“Oh but they are very clever…” is something we hear often when invited to work with technical specialists who need to be able to talk to the rest of us in a way that we understand. We believe that being clever is not an excuse for being a poor presenter and there are no boring subjects, only boring speakers.

It’s never clever to be too clever in meetings or seminars: being human is always better and being understandable is a must. The bad news is we don’t have a Men In Black zapper pen that can instantly inject you with personality and clarity; the good news is we have other, more realistic, ways of doing just that.

The challenge was one we encounter often in professional services: to get the technically gifted to be brilliant at talking to their various audiences.

Over a number of years we have delivered a combination of group training and individual coaching: the former being fast-paced and outcome focussed, and the latter being our typical ‘tough love’ formula.

Working in groups allows individuals to get better at working on pitches, as many presentations are done with other parts of the business. One to one coaching gets under the skin of any issues preventing individuals being as good as they can be, as well as giving specific, incisive feedback to allow future improvement.

The key areas covered are: creativity in making the data sing to the room using the emotional connection; devastating conference delivery, using digital video feedback; structuring effectively along clean, clear, rational lines; how to open and how to close.

Greatly increased confidence from presenters who must make an impact with very senior groups, both internally and externally.

Fewer slide shows and more intimate question and answer sessions in meetings.

Fantastic feedback from seminars and conference presentations.

Increased confidence and better technique all round.