About Echelon

You know exactly what you want to say — until the moment you have to say it.

The words are there. The thoughts are clear. And then someone hands you the mic, or puts you on the spot, or sits you down in front of an audience — and just like that, it’s gone.

If you’ve ever felt that, you’re not alone. And you’re exactly who this is for.

My Story

I’ll never forget sitting on that stage.

I had just won a scholarship my junior year of college — an opportunity I had worked hard for. Part of the award was being interviewed live at a conference, in front of somewhere between 100 and 200 people. I had prepared. I knew my story. I knew what I wanted to say.

And then she asked me the first question.

My mind went completely blank. What came out was vague, brief, and nothing close to what I had rehearsed. I sat there the whole interview feeling like I was bombing it in real time — embarrassed, self-conscious, wondering what went wrong and whether any of it was salvageable.

I walked off that stage and started asking myself a hard question: why couldn’t I just say what I meant?

What Changed

The answer I kept coming back to was simple: I had never actually practiced.

I had done almost all of college online. I worked hybrid, then fully remote. My daily interactions were Zoom calls and small talk with colleagues. I had spent years getting better at thinking — but almost no time getting better at speaking.

That summer, I ended up interning in New York City. And almost by accident, I found a Toastmasters group that met in person every week.

I wasn’t even a member — I just showed up as a guest, every single week for three months. And something clicked. Watching people get up, tell their stories, package a message for an audience, and grow week over week — I was hooked. It wasn’t just public speaking practice. It was a community of people who genuinely wanted to be better communicators. And being in that room, surrounded by that energy, changed something in me.

Then summer ended, and I came back to Metro Detroit.

I looked for something like it. I really did. What I found were virtual groups where speakers read off monitors, where the nerves weren’t real because the audience wasn’t real. It wasn’t the same. Not even close.

Why I Built This

I’m a new grad, starting my career right here in Metro Detroit. And I realized I wasn’t going anywhere — at least not for a while.

So instead of waiting to find the community I was looking for, I decided to build it.

Echelon is an in-person public speaking group for people who want to become better communicators — from the ground up. No judgment. No pressure to be perfect. Just a space to show up, get uncomfortable in a healthy way, and build the one skill that will matter more than almost anything else in your career and your life.

This is for the person who’s done school online and hasn’t had many chances to really connect in person. It’s for the remote worker whose communication muscle has gotten rusty. It’s for the college student who freezes up when they’re called on. It’s for anyone who has something to say and just needs a safe place to learn how to say it.

Speaking is going to be one of the most important skills you can develop — especially now, in an age where AI handles the information and humans need to handle the connection. The ability to be heard, to tell a story, to hold a room — that’s not going away. That’s only becoming more valuable.

What This Newsletter Is

This is where I document the journey of building Echelon — the wins, the lessons, and everything I’m learning about communication, community, and growth along the way.

If you’re in Metro Detroit and want to be part of the group when it launches, subscribe and you’ll be the first to know.

And if you’re somewhere else in the world — this space is still for you. Because the work of becoming a better communicator is universal.

Welcome to Echelon. Let’s get to work.

— Liam 🤙🏾