Celebrant, Toastmaster, Public Speaking Workshop & Online course Reviews 2018-20
Sought-after professional Lady Toastmaster, luxury weddings and ceremonies celebrant and public speaking expert Sonal Dave
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Lady Toastmaster Reviews
command the silence of the Guests as and when required in a friendly
and warm manner. She included humour as well which was lovely to
hear.
We’ve worked with Sonal at many events, and she has always been a pleasure to work alongside. Her professionalism, enthusiasm, and elegant flair makes every event special! We recently visited one of her workshops, and her style and technique really gets everyone involved and engaged. If you’re looking for a Toastmaster, Celebrant, or a workshop to learn excellent communication skills, look no further!
On a more personal note we appreciate that from time to time you made sure me and Purnima were relaxed while you made it all happen. Before I end this review, we would also like to thank Dhani and his team for doing such an excellent job in performing the live music. All the guests made positive comments on the live music during the wedding ceremony and the civil wedding and that the live music made all the difference.
We booked you as our toastmaster and after meeting you and going through our itinerary you really guided us by pointing out some things we didn’t think of! When we met we mentioned we would like our wedding to be calm and as quiet as possible which it was given we have over 450 guests (including lots and lots of babies!) We were really pleased how you liaised with other suppliers and interacted with guests to ensure our day was running on time and it really helped that you spoke in English and Gujarati to ensure guests understood what was happening. As we all know indian weddings do not run on time, however I was so impressed that we were actually running ahead of time which was thanks to you and our suppliers. Our long list of family photos were managed with ease and we didn’t miss any family members out! What was even better was after the wedding you (literally) escorted us from the
mandap to outside where we were going to take our pictures as husband and wife and politely spoke to guests who wanted to take pictures with us that we’ll be back – this actually saved us time as we were constantly being stopped by friend and family for a pic!
and very professional Sonal Dave the wonderful toastmaster, and public speaker.
She hosted our first Smile with Shiv charity gala and Sonal did an impecable job on the day. If you are looking for someone to host an event, highly highly recommend Sonal.
Sonal it was a pleasure to work with you, it’s not easy what a toastmaster does but if you want someone who can set the tone & structure the evening & make your guests & you (the hosts) feel comfortable then you need Sonal.
Another wonderful PA collaboration.
Great banter. Ethnicity Awards partner with HSBC and sponsors including Tesco, Natwest, Viacom, Lloyds Banking Group, Legal &
General Investment Group and National Grid.
The awards celebrate business, public figures, politics, sports and so many other areas who all help the ethnicity and race agenda.
I would definitely use Sonal again without a doubt, she was great to work with and definitely added to the event.
Thank you so much
Luxury Celebrant Reviews
We brought Sonal onboard to be our Celebrant and be able to conduct our multicultural wedding in a beautiful and tasteful way. She certainly delivered. From the first moment we got in touch, to then checking in leading up to the big day. Sonal was friendly, approachable and made sure we kept organised and relaxed. We made a new friend in the process and couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be part of what was the most important part of the day. Thank you Sonal, and we would thoroughly recommend her to anyone.
Thank you so much for everything you did for us, the time you spent talking through every element with us, putting together a ceremony that was dedicated to us and being such a huge support in the run up to the day and, on the day. The ceremony was so much more than we could have ever dreamt and all the little touches, the games it just made it oh so special. I know it’s probably something people say often but honestly so many of our guests told us how special they thought the ceremony was, some even said it was the best they had ever been to. They loved the way you interacted with them and really invited them in to make them feel a part of the celebrations. A lot of our guests hadn’t been to an Indian Wedding before and they were enthralled. Needless to say you also won over all of my Indian family which is no mean feat. It really truly was so so wonderful and you filled our hearts with so much joy; we can’t thank you enough.
Also, we have received the booklet and the little touches are so special Sonal, thank you so much we loved re-reading our vows, we will absolutely treasure it.
