Speaking Presence & Communication Mastery

The ability to express a natural, confident, charismatic presence and skillfully communicate with others is a skill that touches many areas of life. When we can connect on a human level with an audience - whether that be 1-on-1 or 1-to-many, we increase our influence, make impact, and achieve goals.

When I work with leaders on executive presence and the ability to engage an audience, the categories of exploration include:

• Self-Awareness: Strengths, weaknesses, mindset obstacles

• Personal Mastery: Confidence, emotional regulation, flow state

• Message: Audience analysis, content strategy, experience design, effective AI utilization

• Delivery: Voice, body language & movement, charisma, storytelling, memorization, flexibility of engagement

Why 1-on-1 coaching

Yes - YouTube, reading books, doing group courses, and experimenting on your own are all helpful activities. But remember - time is our most valuable non-renewable resource. As we advance in life, the value of our time increases. Early on, we trade time to save money: learning in groups, doing trial and error on our own, getting free advice - i.e., taking the long route to success. But as we grow, the opportunity-cost of time becomes too high to ignore. In 1-on-1 coaching, we would much more efficiently focusing on what you need.

…but my coaching also includes insights from many less obvious sources. I have found some of the most powerful insights and techniques come from outside of conventional “public speaking” training. In my 20+ years of varied education, corporate, and coaching experience, I’ve consistently found that the emotional intelligence and human connection aspects of most training are treated superficially. Going beyond the dismissive (typical) advice of “just go do it”, I make sure we also train the personal mastery aspects at a nervous system level - as needed. My job as a coach is to distill what I know into the simplest, most effective methods that serve the individual client.

My field experience

I’ve created and delivered talks and workshops to audiences ranging from post-secondary students to C-suite executives. I’ve done sales presentations with millions of dollars at stake. I’ve shared my passions as an instructor of various sports. I bring the synthesis of all of that experience, and all the feedback I’ve learned from doing them.

Bridge the Knowing-Doing Gap

As mentioned, personal mastery is key. Technical skills alone are not enough. To be at your best, you need show up with authentic confidence, come from non-attachment, and tap into your flow state. I experienced this in dramatic fashion when I had the good fortune of being selected to receive specialized training and perform in the production of one of the greatest TV series of all time.

In one instance that had close to 100 people on set, I was required to skillfully deliver my part of a precisely orchestrated scene with the main cast. This was way outside of my comfort zone. I am not a professional actor, so performing what was expected in that context was nerve-wracking. This was a record-setting-award-winning cast and crew of one of my favourite shows. It was natural to be intimidated and feel a sense of impostor syndrome - but my personal mastery skills allowed me to deliver. That day was a priceless experience of deepening self-knowledge and understanding the power of the personal mastery skills that I coach.

Life and work is easier and much more joyful when we can reliably step into tension and physically apply what we know intellectually. That is bridging the knowing-doing gap. We will work on that.

What I need from you

If we are to work together on this exciting skill set, I would need you to be fully committed to your goals. That sounds obvious, but most people say they want something but their investment of time, attention, energy, and money does not align with their stated goal. In order to be successful in a competitive world you will need to not be “most people”.

In my coaching, I will never tell you to do X or Y. We will always collaboratively design your homework. My only ask is that you keep your promise to yourself. And if you happen to struggle with doing so - no worries, we will coach around that.

One more thing: remember the immortal words of Vinh Giang...