EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

What This Programme Is

Executive Presence develops the embodied communication capacity that enables leaders to command attention, inspire action, and create lasting impact. Drawing on research showing that executive presence comprises gravitas (how you act under pressure), communication (how you speak and engage), and appearance (how you present yourself), and integrating this with theatre training in voice production, physical presence, storytelling structure, and authentic performance, this program builds leaders who communicate with clarity, conviction, and compelling authenticity. Participants master the technical craft of powerful communication while maintaining genuine connection and presence.

Who This Is For

• Senior leaders presenting to boards, investors, or large audiences

• Executives whose communication impact doesn't match their expertise

• Leaders transitioning to larger roles requiring greater presence

• Anyone experiencing disconnect between message importance and delivery impact

• Technical experts needing to communicate beyond expert audiences

• Leaders wanting to inspire and move people, not just inform them

Format

Highly physical and vocal work including breath and voice exercises, physical warm-ups and presence training, storytelling development and delivery, video recording and feedback, high-stakes presentation rehearsal with coaching, improvisational Q&A practice, and peer feedback sessions. Each participant delivers multiple presentations with iterative coaching.

What You'll Develop

Core Capabilities:

• Vocal power and projection: breath support, resonance, articulation

• Physical presence: posture, gesture, spatial command, status

• Storytelling structure: narrative arc, tension, resolution, meaning

• Authentic connection: presence without performance, vulnerability with strength

• Gravitas under pressure: maintaining composure in high-stakes moments

• Audience reading: sensing and responding to group energy

• Improvisational flexibility: handling unexpected moments with grace

Key Competencies:

• Voice production: breathing, vocal placement, projection, modulation

• Body language: open vs. closed gestures, power postures, spatial awareness

• Narrative structure: beginning hooks, building tension, climactic moments, meaningful resolution

• Rhetorical devices: metaphor, repetition, contrast, rhetorical questions

• Audience engagement: eye contact, inclusive language, participatory elements

• Managing nervousness: converting anxiety into energy

• Q&A facilitation: handling difficult questions, thinking on feet

• Authenticity vs. performance: being genuine while being polished

• Video presence: camera techniques for virtual communication