Presenting / Public Speaking

Our presentation skills and public speaking coaching experts help senior executives deliver messages with more clarity, more impact and greater confidence.

Most of our clients are already experienced communicators but need to ‘step up a gear’ in their oratory. Often, they have strong technical abilities and now face the challenge of having to inspire, engage and influence a wider variety of (often more senior) audiences. We work regularly with senior executives to help them:

• present the numbers virtually
• rehearse for a results presentation
• prepare for an Investor roadshow
• develop stories for their repertoire

Our coaching programmes can be short – eg a dress rehearsal – or a broader programme aimed to polish skills in this area and which might include the support from a wider team of specialists. For example:

• media handling
• influencing and stakeholder engagement
• executive presence and impact
• handling challenging conversations
• emotional intelligence, self-awareness of impact on others
• business writing
• winning pitches

Executive Presence and Impact

Having gravitas means your contributions are considered important, and you’re trusted and respected. In turn, this increases your ability to persuade and influence and is often key to your rise up the corporate ladder. Winning hearts and minds, influencing internal and external stakeholders, and having an impact are essential leadership traits which reflect your Leadership Brand.

Our Executive Presence and Impact coaching specialists can specifically help with: 

• presence – how to command a room; get and hold attention; manage first impressions
• raise awareness of how to adapt styles of communication to suit others
• demystify gravitas and improve your gravitas score
• reinforce and strengthen your leadership brand so that others perceive you differently
• image – how to project impact visually
• being heard in a room with more dominant voices

Influencing and Stakeholder Engagement

Many organisations are moving away from the traditional leadership hierarches, towards flatter and team-based models, involving the need to influence others through means other than positional power. Influencing effectively involves shaping the thinking, feeling and behaviour of others. It draws on skills of persuasion, selling and motivation, but steers clear of manipulation and coercion.

There are various influencing styles, and each can be effective, depending upon the situation and people involved. Influencing is highly situational – using a one-size-fits-all approach is a common mistake.

Influencing and Stakeholder Engagement coaching involves:

• understanding the influencing preference of stakeholders
• tailoring your communication to strengthen engagement and buy-in
• influencing with integrity and authenticity
• accelerating trust and confidence in new and established situations
• building powerful impressions that convey gravitas

Career Coaching

Career coaching can be extremely beneficial for senior leaders when they find themselves at a career crossroads, a time in their career when the answers to, ‘Should I stay?’, ‘Should I go?’ and ‘What will I do?’ prove elusive.

Many of our clients have found themselves catapulted into very senior roles with a fast succession of unplanned promotions. At some point they discover that the ambitions others have had for them no longer match the person they have become. They have lost sight of their own strengths, interests, values and motivations. A career coach can help you find the answers and develop the road map to future success and happiness.

Parental Coaching

Becoming a parent is life-changing for most people.  It can also be career-changing and not always for the better.  Our parental coaching programmes support new and expectant parents as they ask, ‘What next?’, working with them to re-define their priorities and achieve their professional goals.

Emotional Resilience

Resilience is more than gritty determination and persistence; it’s the capacity to deal with challenge, to recover from setbacks and adjust. Leaders need the skills to manage and recover from tough times in a way that doesn’t adversely affect their emotional state. Emotional resilience coaching helps to:

• understand and maintain level-headedness in times of high pressure
• identify triggers and how to manage them
• reflect on the best ways to look after yourself and others
• provide the skills to build your resilience and respond flexibly to challenges

Our Emotional Resilience experts aim to develop the resilience of leaders so that they are well equipped for the increasingly complex and often unpredictable demands on them, and in turn build resilience in their own teams. This work is often beneficial when individuals move into new roles, taking them out of their comfort zones, as well as for leaders who are experiencing challenges which are depleting their resources and impacting on how they’re leading themselves and others.

Stress and Wellbeing

The working environment has changed enormously and the conversation around wellbeing has finally come to the fore. Businesses want to support the emotional and physical wellbeing of their employees as they recognise that a healthy workforce means higher productivity.

Work pressures, when combined with life events such as new parenthood, divorce, health problems, grief, financial problems and retirement, can create even more anxiety and worry.  These events are all likely to negatively impact our mental health, wellbeing and how we navigate the new world we are living in. Support and compassion are more valuable than ever just now.

Our specialist Mental Health, Stress and Wellbeing coaches support individuals as they navigate through life or workplace challenges, helping them towards greater wellbeing and improved mental health. They help overcome learning blocks and develop the confidence and motivation that comes from having high self-worth and a sense of purpose and direction, by replacing limiting, self-defeating beliefs with empowering, positive alternatives.