"I've seen Gilda in action both as a featured speaker and event emcee and she is top notch! Whether she is serving as a dynamic emcee at a large, live event or sharing communication skills strategies in a virtual classroom with university students, she exemplifies the public speaking best practices that I've learned in my thirty years as a broadcast journalist. Her expertise is matched by her energy and ability to engage an audience. I highly recommend Gilda for your next event!"

"Really enjoyed ALL your classes. We are using your info to change some things at our shelter with employees.  I enjoyed talking with you also, you were very helpful. I shared your info after each class with a fellow employee. We honored you and what I learned and passed on by naming a cute little kitten after you!!"

“The Office of Alumni Relations at Marist College was thrilled to work with Gilda Bonanno to offer a ‘How to Schmooze’ workshop for our alumni. She provided practical and hands-on advice for putting your best foot forward and building bigger and stronger networks. We look forward to the opportunity to work with Gilda again in the future!”

"Gilda has strengthened our team’s skills and supported our organization to be more successful. She facilitated workshops for our team on communications and networking, giving clear, tactical strategies with excellent examples of how and where to use them. She also talked about fear factors – and how to get over them. She is seasoned and has useful strategies for both senior executives and junior colleagues. The feedback from our team is excellent, making them motivated to push themselves to improve. Gilda also has emceed many events for WBDC with hundreds of attendees at each and she keeps the events moving with energy and good humor and keeps the attendees focused on our message."

"Gilda is the consummate professional! She presents with ease and eloquence, engaging her audiences and always delivering on target. And she is a skillful teacher! I hired Gilda to present “Schmoozing 101” to the National Organization of Italian American Women in Connecticut. She brought a diverse group of ages together and had them quickly mastering techniques to gain confidence in new situations. I highly recommend Gilda Bonanno for your professional communication and coaching needs."

“I wanted to take a moment to thank you, and to let you know how helpful the “How to Schmooze” workshop was for me. It has completely changed how I approach networking events. Rather than spending most of the time speaking to people I already know, or standing in the corner of the room looking at my phone, I now feel comfortable and confident in approaching people and making new contacts. In fact, after using your techniques at a number of events, I can now honestly say that I look forward to networking events, rather than dreading them. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

"Thank you Gilda for your expert coaching of our presenters who delivered their SMPS CT MAX Talks at our TED-style program focused on the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry. Your presentation skills coaching sessions helped all our presenters develop a strategic message, organize their content and be ready to deliver their talks on a big stage, in front of a large audience and on camera. After working with you, they did an amazing job and were more confident, concise, focused and engaging!"

"Two words: “Ah-mazing.” Gilda has served as a speaker and facilitator for Keep America Beautiful and provided multiple training opportunities at our annual National Conference and during our Affiliate Webinar Series. Working with her has been a remarkable experience and her support of our professional training and best practice educational series has been flawless. I feel like Gilda is a partner and her understanding in helping us achieve our goals is valued. From the hours of preplanning work to the conclusion of our multiple events, Gilda was engaging, thoughtful and helped us manage our affiliate needs impeccably. Her professional and amiable personality and rapport kept our attendees interested and engaged, and her comprehensive understanding of nonprofits and business practices resonate with the diverse audience of Keep America Beautiful Affiliates.  I enjoy working with Gilda and have made the commitment to do so again. I can hardly wait to start working together for our next opportunity."

"As a seasoned executive, I have given many presentations but I knew I needed help in refining my message to make it more strategic and delivering it with confidence. Gilda walked me through a clear, easy-to-follow process for creating and practicing a presentation.

After working with Gilda, I know how to design and confidently deliver a presentation that connects with the audience and communicates my message, whether I am speaking at award presentations, soliciting contributions from corporate donors or providing education to my team. I highly recommend her."

Gilda’s workshop was effective primarily because Gilda modeled what she was talking about. She had great stories. She paced the presentation really well. She modulated the volume, tone, timing of her speech, use of humor, etc. Among the valuable things I learned, I will definitely work on having stories well thought out before I speak.”

“I highly recommend the talented Gilda to you! Gilda led a fun team building event for our GE Capital Controllership team. The belly laughs we all had at the event were a great way to let off steam after a challenging business quarter. She employed techniques used in improvisational comedy to engage the team, challenge them to ‘think outside the box’ and most importantly, let their hair down and laugh! Under the umbrella of good-natured fun, the team picked up subtle negotiation skills, as presented in Gilda’s “Yes, and...” improv exercise, and met that important ‘thinking on your feet’ challenge. Thanks, Gilda!”

"Gilda was instrumental as Emcee during our organization’s largest signature event of the year, engaging donors, elected officials, board members, and key stakeholders. Her expertise enabled us to drive donations during the live fundraising portion of the event more effectively than in prior years.”