Presentational Coaching

You have been asked to speak at either a wedding or a funeral.

• You may hate public speaking, not think you’re very good at it or are absolutely terrified of it.

• Or, because of the circumstance, you want to deliver this speech without becoming too emotional so that your speech lands with your audience and with the person whose speech it is for.

• Not only that, but you want this speech to go well because the person who’s funeral or wedding it is means a great deal to you and are, or have been, a big influence on your life.

Therefore, you want to make them proud and deliver the speech that they deserve.

• I work with you to identify the thoughts and feelings you have surrounding the event and speech as well as look at the relationship you have with the person whose wedding or funeral it is.

• We highlight the importance of these elements and discover the meaning you are choosing to give them. From finding the meaning, we unlock any potential limiting beliefs that may be restricting or holding you back. This enables you to be opened up to a new way of thinking and provides you with a new meaning to the opportunity you have of delivering this speech.

• From this, I work with you to analyse and deconstruct the speech in question and we start to work on the mechanics of the speech.

• I give you strategies and techniques for when nerves and emotions kick in which we practice and develop through our coaching sessions.

• I provide suggestions on how to make sure your speech is heard from all corners of the space of which you give the speech.

• Finally, we practice and rehearse, not just the speech, but the emotions and practicalities that you may experience on the actual day so that nothing is a surprise to you for when you deliver the speech.

During our sessions, I take you through the following steps in preparation of your speech:

1. Meaning (the importance of the speech, the event and the person in question – what are the meaning’s that you are giving these elements? Are they helping or hindering you?).

2. Mechanics (how to make sure you’re heard and understood. Giving you a vocal warm up so that you release tension, know how to support your breathing, develop your resonance so that your voice carriers regardless of the space you’re in and wake up your articulators so that there is clarity in your voice).

3. The Speech (here we analyse and dissect the speech. We look at how it is written, what parts are easy or difficult for you and identify the sections that need the most work and preparation).

4. Practice Makes Confidence (here we rehearse and practice the speech. We try it out in different ways as well as look at what will happen on the day so that you are as prepared as you possibly can be).

5. The Dress Rehearsal (this is our last opportunity to go through the speech and iron out any other creases. We discuss any other practicalities that may happen on the day and go through the last parts of the preparation).

For 5, one-hour sessions (£220), we cover all 5 steps.

For 3, one-hour sessions (£130), we only cover the following steps:

1. Meaning

2. The Speech

3. The Dress Rehearsal

I also offer the “Emergency Session” (£45):

• This is for clients who have limited time and have only days left until the event. Here, I give you the essentials for your speech as well as how to set yourself up to win with limited time left to practice.

As leader of a school or college, you may recognise that some of your students need support in developing their communication and confidence skills.

• We are living in a very technologically progressive time where it is far easier to be looking down onto a screen rather than engaging with life around you.

• Also, because of COVID, you may have seen an increase of mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety, in the students you teach and so their confidence and communication skills are at an all time low.

• Due to these reasons, the art of strong social skills is diminishing and so students and young adults are growing up with underdeveloped communication skills which can potentially limit their options in life.

• If this is something that you recognise in your students within your school or college, then the following may be of use to you.

• I use the key of public speaking to unlock the door to self-confidence and strong communication skills.

• I deliver group coaching and training to develop your students confidence and communicational skills.

• We take the time to understand the importance of active listening and that good communicational skills isn’t always about being able to keep on talking.

• We look at what makes a good speech and from this, get the students to write and then deliver their own.

Through a fun, practical workshop we explore the following:

1. First impressions – we understand why these are important when communicating and what effect they can have on an outcome or situation.

2. Body, voice, and tone – we highlight the importance of having a well warmed up voice and that this is one of the keys to a good speech. Here, we look at:

   • Ways to release any unwanted tension that doesn’t serve the body vocally.

   • Dropping and releasing the breath to help with nerves and sustaining sentences.

   • Warming up our resonators so that we can be heard in any room.

   • Play with fun tongue twisters to wake up the articulators so that we can present with absolute clarity.

3. Active listening – making sure that when we are asked questions about our speech, we truly hear what the other person is saying so that we can respond with a genuine answer and one that lands with the audience.

4. Reflection – we then take the time to reflect on the different exercises and techniques that we’ve experimented with in the first part of this session. What went well? What was easy/difficult? What was most beneficial to me? What can I take away from this and use it moving forward?

5. What makes a good speech? – we discuss this question and analyse real speeches that have been delivered throughout history and understand what was good or sometimes bad about them.

6. Writing the speech – students then go away, using what they’ve learned in the previous section, to write their own 2 mins speech.

7. Delivering the speech – then, taking everything they’ve learned in this workshop, they stand up and deliver the speech to their peers with a short q&a session after the speech.

I offer a 6hr workshop (£290), where we go through all of the above material.

I also offer a 3hr workshop (£145), where we use the same material and structure but with fewer exercises with less time to complete particular tasks.

Things can be busy, so I offer a 1hr presentation (£50), where I go through some key principles to public speaking with confidence, clarity and conviction.