Introducing the School of Connection.

When I started Public Speaking London back in 2014, my goal was to create something different. A new approach to public speaking that I felt was unlike anything else being offered by other courses. One that wasn’t just focused on the appearance of confidence, but one that encouraged people to be themselves without trying so hard to be perfect.

The last seven years have taken me on a journey that was beyond anything I could have expected. We’ve spent thousands of hours in the classroom with over 10,000 students. We’ve heard countless people’s struggles, seen them open up in front of others, and witness transformations.

We’ve had people tell us that they’ve conquered fears, delivered presentations to hundreds of people, revalued their perceptions of themselves, and transformed their lives.

It’s been a humbling journey that’s taught us so much about the anxieties and fears we all share, the inadequacies and shame we all experience.

We know now that what we teach goes far beyond public speaking. We’ve witnessed so much vulnerability, intimacy and honesty in our classes that it’s re-shaped our understanding of what it means to feel, be human and to connect.

It’s made us realise how similar we all really are to one another, how we share so much in common and yet we don’t see it because we are afraid to see it, because we are afraid to connect.

We’ve come to realise that the desire to connect is our biggest driving force, even bigger than our fear. We want to connect with people, to be accepted, to matter, to contribute and to belong. But at the same time we don’t always know how.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

— Martin Luther King.

It’s through learning all of this that the time has now come for us to evolve into the next chapter of our mission to help people overcome anxiety and contribute to creating a more transparent society.

With a new name, a new brand, a new look and an even stronger vision, we’re very pleased to re-introduce ourselves as the School of Connection.

Why Connection?

Looking back at what’s made our training so impactful is that beyond helping people get better at public speaking and growing confidence, we’ve been facilitating human connection.

We’ve always wanted to create a space where people can drop their masks, stop pretending, and be seen for who they are, and for many it’s the first time they’ve ever done it.

Once we learn to break down these walls once and for all, to find a place of self-acceptance, to be comfortable being who we’re meant to be, we give ourselves the permission to express ourselves completely, we give ourselves the freedom to feel the connection that we long for.

Our courses have always offered people the opportunity to experience this and as we evolve we’re looking to add even more chances to help people with self-development, wellbeing and connection.

So look out for mindfulness courses, improv courses, and new developments to our existing courses all coming in the near future.

We built this company because we’re tired of having to fake our personalities, we’re tired of hiding our individuality, we’re tired of not feeling like we’re enough and having to live up to other people’s expectations of us.

We crave something deeper, something more fulfilling, something more human. If you feel the same, we sincerely hope you’ll join us on this new chapter of our journey.

Welcome to the School of Connection.

Michael Sokolin, Founder.

Want to explore building confidence and communication skills? Check out our courses here.