Gilda Bonanno is a speaker, trainer and coach who helps people improve their presentation and communication skills so they can be more successful. She achieves these results by combining her business background with her improv comedy performance experience and a conviction that with the right training and practice, anyone can become a more effective communicator. She has worked with executives and entrepreneurs throughout North America and in South America, Europe, China, India and Thailand.
In addition to facilitating high-energy, client-focused training programs, Gilda speaks about leadership, motivation, communication and humor to groups ranging from engineers to healthcare professionals to investment bankers. Gilda also coaches individuals to overcome their fear of public speaking and eliminate the barriers to letting their voice be heard.
She is a past Board Member for the CT Women's Business Development Council (WBDC) and Past President of the CT chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the Southern CT chapter of the Association for Talent Development (formerly ASTD).
After living through the tsunami that hit southern India in 2004, Gilda came home and decided to launch her own training, speaking and coaching business. Her previous work experience in the pharmaceutical and information technology industries gives her a keen understanding of the challenges facing businesses.
She is a certified Project Management Practitioner (PMP), has a certificate in Process Reengineering and holds an Advanced Business Certificate in Management from the University of Connecticut School of Business. Her expertise in process improvement and project management allows her to help clients use their communication and presentation skills to solve business problems.
She authored a chapter in Paid to Speak: Best Practices for Building a Successful Speaking Business, a book published in 2011 by the National Speakers Association, which includes chapters from speaking luminaries such as Nido Quebein, Lou Heckler and Glenna Salsbury.
Gilda is also a founding member of the World Class Indifference improv comedy team, which for the past seven years has performed comedy shows and taught classes in New York City and Connecticut. She incorporates improv techniques into her speaking, training and coaching, helping people learn to think quickly, be creative and develop confidence.
She also holds a master’s degree in history from Fordham University.