Give me five minutes of your time to share the inspiring story of how Roma, a financial adviser from Roma & Co, learnt to be a more powerful presenter thanks to my 1:1 coaching.  

Over the last seven years, Roma & Co have supported over 500 clients to achieve their financial goals. Before working with me, Roma was no stranger to public speaking. She’d been a member of Toastmasters and delivered dozens of presentations.

Clearly fab at what she does, waffling was holding her back. Ask her to talk about subjects like financial literacy, investing, and KiwiSaver, and she had a habit (like most people I coach) of diving into too much detail. 

This meant her appointments could go over time, and her presentations were not as slick as they could be.  

Unlike some of my clients, Roma’s not shy of the spotlight. 

She regularly trains workplaces and inspires larger crowds of fifty or more at events, including Auckland Young Professionals (AYP).

She’s the first to admit:

“If you start talking to me about finance, I’m super passionate. You get me on a topic and I'm off." 

While I’m not here to dull her passion, I knew that with some 1:1 coaching she could become a highly successful, succinct, and sought-after public speaker.  

Let’s start with Roma’s top five goals:
 

1. Be known and loved as an industry leader who supports her clients to achieve their financial goals. 
2. Learn powerful storytelling techniques to bring a technical subject to life, including hooks and analogies.
3. Make her presentations more interactive and memorable.
4. Have a repeatable structure for client appointments so they don’t run over time. 
5. Gain honest, personalised feedback from me, and have a sounding board to regularly test new ideas and presentation content.

Bringing out Roma’s inner storyteller

Even with our shoddy attention spans, a story holds our interest because it speaks to our emotional side. This is the part of us that convinces us that we can trust and relate to the speaker. 

I coached Roma on storytelling techniques to deliver powerful intros and outros, and to leave her audience eager to work with her.   

Storytelling devices also create a framework which Roma now uses to keep her client meetings on track, too. 

Succinct, interactive, and memorable presentations

Following my advice, Roma regularly uses the online polling platform, Slido, so audiences can interact with her workshop content. 

This is perfect for her younger audiences. AYP are typically 18-35 years old, and they expect workshops to be digitally interactive. 

Roma used to speak too quickly, too. A problem I see all too often, she’d risk losing her audience’s attention, and they’d miss crucial details. After coaching, she now commands any stage by slowing down, repeating key points for emphasis, and pausing to allow information to sink in. 

Adjusting habits starts with awareness.

Roma says my coaching has helped her notice when she uses filler words and be aware of how she sounds. Thanks to some adjustments, she is consistently making the ideal first impression.   

How does working with me compare to group work? 

Roma appreciates how my feedback comes from my professional broadcasting background, and it’s more direct and personalised than group-style coaching. 

“With John, I can be myself. I can say this is how I feel. And then John will say let’s try this.”

I tell you how it is to bring out the best in you

I see too many presenters weaken their message with too many slides.  

Roma reaches out to me when prepping for upcoming presentations. I tell her when she’s gone overboard on the slides, so she knows what content should stay and what should go.  

She also catches herself in the moment when she’s speaking too quickly or going off topic, and she’ll adjust.  

It’s like having me on her shoulder coaching her to: 

“Take your time, steady your breathing, stay on topic, pause.”

Roma’s gained so much from coaching. 

1. More confident and impressive speaker – both at live events and on camera.
2. More aware of how pace, pauses, pitch, volume, and breathing impact her delivery.
3. Roma’s key messages are not lost to waffle. 
4. She’s using storytelling techniques to hold and inspire a crowd, which has led her to secure more bookings (and more paying clients). 
5. She adapts her presentations to resonate with different audiences, including using tools like Slido. 
6. Better at thinking on her feet during Q and A’s. 
7. Her presentations are cleaner, clearer, and more concise after deleting unnecessary slides.
8. More confident when networking with HR managers and CEOs and putting her hat in the ring for speaking gigs.
9. Roma is even better at translating complex information into language that’s easy to understand. Check out her Google reviews to read how fab her communication skills are.  
10. Her client meetings stay on schedule which creates a fantastic client experience. People love working with her and tell their family and friends all about it.

Want results like Roma for yourself?

If you’re ready to:

• improve your public speaking 
• grow in confidence and clarity both at live events and on camera
• learn storytelling techniques that inspire your audience and give you structure 
• create impactful intros and outros that leave your audience wanting more
• learn crowd-pleasing speaking techniques that secure you more client bookings (and boost your profits)

get in touch for a free consultation today!  

Globally, the fear of public speaking – known as glossophobia – is rampant. But this goes out to the brave souls: if you work on overcoming this fear you get to experience the personal and commercial pay-off from being seen, known, trusted and loved, as well as the freedom to share your perspective and expertise to new audiences.  

Just like my client Hindujhan is experiencing right now as you read this.  

