Prescription medication is an unrecognised barrier to executive presence. SSRIs flatten emotional range. Stimulants kill pause tolerance. The most medicated generation in history is leading from behind a pharmaceutical glass ceiling.

Exceptional leaders have own-the-room qualities we call “executive presence”. These traits are prized because they inspire trust, fuel careers and get things done. Executive coaches help diagnose what’s blocking people from this flavour of authority – personality, ...

In Zen Buddhism there’s a useful word meaning “neither yes nor no”. When an acolyte asked a foolish question, the Master could reply “mu”, meaning “I say ‘yes’ but I mean ‘no’ and the actual answer is: unask the question.”

If only we could say “mu” in modern life! Sadly, it only works on Buddhist monks, and not on children asking if Santa Claus is real. Happily, there exists a large toolbox of practical techniques for answering difficult questions when they come your way. We teach them in in me...

Imagine you need to get your head around a difficult new topic – quantum theory, for example, or genetic engineering. Would you be better off talking to a Nobel Prize-winning genius, or a young scientist working in their lab? You might get lucky, if the wise professor is also a great communicator, but surprisingly often you’d learn more from the lowly assistant.

The reason is a cognitive bias that psychologists call the Curse of Knowledge. It’s a software glitch that causes our brains to overes...

When entrepreneurs and leaders polish their communication skills in public speaking and media training, they focus on two success factors: preparation and performance. Rightly so. There’s no substitute for mastering the foundations of structure, messaging, framing, storytelling, body language, energy, voice and interaction.

But there’s a powerful moment that can fall through the gap between preparation and performance. I’m talking about the art of arriving: how to make the most of those preciou...

Body language, posture and voice are crucial. But what you need to do to get them right doesn’t happen during the performance – it happens before you start.

It’s no secret how much body language matters for public speaking and executive presence. The real secret is this: leaders who want to build executive presence, and the people who coach them, have been working on the wrong problem.

Stay tuned for a story about how fixing the right problem helped one CEO land a $6.3 billion deal.

But first...

It’s no secret how much body language matters for public speaking and leadership. The real secret is this: leaders who want executive presence (and the people who coach them) have been working on the wrong problem. Here’s how fixing the right problem helped one CEO land a $6.3 billion deal.

When professionals stand up to speak and the stakes are high, they want to appear confident and authoritative. They want to project “leader energy” and so they focus on what they do with their bodies in the ...

Most people are well aware of the importance of body language in public speaking and media interviews, but in practice it is challenging and often counter-productive to try actively to hold ourselves in a way that our bodies don’t find natural. Experienced actors know how to use their bodies to send signals of confidence and presence, but most of us don’t have a lifetime of experience managing the subtleties of posture and gesture. Making a conscious effort to hold ourselves in a particular way ...

When you’re preparing to speak in public, whether for a speech, presentation or media interview, it can be very useful to run through some of the same vocal warm-up drills that singers and stage actors use to maximise vocal projection. If you prime your voice in this way, you will sound better without even having to think about it.

Jaw and cheek muscle release

1. Find your Masseter (upper jaw) muscles, which hang from the back of your cheekbones in a notch about one inch in front of each ear.
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Photographs and video from a set-piece protocol or media event can magnify its impact on public perceptions and on the reputation of institutions and VIPs. It is in everyone’s interests that photo opportunities are stage managed to facilitate the best quality images.

Media often complain that they have to fight to get what they need to make good images. Great public relations and protocol services treat media as customers. The following guidance explains how to help photographers and videograph...