For more than three decades, I have been helping financial and business executives around the world gain the skills necessary to deliver their most important messages successfully and effectively. With my method, the most reticent presenter can become a polished, engaging public speaker no matter what the platform—on-camera or print interviews, addressing groups in person or via video conferencing, or making the pitch that closes the deal. Whether the audience is clients, investors or employees, or participants at industry functions, I make my executive clients shine. I help them find their true voice and strengthen it to make sure they are heard and get the response they’re looking for.

I also do communication seminars and workshops, in person or remotely, each of which is custom designed to suit very specific business and operating needs in any company. They include programs for Sales and Marketing, the office of the Chief Information Officer, Legal and Compliance or, for not-for-profits, Development and Fundraising. Workshop names state their goals: The Power of Presence, The Art of Networking, and Communicating with Impact.  I’ve done such workshops for many financial and investment industry groups like the Managed Funds Association and the Network of Executive Women, with terrific results.

In academia, I’ve taught graduate and undergraduate students. I was an adjunct professor at Wagner College, Staten Island, where a number of my students went on to roles on Broadway. I have also been a guest lecturer at New York University’s Stern School of Business, the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Southern Methodist University, the University of Miami and the University of Tennessee. For five years, I was part of a joint Fordham University/University of Pretoria, South Africa, economics program.

Teaching acting was how I got started in executive coaching. Straddling the worlds of performance and banking, I saw how certain acting techniques could be applied in the business arena, and was quick to adapt what I knew from the stage to managers and executives. The Zareff Method evolved over a long career at Credit Suisse; my first students came from the Bank’s leadership and management ranks, then eventually its largest global clients. Credit Suisse remains part of my client roster, which now also includes Standard Chartered Bank, SS&C Advent, Arcesium and BNY Mellon/Pershing, among others.

I’m proud to have a loyal following among savvy, discerning executives who have learned to present themselves powerfully and communicate with impact. They know what it means to connect with an audience. They know that’s what builds trust and produces results.