Testimonials

Praise from Corporate Clients

“I was in need of a speaking coach to further polish my presentation skills.
I chose Mary Anne over the many speaking coaches out there today because
of her great energy, her ability to quickly break down a topic and develop the theme
of a speech and also her amazing ability to hit all the objectives that captivate an audience. With her coaching, I learned it's the subtle changes that make the difference
between a good presentation and a great one. Whether you are beginning or experienced speaker
you will greatly benefit from Mary Anne's expertise. I chose well. Awesome Mary Anne! You taught
me well.”

Boeing Anthony Marino Supplier Quality

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“Mary Anne is nothing short of a miracle worker. Within minutes after first meeting with Mary Anne over a coffee, she was able to pinpoint the root cause of my fear to speak in public. She enabled me to evoke deeply personal experiences from my past that lead to a current inability to speak confidently in front of large audiences. Working with Mary Anne has not only allowed me to overcome my fear, it has been a deeply enriching experience in which I have grown as a person both within my workplace and at home.”

Sustainability Design & Construction Jason Twill, LEED® AP BD+Cl Sr. Project Manager, Sustainability Design & Construction, Sustainability Expert, Seattle Technology Company which advances a variety of world-class endeavors and high impact initiatives

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“Mary Anne is an energetic highly creative individual who is incredibly easy to connect with. Mary Anne has a unique ability and talent, rare in the work world, to take all your different ideas and out of all that chaos, extract your most important points. Then, she not only helps you create great work but also helps you strategize your approach so that you are understood, gain buy in and respected by your many different audiences. I believe that this is one of Mary Anne's many strong attributes is her impressive amazing intuitive ability to understand your strengths and talents and help you show those gifts and talents off to your full advantage. She is a brilliant thinker and strategist with an inspiring, intelligent mind. She gets along extremely well with all types of people and brings out the best in them. If you are a person looking for someone to help you generate fresh, new creative ideas and want a colleague who will help you totally shine when delivering your ideas, I cannot think of a better person than Mary Anne Dorward. I strongly recommend anybody to work with Mary Anne.”

InterfaceFLORKippen Westphal Director Transportation Products

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“Thank you for the all the dedicated hard work you put in on behalf of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association as our Chief Communications Strategist. You really did a good job portraying the benefits the public receives from the Washington State Ferries and the employees who work for the ferry system, especially the individuals represented by the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association.  I know your work with Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association officials in Washington and Olympia made a significant difference in restructuring the collective bargaining agreements in the most favorable terms possible.  Your leadership and training of all the maritime unions in Washington was instrumental in creating the best political environment possible in what everyone acknowledges was a tough situation.

“On behalf of everyone at the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association and especially the members employed at the Washington State Ferry system, thank you for everything you have accomplished.  Looking forward to working with you in the future with respect to Washington State matters.”

Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO Mike Jewell President

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“Working with Mary Anne provided us the opportunity to clarify our message and highlight the significant points of our complicated nonprofit work in a succinct manner. Mary Anne brought an understanding of message building, technical expertise and strategic audience perception to our video. She guided us in making great decisions and helped up craft our message with a flow that we previously lacked. From a nonprofit point of view -- we have found no one else who understands how to engage a viewer to action better than Mary Anne Dorward.”

Landesa: Rural Development Institute Gail Romero Director of Development and Communications

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“Last year I had the opportunity to attend a course offered by Mary Anne Dorward. Not only was her class very effective in improving my ability to give better sales presentations, her coaching also led me to make a presentation for the largest project we had ever attempted to achieve. With Mary Anne’s insight and expertise we were able to acquire the job that totaled $20 Million with the potential to double that number in the near future. You could say great timing or we were just lucky, but in all honesty, without her assistance I truly believe we would not have been awarded the job. The course paid for itself ten times over just in one presentation. No matter how good you think you are at presenting, Mary Anne can make you better.”

VECA Electric & Communications Brian Westerlund President

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“If you sell any product or service and you are not the one handling every transaction, Mary Anne Dorward can help you ensure your message gets delivered to your customer, your way. If you think your sales team is great, think again. Mary Anne Dorward of My Real Voice can help you achieve your goals and push your team to the next level!”

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company Craig Anderson Regional Vice President

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“Mary Anne is a great teacher. She is fast and efficient every time. She zooms right in on my speech, giving me personalized tools and techniques that I am then able to use in other presentations. I would hire her again in a heartbeat. I couldn’t be happier with the results.”

