About us

Speechcraft is a Zurich-based partnership, founded by two people who approach the same goal from two sides: convincing talks — made measurable.

Rhetoric & Coaching

Maria

Certified debating coach · Swiss debating champion 2025

Debating
Rhetoric coaching
Argumentation
Persuasiveness
Confidence

Speaking, persuading, getting to the point — that is what fascinates me. I study law at the University of Zurich (UZH), and when I am not buried in legal texts, I am usually busy with some form of arguing. I have been doing that for years, including at international tournaments — and in 2025 I even got to call myself Swiss debating champion. I enjoy the other side of the table just as much: as an adjudicator I have gathered substantial experience in the Debating Club Zurich and beyond, including a final and two semi-finals at international tournaments. That is where I learned what a truly convincing speech comes down to — and how to pass it on.

For three years I served on the board of the Debating Club Zurich, two of them as president, helping countless people take their first steps in debating and refine their rhetoric. In November 2025 I completed my formal training and certification as a debating coach.

My studies keep drawing me to the lectern as well: at a moot court in contract law, my team won the award for the best statement of claim — further proof that good argumentation and clear language make the difference in very different contexts. Alongside my studies I work as a research assistant at CREMA (Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts) in the team of renowned economics professor Margit Osterloh — writing academic papers, presenting at international conferences, and having the pleasure of presenting our book at a panel discussion.

All of these experiences — from the speaker's lectern and the adjudicator's bench at tournaments to the lectern in the lecture hall and at conferences — feed into my coaching. I love helping others find their own voice, structure their arguments more clearly and perform with greater confidence — and I look forward to passing this knowledge on.

Data Analysis & Speech Technology

Andre

Dr. oec., postdoctoral researcher at CREMA Zurich

Conference talks
Teaching
Academic debate
Democracy research
Media contributions
Stage experience (acting)

Everyone comes into contact with rhetoric — and in the most varied facets. Whether as an athlete on the pitch giving a motivating talk, as a speaker at a celebration, as a scout leader or in everyday working life: getting your arguments across cleanly and clearly, convincing others in a democratic spirit (or making sure the guests love to come back for the next big birthday), all of that is successful rhetoric.

My own touchpoints reflect this. It began with several years as an actor, with performances in Paris and St. Petersburg among others. That laid the foundation for what belongs on a stage, and how the interaction with an audience works. Later, as captain of a sports team, came the locker-room talk: rhetoric with a racing pulse.

Above all, though, I am shaped by research and academic debate culture. As an economist with a doctorate, I work at CREMA (Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts) in Zurich on democracy and political participation — many of those years together with Prof. Bruno S. Frey. Talks and discussions at international conferences, from Riga and Vienna to the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, are part of everyday life. And studying democracy teaches you: it lives on speech and counter-speech — what prevails is not measured by the better argument alone.

Out of all these experiences grew the Speechcraft analysis: software that extracts more than 20 objective metrics from a single recording. Vocabulary richness, speaking rate, pauses, clarity and rhetorical structure are among them. In coaching, these numbers are the anchor: they show precisely where practice pays off most, and make progress tangible and visible.

“We combine what rarely comes together in rhetoric consulting: human coaching experience and data-driven speech analysis. One without the other is mere gut feeling or bare statistics. Together, they produce reproducible improvement you can see in the numbers. You will feel it in your next talk — and above all, so will your audience.”

What we stand for

Evidence

What we say is measurable. Our recommendations rest on objective metrics — not on impressions alone.

Confidentiality

Your recordings stay in Switzerland, transferred and stored end-to-end encrypted. Discretion is part of how we work.

Impact

We measure progress between sessions and show strengths as well as weaknesses. In the end, it is your audience that notices the difference.