Who (the hell) is Peter Botting 

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

The whole point is that you're not supposed to know who I am . My job is to help other people find, develop and use their voice. So they can tell better stories. I am their discreet backroom resource.

If you see my clients succeed and advance “effortlessly” in their business or political careers or win at interviews, that's great. But you shouldn’t know that I helped them. It's their story, not mine.

My name is Peter Botting and I am a London based executive coach specialising in two closely related, yet separate, disciplines: storytelling and speaker coaching.

You are searching today because you want to be better and want/need practical, usable, instantly deployable expertise, feedback, reassurance, advice, skills, knowledge, guidance, and coaching.

Phew... that's a big list isn't it?

This should also be delivered (at the very least) in an objective, brutally honest and zero-BS way. Ideally, by someone totally on your side. A coach, mentor, personal Non-Exec.

That's where I come in.    

Peter Botting Background

Born and raised in central Africa, I was surrounded by vivid stories, natural storytellers and strong personalities from very different backgrounds and cultures.

At school, against the backdrop of a vivid and violent civil war, everything was gladiatorial: goodies and baddies, win or lose. I devoured books when not playing competitive tennis and rugby. No surprise that I love hearing and telling stories and hate losing.

I have hired, promoted and fired people, worked with companies from start-ups to PLCs, and understand firsthand from HR teams and CEOs why people get hired, promoted or fired.

I've started and led businesses and worked with those who do.  

Peter Botting: Real World Experience

Storytelling for Business Leaders 

I have turned around, run and exited a failing small 135-strong manufacturing group in Europe. I have run my own tiny business for 30+ years. I "get" the loneliness and pressure of leading a business. 

I have worked with hundreds of CEOs and business leaders from different countries, cultures, industries and approaches. Although they keep making up new chief titles, I have worked with all the main ones, including CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, CMO, CIO. 

Professionally trained in Germany, I have worked for 17 PLCs and coached over 10 275 people in 8 countries – including four years with that cheeky German start-up SAP (when it was a start-up and only had one building in Waldorf), a fun bit of work for Mercedes, an ongoing workshop series with BASF and several other PLCs and storytelling for IBM all around Asia. 

There’s a fuller bragging list here if you’re interested. It isn’t exhaustive - some clients prefer discretion. It's my SOP. 

Do you want to Talk like TED?

I have speaker-coached (it's a bit like Film or Stage Directing) over 300 speakers for 6 TEDMED conferences (the geeky health arm of TED). Speakers at TEDMED have included the U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Army Surgeon Generals and business and academic leaders in the health sector.  

Storytelling for Health Sector and Health Tech 

I have coached serious people and leaders in the health sector including heads of hospitals, directors of health, professors, scientists, Doctors and Surgeons. As well as having worked within the NHS as a Non-Exec, I have worked with the Royal College of GPs.

I have helped health tech companies develop and deliver their narratives in a variety of settings form recruitment fairs to investor groups and analysts. 

Storytelling for Startups 

I have helped startups raise capital, recruit and retain talent and develop their pitches and narratives for clients including sovereign states. I have spoken at StartX and Techstars. 

Storytelling in the Public Sector

I have been a panel member for multiple Magistrate (Judge) Selections and Interviews in the United Kingdom which gave me an insight into preparing for public sector interviews. 

Storytelling in Politics and Campaigns

• I helped the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka prepare for his historic address (it deserved that over-used adjective) to the United Nations in 2003. He is now President of Sri Lanka and tasked with returning stability to that country. 
• I helped James Cleverly write and prepare for his speech in his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
• I’ve helped over 175 prepare for and navigate the interview and selection process to enter the UK Parliament. Many have become Ministers while some have become Cabinet Ministers. 
• I was part of a tiny team that used storytelling to bring Anti-Slavery Day onto the UK statutes. I conceived and set up the Anti-Slavery Media Awards.
• I conceived and pitched the concept and need for a new political think tank to Francis Maude and Archie Norman, who hired me to found and set up what is now known as Policy Exchange – reporting to Francis. This was the ideas factory for David Cameron. 
• I used storytelling extensively in my “crucial contribution” to the national No2AV referendum. We were trailing 30/70, and my job, achieved with storytelling, was to reverse the polls by persuading the Labour Party to join the Conservative Party on the No team. The end result: we won with 69%. A landslide. 
  

Storytelling for Interviews

I have helped senior executives prepare for interviews across a range of industries. More details here https://filteredout.co.uk

Why retain or hire Peter Botting?  

What a good question. Coaching is personal; it has to be done by the right person for you. 

Five reasons to work with Peter Botting

1. My coaching experience and expertise

Malcolm Gladwell talks about 10,000 hours. My storytelling coaching hours exceed 32,000. My work was initially face-to-face - at first 1-2-1 then groups then 1-2-1 but with more senior people. Then I started to use Skype with international clients. 

Now it’s a hybrid of in-person and online coaching for leaders for big-ticket events, storytelling workshops online and in person, and largely online for most interview coaching. Working online saves commute time and means I can work with, bounce off, and learn from leaders worldwide.