PC Database Solutions Laurie Almoslino President

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“Mary Anne is my secret weapon!! Working with her has significantly increased my confidence, awareness and ability to identify and tackle the real issues. She has given me a clarity and focus that helps me make more impact every day. Her deep insight and unique perspective have given me renewed energy and enlightenment. Now I am well-prepared, have something meaningful to say and get results. Thank you Mary Anne!”

Microsoft Paula O’Brien Marketing Manager

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“When a good friend told me without explanation that I needed to see Mary Anne Dorward, I made the appointment thinking the work would be on improving my public speaking. What actually occurred for me was a much broader and expansive experience.

With Mary Anne’s coaching, I was lifted up and able to see myself in a greater landscape, which revealed far more possibilities. Part of me knew it was time for a shift but I was continuing on the old pathway by momentum alone. I was actively coasting toward retirement. Now, I feel renewed moving forward and writing another chapter of my life with a great coach, Mary Anne Dorward, who inspires me and who also adds a touch of magic to the adventure.”

Doulas Walsh Dentistry Dr. Douglas P. Walsh D.D.S.

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“I’ve worked with Mary Anne Dorward on several projects here at Adaptis. They ranged from personal and team speech coaching to Organizational Development projects. In each instance, I found Mary Anne to be direct, honest, incisive, knowledgeable and professional. Mary Anne quickly generated a work plan, conducted her due diligence and provided me with recommendations that, upon execution, offered a successful outcome for Adaptis, my employees and me.”

Adaptis Mort Latta COO

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“Mary Anne was wonderful at helping me to find my true voice and speak more effectively on behalf of my company. Before working with Mary Anne, I was always very nervous while speaking. But now, I have never been so comfortable speaking in front of any size group as I am now after my coaching with Mary Anne. She is also very thorough and takes care of everything! Mary Anne Dorward is a great coach and if you hire her, you will feel transformed!”

Community Transit Joyce Olsen CEO

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“Prior to our Shareholder meeting and our three-day Strategic Retreat last year, management came to the realization that our communication skills could use a bit of rework and polishing. Although we thought we were delivering the message, we were not making the impact we wanted to make. For various reasons, we were not engaging our audience.

We interviewed a number of coaches in the field and chose Mary Anne Dorward. We found Mary Anne to be extremely thorough, knowledgeable and friendly. Mary Anne worked individually with our CFO and two Senior Vice Presidents to turn our normal shareholder meeting presentation into a crisp, snappy, professional presentation that moved quickly and held the audiences’ attention. She knows how to teach and urge people to look at different ways to do things and she is unwavering in the actions the presenters need to take.

She not only coaches your people but she coaches your documents. She makes sure that her students are to the point and unnecessary verbiage is gone. Slides are no longer jumbled with too much information, bad spacing, inconsistencies in font and size. Where do you look? How do you stand? How do you move? Where are the jokes? When do you pound home your fine points? Mary Anne works with the whole package to make you a success.

Following the positive results of the Shareholder meeting, we engaged Mary Anne to work with two of our technical managers on presentations they were invited to deliver to our vendor’s world-wide audiences. A testimonial from Nilesh Kulkarni, Manager of Database Administration, follows:”

I was fortunate to work with Mary Anne on two presentations; one at the QCSI Technical Conference in Phoenix and the other at the VMWorld Conference in San Francisco. Mary Anne provides inspiration and boosts the confidence of the speakers she trains, she is thorough with the presentation(s) and its details, she works with you at your level and does not stop until the project is completed successfully!”

Nilesh Kulkarni

“These few examples are a credit to Mary Anne’s skills. She does a super job and we will use her again for other communication projects.”

Adaptis James K. Anderson Chief Executive Officer

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“I was referred to Mary Anne by my business development coach who wanted her to bring my presentation skills to the next level. I thought I was in for a linear learning experience with regard to voice and presentation skills. However, I found Mary Anne’s holistic approach to be most refreshing.

Mary Anne not only took the time to understand my business model and training offerings, but also the vision and essence around which my company was founded. She then translated this knowledge into a highly relevant and personalized learning experience. Thanks to Mary Anne’s coaching, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much more fluid my presentation style has become. I also find that I have now really “upped my game.” Mary Anne has given me the confidence to pursue and to present to larger corporate clients. Regardless of your current skill sets, a consultation with Mary Anne is a must!!”

Femme Safety Larry Kaminer President

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“As a Board Member of the University of Washington Business and Economic Development Center, I was asked to complete the final phase of a six year, one million dollar fundraising campaign. I was given the task of making the final "ask" to push us over the top at a very high level luncheon. I have spoken in front of many groups and always gotten through the butterflies and nervousness, but this was a much larger group than I am normally accustomed to. This was also a very big deal for myself as well as my employer, Viking Bank. In addition, the President of Viking Bank would be in the audience. Too much was at stake not to ask for help.