Sonal was our wedding celebrant for our fusion ceremony. We had spoken to multiple celebrants by then and unlike most of the others, she never tried to introduce or force any of her ideas on us – she simply listened and made suggestions that she felt were appropriate to the ceremony. She continually checked in with us during the period leading up to the ceremony and also helped organise our bridal party who would have been very nervous without her help. She made it very simple and easy during our multiple wedding moves over Covid and gave us things and ideas to think about as well. She was pleasant, lovely and took the time to interact with our families and guests. We recommend her so much!! Thank you very much Sonal! Xx
Sonal wrote and carried out our celebrant-led ceremony at our wedding last month. My husband and I could not be happier with her services. Right from the start, Sonal was friendly and professional and took the time to get a feel for who we both are and what makes our relationship unique. She gave us several ideas for elements that could be included within the service and gave us guidance on how to incorporate a handfasting once we had decided on including one. We have had so many comments from our guests on how beautiful and personal the wording of our ceremony was, and that is all down to Sonal. She is just brilliant at what she does and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a celebrant.
Ashwin and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for creating and running such a beautiful ceremony for us last week. Even though we got unlucky with the weather and had to move our ceremony inside, it was still everything we imagined our wedding ceremony would be. We loved the way our family and friends were able to get involved, the mix of emotions from laughs to tears, and the way we incorporated traditions from our cultures. It was a perfect ceremony for the two of us and lots of people told us how much they enjoyed seeing something different!
We’re both so glad we made the decision to go with an alternate route for our ceremony and that we had you as our celebrant. Your cultural understanding of Indian wedding traditions was really useful when it came to planning our ceremony, as well as making sure things ran smoothly on the day.
We’ll definitely be recommending you to friends planning their own weddings, whether as a celebrant or a toastmaster. All the best with the rest of your bookings for this summer and beyond!
Sonal Dave provided an excellent service with a warm and friendly atmosphere. I would highly recommend her services. We had a beautiful ceremony. Thank you very much.
Sonal was the celebrant at the wedding of me and my wife a few weeks ago. We wanted a fusion ceremony that drew influences from both western and Hindu traditions, reflecting both of our backgrounds, and Sonal was more than happy to accommodate! She worked with us to design a ceremony exactly how we wanted, and made plenty of suggestions along the way. On the day itself, her communication style was confident and professional, whilst still easy-going and humorous. She can speak Gujarati, which was really beneficial for some of our older relatives. Many of our guests commented how much they enjoyed the ceremony, and how unique they found it. It was definitely a big highlight of the day, and we owe a lot of that to Sonal!
Sonal is an exceptional and highly-experienced celebrant. I had the joy of working with her to put together a very special funeral earlier this year. She worked with the family to put together a highly bespoke ceremony and was able to accommodate all of their needs. Highly recommended.
Working with Sonal on our wedding ceremony was easy from start to finish, even with Covid constantly looming over our heads! With 3 date changes, one only a few weeks before the next, Sonal was happy and flexible throughout. Sonal made us feel looked after, with consistent updates and reminders and created the perfect ceremony which not only my husband and I loved, but also our guests! It was unique to us with a blend of culture, she had listened to everything we wanted and it was truly perfect! Thank you, Sonal!!
an incredible ceremony last week, you did such an amazing job (even with the venue’s dodgy microphone!). We’re so glad we found you, we never imagined we would be writing our own vows or doing a sand ceremony, but these really made the day special. So many people commented on how much they loved the ceremony (lots of tears amongst our family and friends as well!)
We asked Sonal to be the celebrant for our wedding celebration, and we cannot recommend her enough! From the start, Sonal was so helpful and involved to ensure everything was on track. From our first Skype session, she felt like an old friend who we’d known for a lifetime. She was extremely flexible for our needs and wants (even when we weren’t entirely sure what we wanted, she gave us incredible ideas and direction). On the day itself, Sonal was perfect – she made us feel so relaxed and at ease, and we had so many compliments afterwards from our guests saying what an amazing job she had done. Thanks to Sonal we’ll remember this day, and her, for the rest of our lives!
