Diane is a Chicago-based voice and accent coach, sought-after by theaters and universities for her skill in working with accents and vocal presence. Diane is a performer herself and enjoys sharing her expertise in engaging an audience with her clients. Diane is a professionally-trained voice coach with a Master's degree in performance and certifications in several voice training methods. Diane has been specializing in working with LGBTQ clients since 2016 and her practice is unique in its understanding of this community's voice needs. She is a culturally-competent leader in voice training in business and in healthcare, having offered voice training for Transgender Women in Business for the Center on Halsted, and having trained the Speech Language Pathology department at Lurie Children's Hospital to work with gender diverse adolescents. Diane is also skilled in working with speakers of English as a second language. She practices cultural humility and is highly successful at helping clients improve their accents and vocabulary and gain confidence with presenting for American clients.
In addition to her theater and performance work, Diane is unique in her vantage point as a coach who has spent a major part of her career working for large corporations – corporate litigation firms and most recently for a firm led by the president of the board of the Chicago ACLU. She is therefore uniquely familiar with both the world of performance and the world of high stakes, outcomes-driven corporate practices and brings these perspectives to bear on the work with her corporate coaching clients.
Diane helps her clients
- find their most engaging and communicative voice
- use their voice to connect with and persuade listeners
- acquire a neutral American accent effective for working with American clients
- build confidence and presence in presenting
- have clearly articulated speaking and thinking
- present complex ideas concisely and with passion
Diane has an MFA in Theater from the University of California, Irvine and is a certified Fitzmaurice® Voicework teacher. She has extensive experience with Knight-Thompson Speechwork, a speech training method that creates awareness of the physical actions of speech to help clients learn – and unlearn! – accents. Diane is the chair of the Teaching & Learning Committee of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association and a 30-year member of the Actors Equity Association.
Diane lives on Chicago’s northside with her college sweetheart and enjoys swimming in Lake Michigan.