Firstly…  about you?

Which of these are relevant to you?

You - want to make better speeches. 

You - want to be a better and more effective leader.

You - want to get further in interview stages so that you can get past the filtering external recruiters and the multi-stage internal filters and finally get in front of a decision maker. 

You - understand that you need to know and tell your stories better. 

You - may have had speaker coaching or interview coaching or presentation coaching before. 

You - understand that well meant feedback like “You’re fine” and “That was really good”  is useless. 

But …

You are searching today for practical, useable - and above all honest - feedback and guidance that you can trust. Feedback and expert coaching that you can apply immediately and that delivers results. Fast. 

Friends and family want to make you feel good. 

Some colleagues, peers and “work friends” want you to fail. 

I want my people to fly. So....

Who (the hell) is Peter Botting, and what has he done?

What a great question: “Who the hell is this guy?”

The whole point is that I’m not supposed to be known. My job is to help other people find, develop and use their voice. I am a discreet backroom resource.

If you see a business leader deliver a great speech, pitch, or presentation, you shouldn’t know that I helped them. If you see people succeed “effortlessly” in their careers and win at interviews, you shouldn’t know that I helped them. If you see politicians win elections, you shouldn’t know that I helped them.

Born, and then raised in a few countries in Africa, I was surrounded by strong personalities, vivid stories and natural storytellers. At school, I devoured books when not playing competitive tennis and rugby, as well as club and provincial rugby. Against the backdrop of a civil war. Unsurprisingly I love stories and I hate losing.  

I fell into storytelling and speaker coaching after I resigned from a job in Germany while forgetting I had no money and no return ticket and couldn’t yet speak German. In polite English, that’s called being stranded. I prefer the ruder, funnier four-letter descriptions.

But “necessity is the mother of invention”, and I had to get on with my life. There’s a funny story about my version of invention/desperation that I can tell you if we work together and I like you, which is very similar to a fun, but little-known story, about the then UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. And a famous punch.

Real World Business Experience

Leading a business can be lonely and tough. Having turned around and run a failing small 145-strong manufacturing group in Europe, I understand the pressures of acquiring and retaining employees and clients, meeting the payroll, persuading multiple “stakeholders”, and keeping the show on the road – while being constantly watched by colleagues, competitors and the media.

My personal business experience has been significantly enriched and expanded by working with hundreds of CEOs and business leaders from different cultures, industries and approaches. This has expanded my human understanding, moulded my coaching ability and stimulated the cross-pollination of ideas across industries.

There are also some fun business stories about running and turning around a two-site, three-company manufacturing group with 145 staff (in German), a “toxic relationship” with the 9mm-brandishing and unhappy (never a good combo) head of the local East German/Russian mafia (whom I had sued on behalf of the company), adventures in EMEA (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi, Tunisia, Morocco, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium) and two “interesting” projects in China. 

Professionally trained in Germany, I have worked for 17 PLCs and coached over 7500 people in 8 countries – including four years with that small German startup SAP, a fun bit of work for Mercedes, an ongoing workshop series with BASF and storytelling for IBM all around Asia. There’s a fuller bragging list here if you’re interested. It isn’t exhaustive at all – some clients prefer discretion – they’re not sketchy though. Just discreet.

Politics and Campaigns

Politically, I’ve worked with two Prime Ministers and coached over 175 UK Members of Parliament. I was part of a tiny team that helped bring Anti-Slavery Day onto the UK statutes and conceived and set up the Anti-Slavery Media Awards. I conceived and pitched (to Francis Maude and Archie Norman), who hired me to found and set up what is now known as Policy Exchange – working for Francis Maude. The original eight were Francis Maude, Archie Norman, Theresa May, Theresa Villiers, Peta Buscombe, Tim Yeo, David Willetts, Colin Barrow and Peter Wilding.  You can read about my “crucial contribution” to the national No2AV referendum  – essentially, we were trailing 30/70, and my job was to help turn around the polls by persuading the Labour Party to join the Conservative Party on the No team.

Talk like TED

I have coached over 300 speakers for 6 TEDMED conferences (the geeky health arm of TED). I have a big interest in the health sector, was a Non-Exec in the NHS and have worked with a number of U.K. GPs (General Practitioners) via the Royal College of GPs and some really interesting medical device startups.

