5 years ago, we (Michael & Tristan) took on the craziest project of our lives, making it to the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking with no prior training.
In the 4 years that followed, we gradually uncovered what would become known as the Ultraspeaking method — arguably the quickest and most effective way to learn to speak effortlessly in any scenario.
In 2020, we started training our best students to become coaches. They went through pain-staking bootcamps with us, fine-tuning every detail of what it takes to lead a student to transformation.
Today, we’d like to single out the 9 founding coaches who paved the groundwork for Ultraspeaking’s courses and curriculum.
If you’ve been lucky enough to get coached by one of them, you know how incredibly talented and skilled these individuals are.
Meet Ultraspeaking's 9 Founding Coaches

Mark Bossert
- Based in British Columbia
- Speaks English
Mark is an elite coach who is passionate about the science of high-performance and the art of NLP. We love his ability to tell stories and make people feel. His coaching, just like his speaking . . . speaks for itself: How Ultraspeaking changed my life
Benjamin Lee
- Based in Texas
- Speaks English
Benjamin is a human powerhouse. He takes training to the next level, both in fitness and in speaking. He was the first person to do 50 rapid-fire analogies in a row, which was completely insane at the time.
Ben brings his experience as a preacher and podcaster to help people thrive in their prepared (and unprepared) speaking.


Shelley Goldstein
- Based in Los Angeles, California
- Speaks English
Shelley spearheaded Beyond Fundamentals – the advanced course on Ultraspeaking. She is an expert in marketing, sales, and communication in the professional world. Shelley’s specialty is helping you level up your pitches, interviews, and presentations at work.
Santosh Yadav
- Based in Pune, India
- Speaks English, Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri
Santosh is a storytelling expert and co-lead coach of Beyond Fundamentals. His quarterly storytelling workshops are the most popular seminars at Ultraspeaking. Santosh has a talent for giving direct feedback in a beautiful way.


Sudhan Raju
- Based in Chennai, India
- Speaks English and Tamil
Sudhan is a natural improviser and knows how to unlock a person’s confidence and creativity on-the-fly. His quarterly workshops on Effortless Speaking teach you how to use energy and musicality to make your speaking come alive.
Ken Fontenot
- Based in Wilson, North Carolina
- Speaks English
Ken is a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, former school teacher, and pastor. His speaking skills are only rivaled by his coaching acumen. Ken has a gift for teaching people to unlock their self-confidence through speaking and storytelling.


Aman Chopra
- Based in Brooklyn, New York
- Speaks English & Hindi
Aman, aka “the chopster” is the type of guy you’d want as your coach and your best man. He is upbeat with an indomitable spirit. His specialty is charisma . . . and knowing how to make people feel naturally engaging on (and off) camera.
Pim Ruhe
- Based in The Hague, Netherlands
- Speaks English & Dutch
Pim is a lead coach at Ultraspeaking Fundamentals and the definition of a remarkable human. Talk to him and you’ll sense the good vibes right away. Get coached by him and you’ll feel the difference. Pim has a passion for deep exploration. His specialty is helping people overcome shyness and anxiety in order to thrive in all speaking situations.


Alienor Hunter
- Based in London, UK
- Speaking English & French
Alienor sees what most people miss. She has a way of knowing exactly what people need to level up their speaking. Alienor is a lead coach at Ultraspeaking Fundamentals and will give you the precise piece of feedback you need at every step of your journey. Her specialties include confidence, overcoming anxiety, and enjoying speaking.
It's also important to highlight her sense of humor and the abundant joy she brought to each session. At times the work could be tough, yet I remember laughing a lot. In what may be the ultimate compliment to her coaching skills, Alienor managed to make public speaking fun!”
If you’re interested in one-on-one coaching to prepare for an event or level up your speaking: