Confidence
Training

Michael Herold is a confidence coach and social skills trainer. He works with people who have been stuck in their comfort zone and helps them develop their confidence. He uses evidence-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and fun exposure exercises, and he probably geeks out about both of them way too much.

Since 2016, Michael has led well over 100 confidence-building workshops, helping several thousand people to get more confident in their lives. What started in his living room on a whim turned into a calling that changed many lives, and most of all his own.

He has worked with more than 500 clients from all areas of life in group and private coaching, to help with careers, relationships, and making life meaningful and exciting again.

Michael is a co-host of the popular Psychologists off the Clock Podcast, one of the leading psychology podcasts in the world. On that podcast, the five co-hosts discuss cutting-edge psychological and behavioral research with leaders in the field.

As a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), Michael is the current president of the ACT Coaching Special Interest Group with nearly 1,000 coaches worldwide. 

He is also the co-founder of the ACT in Austria Affiliate of ACBS, a nationwide meetup for ACT practitioners in Austria.

Michael has spoken about finding courage at TEDx, in front of members of parliament, universities, and once in a cinema full of 500 kids high on sugary popcorn. He is also presenting at psychology conferences worldwide on topics like social anxiety, imposter syndrome, values-based living, conversation techniques, and countless more.

He is a certified therapeutic game master, and one of his passion projects is using the popular Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game to train communication, assertiveness, and cooperation with anxious kids, adults, and even work teams. Actually, with anyone ready to roll some dice and battle monsters in a supportive group where players want to level up their social skills.

In a previous life, he was a character animator working on award-winning movies and TV shows such as The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.

That was before he realized that helping people live a meaningful life is much more rewarding than working in the film business – even though the long nights in the studio allowed him to brew his own beer in the office closet, an activity he highly recommends.

Michael grew up with five foster kids who were all taken out of abusive families. His foster siblings showed him how much positive change is possible in a person if they receive the love and support they deserve.

He is also of the firm opinion that no one ever reads his bio all the way through, and constantly wonders if he should just put something silly at the end.