For the pitch, demo, or talk you have coming
Make your next pitch land.
The Side-by-Side Speaking System
Tonight, record thirty to ninety seconds of a talk you have coming. Work it through twelve short lessons, out loud, on your phone. Then record the same piece again, play the two side by side, and hear what changed in your own voice.
$27, one time
Every lesson opens the minute you buy, so your first take can happen tonight. Full refund for 30 days, and you keep the sheets.
You've done this. I know you have.
You wrote the thing. The pitch, the demo video, the update for the team. You moved the sentences around until they were good.
Then you said it out loud to actual people, and it just sat there like a darn rock. Somebody checked their phone. The room said "thanks" in that polite voice, and the yes you were hoping for didn't come.
So what did you do? You went back to the words. You rewrote the opening, found a better story, and polished it again. That's what I did for years.
If you build things for a living, you hit this moment all the time: the pitch call, the demo you record at midnight, the Monday meeting where somebody has to decide. Each one gets said once, to people who are deciding right then.
Let me tell you about my early twenties.
I'm Deven Davis. My buddy Spence and I built a sales organization, tens of thousands of reps, and I gave a lot of presentations back then. Same slides, same words, mostly. Some nights the room came alive. Some nights it died on the floor.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what changed from night to night. It was me, and how I said it. This course is the practice I wish I'd had back then.
A teacher in Rome saw this almost two thousand years ago
“those whom we address are moved only as they hear.”
His name was Quintilian. He trained speakers for a living and wrote a twelve-book manual on how to do it. I'm not a Latin guy, so I read it in an English translation from 1856. Took me a minute.
His line about hearing is the part I couldn't see for years. The room never sees your notes or the draft you were proud of, so all they ever get is you, talking. So this course takes the parts of that manual that still work in a pitch, a video, a team meeting, or a toast, and puts them in twelve short lessons you practice out loud.
How it works
Step 1
Pick one real talk
A pitch next month, a training you have to run, the video you keep putting off. That's your practice talk, and every sheet works on it.
Step 2
Record your first take
Lesson 1 has you record thirty to ninety seconds of it on your phone. Keep it exactly as it is, rough edges and all. It's supposed to sound like you do today.
Step 3
One lesson, out loud
Each lesson takes seven or eight minutes to read. The sheet takes ten to twenty-five, and you do it out loud. All twelve open on day one, and a weekly practice prompt lands in your inbox for twelve weeks.
Step 4
Play them side by side
In Lesson 12 you record the same piece again, for the same audience, and play the two side by side. Then you listen for what changed, on the talk you actually have to give.
Try it before you buy
The Two-Take Test is the sheet from Lesson 1, and it's free. Record a piece of your talk, change one small thing, record it again, and listen to both. It takes about fifteen minutes and your phone, so you can have your answer tonight.
Whatever you hear is yours, from your own talk in your own voice. Then decide about the other eleven lessons.
Get the free sheet
What you get
The Twelve Lessons
Every lesson is open the minute you buy, so you can start with the one your next talk needs: the first minute, the story, the ending, the hard question. Plus a three-minute orientation, 89 minutes of reading in all.
The Twelve Sheets
One fill-in sheet per lesson, right on the page or as a printable PDF. You do each one out loud, which means every lesson ends with you saying your own talk.
The Two-Take Test
Sheet 1, the record-twice method. It tells you whether a change helped. Already did the free Two-Take Test? That's this sheet.
The Weekly Rep
A reminder that keeps you practicing: one prompt by email each week for twelve weeks, pointed at that week's lesson and sheet.
The Figure Library
Pictures that show you each move: 38 hand-drawn figures and 13 short looping animations.
The Source Tables
A way to check the source yourself: every Quintilian quote in the course, with book and section, checked against the printed 1856 translation.
What it costs
Here's what speaking help costs, as listed in October 2026. One pitch-coaching session was $99. One seat in a three-hour live public-speaking class was $399, and that came with a year of an on-demand course.
You get the lessons, the sheets, and your own recordings to listen to. It's $27, one time, and yours to keep. That's about a quarter of the cheaper session. It's written, so there's no coach on the other end.
$27, one time
Two ways to get your money back
Keep-the-Sheets, first 30 days
Open every lesson and use any sheet for 30 days. If the course isn't worth it to you, reply to any course email and I'll refund the full price. Keep the sheets.
Side-by-Side, through day 120
Record your first take in Lesson 1. Record the same piece in Lesson 12 and play the two side by side. If you can't hear what changed, reply to any course email within 120 days of purchase and I'll refund every dollar. You never have to send me the recordings.
This is for you if
- You have a real talk coming: a pitch, a demo, a team meeting, a toast.
- You've rewritten a talk more than once and it still sat there.
- You'd rather practice on your phone, in your own time, than sit through a live class, even if you dread hearing yourself back.
- You build things, and the people you explain them to are deciding while you talk.
If you want someone watching you and giving live notes, that's a coach's job, and this is a written course.
Questions
How long does it take?
Each lesson takes seven or eight minutes to read, and its sheet takes ten to twenty-five. Every lesson is open on day one, so you can move as fast as your next talk needs.
Is there video?
No. The lessons are written, with hand-drawn figures and short animations, and the sheets have you record yourself on your phone.
I hate hearing my own voice.
Nobody loves it. You get used to it faster than you'd think, and no one hears your recordings unless you decide to share them. The first take is only for you to compare against later.
What if I don't have a talk scheduled?
Pick the pitch, the demo, or the video you keep putting off. It works best on something real.
What do I need?
Your phone is the only gear you need.
How do I get in?
Right after checkout you get a private link to the course, on the screen and by email. Bookmark it. If you lose it, you can have a new one sent anytime.
Can a written course change how I sound out loud?
Every lesson ends with a sheet you do out loud, on your phone, on your own talk. In Lesson 12 you play your first take next to your last one, and if you can't hear what changed, reply within 120 days of purchase and I'll refund every dollar.
I already did the free Two-Take Test. What do I get?
The free test is Sheet 1. The other eleven lessons take your practice talk through one more move apiece, each with its own sheet, and in Lesson 12 you play your first take next to your last.
So pick your talk.
If you can't hear what changed by Lesson 12, reply within 120 days of purchase and I'll refund every dollar. So record the first take tonight, and work it through the twelve lessons before you walk in.