theirs.

    Not all public speaking happens on a stage in front of hundreds of people. We also support the less structured, but still vital forms of public speaking we all do every day. These include leading meetings, talking with clients, having critical conversations at work, and even networking.

    A critical component of successful public speaking is confidence.  Confidence can make a speaker more engaging and can help audience members feel more comfortable and more connected to the speaker.  Yet, confidence can also be the most difficult element to cultivate.  We are passionate about working with speakers to cope with speech anxiety, both for specific presentations and for long-term growth. 

    We also make a point to stay up to date with shifting trends and emerging scholarship.  The advice and feedback we give stems from our years of experience, but also the research and insights of our colleagues across the country.  We pay particular attention to evolving strategies to improve accessibility in public speaking and to use inclusive language that shows respect for all people, regardless of background or identity.

    For more details on our workshops and coaching sessions, see our Services page.

  • We value speech that is clear, accessible, and ethical.  

    Clear: Have you ever watched a presentation that is so jargon-heavy, you feel unwelcome in the audience or unable to fully engage with the speaker’s points?  Clarity is a fundamental, and yet frequently undervalued, component of any effective speech.  We can help you select language that your audience will understand and work to ensure that a speaker’s pace, tone, and volume contribute to the clarity of their message.

    Accessible:  Different audience members have different needs.  Some have disabilities or impairments; others have different attention spans or methods of engaging with material.  We help you reach as many people as possible by considering the accessibility of your language, speaking style, and visual aids.  From projection to font choice, we help you make intentional choices to engage a variety of audiences as effectively as possible.

    Ethical: We recognize that speech and speakers have power.  We value speech that uses that power for good, that respects all humans as humans, that welcomes diverse perspectives, and that advances ideas that bring people together.  We can help you ensure that your speech meets these standards.

    Overall, we value language and ideas that bring people to the table and that allow speakers to convey their messages and meanings effectively.  We value public speaking that fosters connection between speakers and audiences, that generates ideas and energy, and that builds meaning and shared understanding.  We can help speakers reach these goals and work together to improve dialogue and conversation in our workplaces and even the larger world.

  • Spark Speak is pleased to offer a variety of ways to increase your public speaking skills and confidence. We can design workshops or trainings for large groups of people that include learning portions, activities, and time for discussion, reflection, and questions. We can also work one-on-one to teach specific skills or to give guidance or feedback on a particular speaking project. For more details, see Services We Offer.

Join our Mailing List to stay up-to-date on upcoming events and series! We also send out a monthly newsletter called “the Sparkplug.”