Expressive Communication Center

Adrian Burgos is a fifth-year computer science major with a minor in communication. He is a career development mentor and the Vice President of the Computing Organization for Multicultural Students, as well as a member of No Voice Zone. During high school, he won the Chairman’s Award for his presentation at a FIRST Robotics competition, and has now gone on to mentor high school students on Rochester’s city-wide FIRST Robotics Team with both programming and presenting. If you need help outlining, writing, or practicing your speeches or interview skills, book an appointment with Adrian.

Paula de Cárdenas is a fifth-year chemical engineering student minoring in communication. Having been raised in Puerto Rico, she communicates fluently in English and Spanish. Outside of the ECC, you would find her drinking a coffee, at the gym, or having a good laugh with her friends. When it comes to speeches and essays, her strengths include brainstorming ideas, as well as structuring and organizing the outlines. If you book with Paula, you are bound to have a good, productive time.

Andres Ceinos is a fifth-year software engineering student. Being from Puerto Rico, he is fluent in both Spanish and English. He enjoys helping others with problem-solving and brainstorming exercises. He usually spends his time at the gym, doing homework, and mentoring at the Society of Software Engineers. He loves to hear other people’s speeches and helping them improve their delivery. Book with him to get rid of that presentation anxiety.

Elena Desai is a fourth-year ASL-English Interpretation major and communication minor, and she is able to take appointments in English or ASL. She enjoys hanging out with friends and getting some exercise by paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking, or hitting the gym. She is looking forward to working with you on brainstorming topics, building a strong outline, and practicing delivery. Work with Elena and she will give you a kind, constructive critique and make sure your speech is a good balance between natural and rehearsed. 

Kora Lovdahl is a fourth year Computing Security BS/MS student with minors in Psychology and Quantum Information Science & Technology from Southeastern Connecticut. She discovered her love for public speaking in high school and won the Story Slam at Imagine RIT 2023. One of her passions is lacrosse; Kora has played for 13 years and is currently captain of the women's club lacrosse team on campus. She also loves to knit, crochet, paint, garden, woodwork, and generally do anything with her hands. If you need support on your upcoming projects and presentations, come visit Kora in the ECC!

Mikayla MacIntyre is an applied statistics graduate student. She recently completed her bachelor's degree at RIT as an applied statistics and data analytics major with minors in communication and ecology and evolutionary biology. Mikayla works as both a consultant and strategic communication specialist at the ECC. She has discovered her love of public speaking and is determined to show others that it isn’t something to be scared of. To make sure your next speech is the best it can be, visit Mikayla today!

Lauren is a second-year mechanical engineering technology student. She is currently vice president of RIT's tennis club. You'll often see her playing with her friends and traveling to tournaments with her club. Lauren is also an active sister of Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity. She enjoys giving back to her community and the leadership opportunities Greek life has to offer. Lauren looks forward to helping her clients work on their speeches, outlines, or whatever they wish to improve on!

Kaatje Mayer is a fourth-year student majoring in communication here. "I love working at the ECC to pieces, and I enjoy every moment I get to work with my fellow students on their speeches and presentations," she said. "I look forward to our appointment together!"

Carrie Rader is a fourth-year industrial engineering student minoring in communication. She has finished two co-ops in Syracuse, NY and Cincinnati, OH. She also enjoys creative writing and crocheting in her free time. Carrie’s strengths include understanding the difficulties of presenting and narrowing down what to speak about. If you need help working through pre-speech anxiety and selecting speech topics, book your next appointment with Carrie!

Hridiza Roy is a fourth-year student, double majoring in computer science and the School of Individualized Study with a concentration in computer graphics. Her hobbies include writing, dancing, and singing. Hridiza is also the winner of the Fall 2021 RIT Public Speaking Contest. Hridiza is passionate about discovering people’s interests and helping them come up with a creative topic that fits the theme and their interests. Her strengths include technical speeches for a non-technical audience, and cultivating non-traditional perspectives. If you want to create a unique and passionate speech, book your next appointment with Hridiza!

Alex Van Eck is a third-year game design student with an immersion in communication. He is interested in many fields, including music, video games, books, and D&D. If you want your speech to shine, book an appointment with Alex!

So you have to give a speech — now what? Deciding what you want to talk about is the first step. Our peer consultants are trained to help you decide on an idea that you’re passionate about and that will speak to a larger audience. Ultimately, we want to help you find your voice! A presentation is always better when you care what you’re talking about, so we’re here to help narrow down that focus.

Preparing an outline can be a daunting aspect of a presentation, but it’s something we can help you embrace! Our goal is to help you design an outline for any kind of presentation or speech that works best for your speaking style. You’ll likely end up with two different outlines — one for organizing the speech, and the second for delivery purposes. We want to find the method that works best for you!

Oftentimes, it’s helpful to back up what you’re saying with a visual aid — we can help with that! The goal is to create something that supports what you’re talking about without distracting your audience. From the content to the color scheme, our peer consultants will help you create material that strengthens your topic

To some, the delivery is the most exciting step of a presentation, but to others, it's the scariest. No matter your comfort level, we’re here to help. Our peer consultants will look at every aspect of the deliverable: your tone, your speed, your movements, everything! We know that it’s tempting to just “wing” a presentation, but it can be really helpful to practice ahead of time. We provide a judgement-free zone to help you get your point across in the best way possible.

We fully understand how nerve wracking it can be to speak in front of your peers and professors, but we also know how rewarding it can be! We want to work with you through every step of the process. Even if you already have your presentation written, the next step is to make you comfortable speaking. The ultimate goal is to make you confident.