Malcolm Gladwell talks about 10 000 hours: my coaching count is around 30 000 hours. Maybe that’s why I look like I do. All of my work initially was face-to-face. Then I used Skype; now it’s a hybrid of in-person for big-ticket event coaching and online or a hybrid for most interview coaching.

Why retain or hire Peter Botting?  

What drives me? This is key to why you should hire people.

Simon Sinek’s WHY, his purpose, is inspiring people.

What is my WHY? I believe people have a story or stories they don’t tell (that they should) – or stories that they do tell, but that could be told better. I believe people know, deep down, they are underselling themselves.

My WHY is helping people find, develop and use their voice – and tell their story better. People like you. 

Imagine you were a car. Whichever car you’ve just imagined – I believe it has more gears, more ability, more capacity, more top speed, and more potential… I help people unleash and stretch and push their potential… I help them get into their top gear. Sorry for the car analogy, but I like cars…

Some people know they have a story but can’t distil it or articulate it. Some need help to deliver it. Some are amazed at the potency of the overlooked, forgotten stories we unearth together – stories that become a powerful and persuasive part of their storytelling armoury. Some people are so busy with the urgent and short term that they miss out on the storytelling arc that is the thread joining up what they do and why they do it. Most focus on short-term survival – rather than long-term success.

Understanding, unlocking and articulating your WHY leads to long-term success.

I love helping people identify and unpack their stories, understand the power and potential of their stories and then deliver those stories in the very best way.

I love getting messages from my clients telling of the ongoing ripple that follows their speech, presentation or pitch. Standing ovations are very cool – but being able to persuade people and affect long-term change: that is epic. I like epic. 

My Coaching Approach

There is no instant silver bullet. Coaching is going on an uneven journey together. People need different things at different times for different scenarios from a coach they trust. A coach who gets them. My bespoke executive coaching is not copy-and-paste. You deserve tailor-made coaching from a coach that goes where you are and takes you forward – not what some coach “prepared” in a re-labelled, rehashed, rigid Excel sheet. Personal coaching needs to meet you and be of value to you where you are and where your head is, focusing on what you have to achieve and by when. Deliverables. Output. 

A very senior military officer said: “Your different thinking, disruptor style that leads to better solutions but in an inclusive way is a strength.” I’ll take that!  

Another senior military officer described me as “unafraid and happy to challenge…thinks in broader terms…more ambitious and less constrained”. I’ll take that too. All of that.

Fact is… I am not for everyone. I am blunt, and I do ask dumb questions, and I do challenge. A lot. Leaders I have worked with have often told me that they have clarified their thinking by having to explain their “thing” to me. One client was hiding behind the generic and meaningless word quality – I challenged them to unpack that, to explain and justify their claim. It’s been incredibly unsettling for the CEO and the Commercial team… but…  

I never know what my clients will walk in the room with, nor which coaching or human tool or skill I need to be of value TO THEM… so I need to be ready for anything. With a full toolbox – not a pre-prepared solution. This means I first need to listen aggressively to you – then work with you. This means every coaching session of mine is one-off and focused on moving you forward. Feedback YES, Validation NO. We won’t be bored.

That’s what bespoke coaching is – it is not pretending to listen, nod, then “apply standard solution – just change the label”. There are plenty who practice what Americans call “Cookie-cutter coaching” approaches – the same old, single-trick stuff. Not my gig. Yours?

You’re not standard – I am not standard. 

“Peter’s seismic approach to speaker coaching can make you feel as if there’s earth moving under that once-stable place you were standing. You can view that as a danger… or…” 
Denise Graveline. Washington PR Woman of the Year

Like you, I am constantly learning, reading and broadening my knowledge. I recently completed a fantastic Harvard course on Exercising Leadership and am actively learning more about writing and storytelling and leadership, and the power of purpose-fuelled words. I am haunted by how much I still have to learn…  

Professionally trained and with over 30 years of experience coaching business leaders as both a Storytelling Coach (Content – WHAT) and a Speaker Coach (Delivery – HOW), I offer a far wider, more demanding and more “holistic” (eye-roll) coaching experience than a pure speechwriter or an ex-journalist following their 2nd or 3rd career as a “media trainer”.  

Find out more about my coaching approach here.