We did receive the ceremony pack, which was beautifully packaged and we’ll keep it safe for years to come!
I’d also personally like to thank you again for the public speaking course. The speech went really well in the evening and I overcame the tremor by taking on the advice provided by you. That was a huge hurdle for me!
Thank you again so much…….I’m sure we’ll be in touch soon!
As far as a celebrant goes, she went above and beyond to make it special for us, even braving the heat! Thank you x
When we decided we wanted to create our ceremony, we knew finding the right celebrant was a crucial task. When we came across Sonal’s profile – we had a feeling she would be great – and she really was.
From our initial meeting we instantly liked Sonal and pretty much decided we wanted her on the spot. She instantly understood our values and what we stood for. She was non judgmental, friendly and incredibly warm – we felt she was truly open to our ideas and delivered exactly what we wanted.
So many people complimented Sonal during and after our wedding celebrations – she blended the Western and Eastern parts of our wedding beautifully and really was the perfect glue that made our ceremony perfect. I was a bit unsure how the ‘older’ more traditional members of our family would receive a slightly different ceremony, but the elegance, friendly and professional manner in which Sonal carried out our ceremony made it perfect. She was on time and worked well with the other suppliers.
Thank you so much, Sonal, for our beautiful wedding ceremony- I cant think of anyone who would have been more of a perfect fit – you were wonderful!
Public Speaking Workshops & Coaching
I invited Sonal to deliver a virtual workshop in my member’s club, as it is an area that many of them are looking to build their confidence in. Sonal delivered a really engaging and interactive workshop, which the members absolutely loved. Her style and approach is extremely warm and comforting, which really helped to put everyone at ease and open up about their fears around public speaking. The feedback from all the attendees was incredibly positive and as a result of attending, our Women who Flourish members have plucked up the courage to film their first videos in our Facebook group! I cannot recommend Sonal highly enough. Thank you for your efforts.
Before I did my public speaking course with Sonal, I was a nervous wreck and didn’t even want to be a speaker. The full day course was hands-on with opportunities to practice a number of sessions. Sonal was a great teacher and I learnt so much. Not only that, it was such a fun day and Sonal has a great way of making you feel at ease (even when you feel an absolute prat!). Since my course, I have gone on to speak at 3 events and can sincerely say, I wouldn’t have been able to do this, without her help. Each time, I remember her words and feel more and more confident. Thank you for empowering me!
Sonal is absolutely amazing and a true communicator and confidence expert! I recently took part in her online workshop as public speaking has always been one of my worst nightmares, but thanks to Sonal’s wonderful expertise and top tips, I now feel so much more confident and empowered. Communicating with confidence is such a vital, invaluable skill and Sonal is doing such amazing work by empowering the world with the vital skills of communicating with confidence. I can’t recommend or thank you enough, Sonal!
I enjoyed the course and the way it was delivered in bite-size pieces so it wasn’t overwhelming and I could work at my own pace. I understood what I was asked to do and I like that you have used the 3 different ways people learn, (audio, visual and kinaesthetic). I would recommend this course to anyone who is preparing for public speaking, or an interview as it takes you through each stage.
I have just completed Sonal’s communicating with
confidence online course for adults. I really enjoy doing this course and it’s given me so much more confidence in recording videos and delivering presentations at work. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their communication whether it’s in a personal or professional capacity and it’s cpt accredited so if the fear of sitting an interview or delivering a presentation, doing a live video or recording a video is holding you back from applying for that dream job or growing your business then I would definitely invest in doing this course because it is life changing.
I attended a virtual talk by Sonal on enhancing public speaking skills which was just so much fun and very engaging. She provided us with very valuable tips on how to improve our communication!