Hindujhan is the founder and lead software engineer of The Permalinks, a New Zealand-based digital marketing agency. This is his story of how he confronted his fear of public speaking, with my coaching, to become a calm, clear and confident presenter.    

But first, some context. The Permalinks help you drive traffic to your website and then convert visitors to sales. They do this through SEO, paid ads, content marketing and more. It’s fair to say their clients have experienced extraordinary results. As an example, they’ve helped several businesses grow from nothing to bring in around $4 million in annual revenue.

Hindujhan and I met at BNI and instantly clicked. I soon discovered that while exceptional at client delivery, he was a reserved speaker.   

When asked to deliver a presentation, he used to fret over what other people would think. His anxiety would have a physical effect on him – he described a “shivering” sensation. Understandably, this meant he would tend to forget important information, despite his technical know-how. He’d also rush and speak softly to get it over with. 

"I have this insecurity when it comes to speaking. That's the reason I didn't want to do it to be honest.” 

You’d think that this fear would mean that he didn’t care for public speaking at all. But the opposite is true – being a keynote speaker is one of his dreams.   

With all these factors to consider, it was abundantly clear just how much Hindujhan would benefit from my 1:1 coaching.  

Let’s start with Hindujhan’s top five goals:

 

1. Build confidence to stand in front of people and deliver presentations without freezing, forgetting or over-preparing
2. Establish a public profile as a smart and capable founder without compromising quality or scaling too quickly
3. Overcome the discomfort of approaching new people at networking events, and feel more at ease in social situations
4. Convert speaking engagements and networking into new client sign-ups and increased profitability
5. Keep his audiences engaged – one of his concerns was losing his audience to their phones.  

Using a framework and repetition helped him steadily tackle his fears 

I coached him through a key storytelling framework which he can use in all his presentations to keep his audience’s attention. 

The three-step framework goes like this: 

1. describe the setting or context
2. lay out the problem

3. reveal the outcome or transformation. 

    

At the same time, I encouraged him to stretch his comfort zone bit by bit. He practised speaking in progressively challenging environments – first in front of just me, then small crowds, and then in front of a large audience – to help him reduce his anxiety and demonstrate that he can command a stage and hold an audience’s attention.

Never forget this: I’ve got you

Although I want all my clients to challenge what they see possible, you will never doubt that I’ve got your back. I’ll never minimize the courage it takes to face your fears. 

This means, for as long as I’m coaching Hindujhan, I can remind him of the fundamentals and reassure him before he sets foot on a stage. 

‘Slow down, slow down, slow down.’ Using your voice as a powerful instrument to influence, engage and convert 

Another thing we worked on was voice control. I demonstrated how to speak clearly, slowly, and with optimal intonation and volume. Naturally soft-spoken, I kept on encouraging him to speak up. 

Although this felt uncomfortable at first – he’s polite and doesn’t like disrupting people – he’s become increasingly comfortable with speaking louder and taking up space.

Hindujhan now repeats this mantra to himself: “slow down, slow down, slow down”.  

‘Stand straight, shoulders back, speak up.’ How you say it is as important as what you say

Through my coaching, Hindujhan reflects on this truism: how you deliver is as important as the content of your message. That’s why he now pays attention to his body language: his expressions, gestures, and posture. He’s realised how important these factors are to make a fast and fab first impression.

Hindujhan’s grown so much from coaching. And you can experience these results too.

1. Three new clients signed up after hearing his speech on using AI in websites.
2. His confidence gets a boost every time he speaks. This is thanks to great audience feedback, converted customers, and even winning the 60-second presentation cup at BNI.
3. He now has a clear storytelling structure – setting, problem, outcome – which he can repeat across all his presentations.
4. He no longer over-prepares or ruminates over every presentation, instead speaking with more confidence, intuition and spontaneity. This means he’s more in tune with his audiences, he can read the room and adjust, and his listeners are more motivated to act. 
5. Being more comfortable taking up space and speak up makes him more persuasive and influential. 
6. His body language is more centered, confident and authoritative. The physical signs of anxiety, like shivering or freezing, rarely bother him now. 
7. He’s overcoming the discomfort of approaching new people, making him feel more at ease in networking situations. 
8. He’s building his professional network, and his peers now see him as approachable and confident, rather than shy and reserved. 
9. He’s making the most of every customer interaction, which means he’s already noticing a flow on effect to his revenue and profitability.
10. He’s not afraid to put his hand up for speaking opportunities – which is doing wonders for his visibility and credibility.

Want results like Hindujhan for yourself?

If you’re ready to:

• overcome your fear of public speaking  
• feel confident approaching strangers at networking events 
• feel safe to take up space and speak with expression and influence
• learn storytelling techniques so that your key messages never get lost 
• learn crowd-pleasing speaking techniques that secure you more speaking gigs, client bookings, and money in the bank 

Get in touch today for a free consultation.