2. What drives me? My Why. My purpose 

This is key to why you should hire people, internally and externally. 

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 they do tell but that could be told better. I believe people know, deep down, that they are often 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 the car version of you has more gears, more ability, more capacity, more top speed, and more potential.

I help people unleash, stretch, and push their potential. I help people move up a gear, get into their top gear. Sorry (not sorry) for the car analogy, but I like cars and it describes what I do well.

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.

3. My Coaching Approach

I love seeing people grow in confidence, volume, and impact. Grow into their future. I love helping people identify and unpack their stories, understand the power and potential of their stories and then deliver those stories in the best way. But that doesn't just happen.

I love getting messages from my clients about the ongoing ripple that follows their speeches, presentations or pitches. Standing ovations are very cool – but being able to persuade people and affect long-term change is epic. I like epic. But epic doesn't just happen. 

If we agree to work together, I am all in. You need to be too. 

But, there is no instant silver bullet. Input = Output. We need to put the work in. 

Career coaching is going on an uneven journey together. People need different things at different times for different scenarios from a personal career coach they can trust.

People need a personal development coach who gets them from where they are today to where they want to be and stretches them as an individual, not as an anonymous course participant. 

My bespoke executive coaching is the furthest thing from copy-and-paste. Your story is unique, and you deserve tailor-made coaching from an executive storytelling and speaker coach who goes who and where you are and takes you forward – not what some coach hastily "prepared" in a re-labelled, rehashed, rigid Excel sheet.

Personal senior executive career 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 when. Deliverables. Output. 

4. My MessageCraft®️Process

I am not just a coach - I think about how I coach. I read and learn and apply and learn and reflect and think and apply. There has to be more, there has to be better ways.

I have been coaching for over 32 years and I am constantly working on improving my coaching and how I help people.

This lead to me developing, and then continually updating, my 10-step MessageCraft®️ process. Within this overarching process amd methodology I have additional processes, storybank mining and designing tools and message and narrative development processes.

Like you, I am constantly learning, reading and broadening my knowledge. During COVID I completed a fantastic Harvard course on Exercising Leadership and am proactively learning more about writing, storytelling, leadership, and the power of purpose-fuelled words.

I am haunted by how much I still have to learn. But I am excited about learning and still learning every day. 

5. Discretion

My clients are the stars on stage. My job is to be their secret, backroom resource helping them to be amazing. NDA is my SOP.

Peter Botting in Numbers 

- 17 PLCs - plus startups + large and medium sized private companies

- over 32000 hours coaching

- over 10275 people

- over 33 years

- 8 countries

- over 175 Members of the United Kingdom Parliament 

- over 300 TEDMED speakers 

What others say about working with Peter Botting 

One very senior military officer wrote: "Your different thinking and disruptor style that leads to better solutions but in an inclusive way is a strength." I'll take that! 

Another senior officer nodded approvingly and said: "Unorthodox." I'll take that too. 

Another senior 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.

“Peter is in the top rank of speechwriters worldwide, especially if the speech will receive extensive media coverage. He is the go-to guy for an inspiring,memorable, and fresh speech that will stand out…a speech individually tailored to each client that will be authentic and effective.”

“Peter, I can honestly say that I learn from you, which I can only say about two or three people in our field. Good luck with your upcoming work. Your clients are lucky to have you.”

 John Shosky, speechwriter in three U.S. presidential administrations and CEO of Roncalli Communications, Alexandria, Virginia USA.

"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…" 

"In Washington, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a speaker coach or media trainer. I’ve hired or worked with many of them, and have heard them say the same things over and over again. It’s a cookie-cutter, off-the-shelf, robotic method of coaching. Peter takes a personalized approach, uncomfortable yet powerful precisely because it focuses on you as a unique speaker. Far from merely spouting tips and advice, Peter listens and reads with care, catching nuances and seeing gaps I miss."

Denise Graveline. Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications, Education and Public Affairs-US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington PR Woman of the Year, White House Council on Women and fellow TEDMED SpeakerCoach - Washington, D.C.

You can read more about some of the people and companies I have worked with here.  

Peter Botting in Spoof Video

A client-turned-friend contacted me to say that I was in a spoof video that had been watched over 400 000 times! He thought I would be upset. I watched it and howled with laughter. 

The video mocks my work helping political leaders handle questions and sharpening their question-handling skills. 

I contacted Jay and said lunch was on me when the video hit 500K. A few months later it happened and he and his team and I, including the actor playing me, went for a looooong lunch at the Mayflower Pub on the Thames.

That's a very cool pub worth visiting, with a LOT of stories. 

The video now has over 2 million views! Enjoy! 

Working with Peter Botting 

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 complete toolbox – not a pre-prepared solution. 

I am not a train only used to a single journey on an established track. Sometimes I feel more like a 4x4, ready for whatever challenges and terrain my client has. 

To do this, I must first listen aggressively to you and then work with you. It also means every coaching session of mine is one-off and focused on moving you forward. From where you are now. 

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". Plenty 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. 

I was professionally trained in Germany and have built on that 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 more comprehensive, 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".