I recently completed Sonal’s online public speaking course and really enjoyed it. All the modules were broken down into small manageable steps and it was great being able to do it online at my own pace. All the activities were clear and great to help you start preparing for a topic you want to speak about publicly. Not only does this course help you to be able to communicate your message confidently but it helps with all the mindset work around it. Sonal also covers areas on self-acceptance, voice control, body language and lots more. We often put off having to look back at ourselves on video, but there was time for reflection in this course which I enjoyed and learnt a lot from doing this. I’ve had to start being more visible for my business and I wanted to learn some techniques to help me. Sonal has so much experience to share and she’s such a calm and natural speaker. I can now go away with a new set of skills to help me start communicating my messages with confidence. I would highly recommend this course to anyone wanting support with public speaking.
I wanted to give a big shout out to Sonal Dave for her Adult Communicating with Confidence Online Course. I have found it so helpful in building my confidence when delivering presentations and giving useful tips to my clients. Thank you.
I have completed the Communicating with Confidence course. I was nervous at the beginning, having to record myself, and then watching it back over and over, and then having someone else watch and critique what I was saying. But I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. The course was very well structured, and I liked watching the videos at the end of the modules. It was easy to navigate through the tasks, and you explained things clearly. In the beginning, I did not enjoy taking videos of myself, but then after a few attempts I got better and I was able to complete the task and enjoyed it. Sonal has covered everything in the course, and I know that others who take this on, will thoroughly enjoy it. I would highly recommend it.
Where do I start? I just completed the Adult Online Speaking Course, Communicating with Confidence which was put together by Sonal. I just wanted to say Thank You so much for sending the details as I found it very informative and more importantly, I feel that now I can enhance that skill and feel confident when speaking in the public domain. Sonal knows that initially I was not going to do the course as I already have an events company and do public speaking daily, but I am so glad that I went ahead and signed up as I got much more out of the course which will allow me to enhance and add value to all my events. This course is highly recommended no matter what age so I do encourage you to sign up. Sonal is kind hearted, approachable, understanding and easy going – so on a final note Sonal, Thank You and so grateful to you.
In this unprecedented time I have taken the opportunity to focus on key skills. With this in mind, my daughter and I did the online confidence course for children. It consists of a step by step guide on how to prepare, write and deliver a presentation. It had great tips and techniques and my daughter really enjoyed it. I wish there was something like this for me when I was growing up, thanks to @sonaldave68 for creating, encouraging and being a positive role model to young children.
My daughter sometimes struggles with communicating her feelings. She’s watched me have to be really strong and stump my emotions when I am upset about something. So she copies. I’m a single Mum, and sometimes I just don’t have time to be vulnerable.
This course has really made me think about our level of communication as a family. The course is easy to follow and interesting. We had to stop and discuss some tasks that my daughter didn’t understand, but that highlighted boundary issues we may have and it was good to bring this to light, so we had a good discussion.
Overall, such a good experience and great value.
Older Children Workshop
Speaking confidently in front of an audience, getting your point across articulately without feeling nervous, knowing the right words to use and how to present yourself is not something we can all do naturally. It is a skill, something which you can learn, but sadly, this is not taught in schools.
I was delighted to test out the accessibility of the online course below which is aimed at children to teach them a few pointers which could really increase their confidence, including their parents, who can learn at the same time. I cannot recommend this online course enough, it was easy to download and access using voiceover technology, and loved how each video was short, which meant kids can stay engaged. It was fun and interactive and the way the presenter describes herself helped me to build an image in my mind which even for me was an absolute perk. Each video was descriptive and I didn’t need to rely upon any sighted assistance.
If you want your kids to learn an essential life skill, something they can carry with them for the rest of their life, the art of being able to communicate effectively, then take a look at the link below and take advantage of the discount available until Sunday! Once you get the course, you have it for life.
Contact
+44 (0)7940715666
sonal@sonaldave.com
