Erik Palmer is an educational consultant and internationally acclaimed educational speaker. He has given keynotes and led trainings for educators across the United States and around the world. Palmer's articles have appeared in national publications, and he is the author of five books, including Well-Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students, Teaching the Core Skills of Listening & Speaking, and Good Thinking: Teaching Argument, Persuasion, and Reasoning. As a consultant, Palmer focuses on sharing practical, engaging ways to develop oral communication skills. He works with individuals seeking to become better speakers as well as with Fortune 500 companies. Whether training staff directly or developing courses for companies that want to improve employee communication skills, Palmer's framework for understanding and mastering oral communication leads to improved speaking skills in all speaking situations: formal or informal, small audience or large, in-person or digital. Prior to becoming a consultant, Palmer had a successful career in the commodity brokerage business and then spent 21 years teaching English, math, science, and civics. Palmer has a BA from Oberlin College and an MA from the University of Colorado. He lives in Aurora, Colorado.