Picking the best speaker coach for the job: What makes a good coach?

speaker coach

So, storytime…

Let’s imagine you’re at work, staring at the screen as usual – and you notice you’ve been straining your eyes more and more to see clearly recently.

picking a speaker coach — When picking a surgeon, you’ll pick the one best for the job. So what about coaching?

But you carry on squinting and put it to the back of your mind.

Until it happens again.

This time you schedule a trip to Specsavers, only to get told something you already know, your eyes are getting worse.

But, you hate wearing specs, and you cringe at the thought of contacts. You have one option…

Lasik. Laser eye surgery.

Invasive surgery like this isn’t something you want to shop around for bargains on.

Neither do you want newbie eye surgeons practising on YOUR eyes?

When it comes to something as important as your eyesight, you want the most qualified, experienced surgeon, one with the highest success rate.

Now, since you want this for your own health – what about aspects of your professional career development?

What about upping your public speaking game?

speaker coaching in london

Being able to stand up, make yourself heard and persuade your audience to take action is a skill you need to master.

Public speaking is scary. It’s hard to do, and even harder to do well.

The ability to effortlessly stand out, to shine and sell yourself while speaking in public is something a professional speaker coach can help you with.

But, what should you be looking for in a speaker coach to help you make better speeches?

If you value career progression as much as your own health, then the equation is simple.

The best speaker coach for you is one:

With real-life, hands-on corporate and executive experience.
A client list containing recognisable brands and names.
Coaching that has resulted in real, tangible results.

*Queue shameless segue*

So, how do I measure up as a speaker coach based on this criteria?

Throughout my corporate career and now, as a speaker coach I have:

Personally pitched in the boardroom at varying levels.
Had to sell products and my services for a living.
Turned around failing businesses.
Assisted in the buying and selling of multi-million-pound businesses.
Trained speakers for the famous TED brand, TEDMED.

My extensive client list contains names you’ve heard of too:

Mercedes Benz and BMW.
Siemens Nixdorf and SAP.
Thyssen Krupp and Bilfinger & Berger.
The Conservative Party and No to AV referendum campaign.
A Prime Minister for his speech to the UN.
Just a few of my coaching clients

With results ranging from international press coverage, winning referendum campaigns, and successful multi-million dollar contract pitches.

But, back to you.

When choosing who you will trust with the success of your public speaking career, make sure you do, do your homework.

As David Ogilvy wrote in his book ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’…

“I once asked Sir Hugh Rigby, Surgeon to King George V, ‘What makes a good surgeon?’ he replied ‘There isn’t much to choose between surgeons on manual dexterity. What distinguishes the great surgeon is that he knows more than other surgeons’…”

It’s the same with advertising as it is with speaker coaching… the good ones simply know more.

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