Through Mary Anne’s expertise, guidance, technique and watchful eye, the presentation went off beautifully; with significantly more ease, even with last minute changes that had to be made. With Mary Anne’s help, my presentation carried much more weight, clarity and also humor. We also achieved our goal, raising the last money we needed for our campaign. She is a joy and an inspiration to work with. Hire her!”

Viking Bank John Huey Senior Vice President/Market Manager

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“Authenticity is a strong taskmaster. I deeply value Mary Anne Dorward’s integrity and honesty. Mary Anne is an insightful and powerful person. She is an inspirational guide for all of us.”

Opus 111 Group James R. Harvey Founder and President

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“Mary Anne is an experienced communication strategist, and she is very skilled at identifying the objective and determining the best approach for a particular presentation. Her process helps you gain awareness of what content is appropriate and will have maximum impact. She also provides the tools needed to help you exercise self-control and focus when crafting and delivering a presentation.”

Copperfin Mirko Freguia Founder and Principal

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“Mary Anne keeps you abreast of the most successful business related and interpersonal communication techniques. Visionary leaders will find working with Mary Anne to be an almost spiritual experience.”

The Stratos Group Allan Stephan CEO and Founder

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“My conversations with Mary Anne have been extremely powerful, intense and energetic. As she lets her light shine, she gives permission for others to do the same.”

Global Generations of Health, Switzerland Urs Weizenreid CEO/Founder

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“Mary Anne, thanks for your help on my speech about the latest colon cancer research which I had to deliver to a very large group of my medical colleagues. Thanks to you, my speech was much more focused, my power point slides clear and my speech even had humor. Thanks so much for all of your help. I would recommend you to anyone, especially doctors!”

Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center Dr. Polly Newcomb

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“I am so grateful for your insights regarding the speech I was planning for the special event I was hosting. In anticipation of hiring you as a professional speaking coach, I expected to learn methods to improve my delivery. I anticipated you would help me become more at ease speaking in front of a group of people. Perhaps you would provide tips on proper attire and body language. But I received so much more!

I cannot tell you how much our time together educated me on the pitfalls of public speaking. The message is KEY. Without being aware of how it will be received from those in the audience, the message I wanted to convey was certainly not going to be delivered properly.

Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge regarding public appearances but more importantly for your insights into how an audience may receive a message if not carefully crafted with them in mind.”

Seattle Executives Association Glenna Thomas Executive Director

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“In my business, it is necessary for me to make formal presentations often on a daily basis. I asked Mary Anne Dorward to help me refine my public speaking skills. In the process, Mary Anne gave me numerous practical tips and techniques that I could immediately put to use.

She has also helped me to craft my message to effectively communicate on appropriate levels with each of my audiences. Thanks to Mary Anne’s ongoing guidance, my current clients have benefited enormously from my increased clarity, focus and humor in my presentations. My potential clients have a much better understanding of what I offer and how it benefits them and as a result, I close more new business.

I found Mary Anne’s consulting to be extremely helpful and transformative. She truly focused on my unique personality and how it impacts my work. If you are considering having Mary Anne help you, I would highly recommend her!”

Morton Creative Scott Morton President and Founder

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“It is an honor and a pleasure to write this testimonial on behalf of Mary Anne Dorward. With her help, I have been able to harness my inner voice and project it so that my true self is heard and radiated in a positive and welcoming fashion.

Mary Anne intuitively saw my strengths, and coached me to develop and use them. She helped me to be myself and more importantly, stressed to me the importance of letting my personality come through my speaking as opposed to following a rote formula. She recognized the positive aspects and helped me to focus on them, and to conquer the parts of public speaking that are scary, like public speaking!

More importantly, I have been able to watch her and see courage and grace in action. She has shown me it is possible to face down our fears and to be triumphant despite the odds.

There are too few people in this world who are true to themselves, who have great faith in others and are unapologetically sincere. Mary Anne has been one of these people for me. She has shown me to speak with confidence in more ways than just publicly.

Thank you Mary Anne!“

The Herb Farm Lisa Nakamura Chef De Cuisine

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“Mary Anne is nothing short of a miracle worker.

Within minutes after first meeting with Mary Anne over a coffee, she was able to pinpoint the root cause of my fear to speak in public. She enabled me to evoke deeply personal ...”

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