Services / Executive presence
Executive presence
You have been told you need more gravitas, but nobody has explained what to change.
It is a comment that holds back a lot of promotions and almost never comes with an explanation. What people are reacting to can be pinned down, and it can be trained.
What it is costing you
It is usually one of these.
- The promotion goes to another director, the one who sounded more certain
- The client chooses the firm that felt safer, and nobody can tell you why
- You are the most senior person in the room and the questions still go to someone else
- When someone finally tells you, it comes as a label: presence, gravitas, maturity
It describes the effect but not the cause, which is why you can spend two years working on your confidence without anything changing.
What people are actually picking up on
Four things, and all of them can be heard.
Whether you sound rushed
When someone is in a hurry, people stop following them.
Whether you can hold a silence
Someone who never leaves a gap sounds worried about being cut off.
Whether your recommendation sounds like a decision
Or like you are asking for permission.
Whether your voice sounds settled
Or slightly on edge.
Above all, what happens to those four things when someone challenges you, because that is when you are really being assessed.
How we work on it
A first session of one hour on a real situation or a recording, where I tell you which of those four is letting you down. It is usually just one.
Then six to twelve sessions on your real meetings: the committee you present to, the people deciding your promotion, the panel in March. I play them, interrupt you, look unconvinced and stop you at the point where you stopped sounding senior, and we repeat it until it comes naturally.
If in the first session I can see the problem is your message rather than your delivery, I will tell you.
seats, no microphone and no second chance. That is where you learn what makes a voice sound certain, and what gives it away.
Ten years singing opera across EuropeWhat you take away
- A recording of you at the start and at the end, so you can hear what has changed.
- A short written note after each session with what to keep and what to practise that week.
- A routine for the hour before the meetings where it matters most.
What this is not
- Confidence coaching.Your confidence is fine. What happens is that, under pressure, your body changes how you sound before you even notice the nerves, and that is what we train.
- A character.We work on your voice, not on a persona. The aim is that people hear the person who already knows the subject.
- Therapy.If what is behind it needs a therapist rather than a coach, I will tell you.
Format and price
The programme
A first session of one hour, then six to twelve sessions on your real meetings.
- Online or in person, in London or Madrid
- English or Spanish
- Written proposal with a fixed price
Diagnostic session
£150one hour
On a real situation or a recording. I tell you which of those four is letting you down, and if the problem is your message rather than your delivery, I tell you that too.
- Online or in person, in London or Madrid
- English or Spanish
If your company is going to pay, this is how it usually works. Travel outside London or Madrid is charged at cost.
“In the first session I understood exactly what was limiting my voice, precisely rather than vaguely, and how to change it. Years of working under pressure had never made that clear.”
Myra V., Clinical Psychologist
Before you decide
What if I do the sessions and nothing changes?
That is why we start with a free 20-minute call. If I can hear that the problem is not how you sound, I tell you before you commit to anything.
Do I have to become someone else?
No. We work on your voice, not on a character. The aim is that people hear the person who already knows the subject.
Is this therapy?
No. If what is behind it needs a therapist rather than a coach, I will tell you.
How is this different from any other coach?
I spent ten years in banking and corporate finance before this, in the rooms you are preparing for. And there is no template: every session is built on a meeting you actually have.
Online or in person?
Both. Online, or in person in London and Madrid, in English or Spanish.
How much does it cost?
The diagnostic session, one hour, is £150. For the programme of six to twelve sessions I send you a written proposal with a fixed price.
It might be a board meeting, a hearing, an investor pitch, a promotion panel or a team that is not getting its message across. Just send me an email, there is no form. I reply within 24 hours and, if it makes sense, we have a 20-minute call. If your date is less than a week away, put it in the subject line. Or start with a free voice read: send me two minutes of you in a real meeting and I will tell you what I hear.