Is Leader’s Voice® a presentation skills course?

The Leader’s Voice® experience will definitely improve your capability for powerful and impactful presentations.  The programme addresses you and your authentic voice, which are the most important elements of a powerful presentation.  It doesn’t address things like how to structure a presentation or creating good visual aids which are the domain of basic presentation skills courses.

Does the programme always have to be run in a studio?

The answer is both yes and no.  When focusing specifically on the voice, we want excellent sound capture and reproduction.  Most of us have never heard our voice recorded and played back in an environment with equipment specifically designed for exactly that.  It is quite dramatic. The programme needs to run in a studio environment, which means etiher in professional studio locations around the world, or using our on-location studio equipment which can set up in a variety of locations.  We only need to assure that the location offers appropriate sound isolation to give a pure sound experience to participants.

Is this a programme for senior leaders or can anyone benefit from it?

We all have occasions where our voices need to be heard.  The programme is a development experience that can apply to anyone. At the same time, it is particularly targeted at those who have attained or aspire to a leadership role.  Senior Leaders are meant to be heard regularly and thus it is particularly appropriate for their roles.

What are the benefits for my organisation?

The programme builds leaders’ capability to be clear, powerful and connected – essential in today’s world where people throughout organsations are demanding clarity and authenticity.

Could I bring a team and use it as a team development process?

Definitely.  The experience not only brings the team to a stronger place in terms of relationship and ability to give each other feedback, it also gives everyone a powerful set of skills and capabilities that won’t disappear when the session is over.

Does the programme cater for different cultures?

Leader’s Voice® has been run worldwide with people from diverse cultural backgrounds; authentic expression crosses cultures and the programme builds an awareness of how that can show up differently.

What if English isn’t my first language?

The programme is facilitated in English, but participants are encouraged to use their preferred language for the voice recording aspects.

I seldom speak to large groups.  Would this programme be of benefit to me?

The programme is about developing your authentic voice, whether in 1:1 conversations, small group meetings or large scale speeches or presentations. 

You say the programme is about authenticity.  I often have to give scripted messages that have come from above.  How does this fit?

This is a very common circumstance for leaders in organisations.  We firmly believe you can deliver scripted messages in an authentic way.  The challenge is to make the message your own.  This is one of the reasons we ask you to bring a piece to practice with that you have not written yourself.  This is both values and skills work, bringing the inner and outer journeys of the experience together.

What if I’m really nervous about being in front of people, especially with microphones - will this help?

You would be surprised by how many people have very similar issues.  The programme is designed to work with these issues very directly.  Most people leave the programme with a clearly improved sense of confidence in speaking in front of others, few or many, microphones or not.

What does the “internal journey” really mean? 

The internal journey refers to things like your values system, your emotional self, beliefs you hold about yourself and internal barriers that keep you from being as powerful in expressing yourself as you could be. The journey is the process you will go through in working with these areas.

If I attend the programme, do I need to prepare anything in advance?

There is only one thing we ask you to do in preparation for the programme. We ask you to find a 1-2 minute piece of narrative (speech, poem, paragraph from a book etc.) that struck you in some way, or you feel really aligned to, that you will work with.  We actually suggest you don’t do any practice with this before hand.

Is it possible to get individual coaching in the Leader’s Voice® area as an alternative to attending a programme with other people?

Yes, we are happy to work with you to arrange something if that is appropriate.  We recommend people attend in a group setting for the value of feedback from other participants, but understand that in some cases that may not be appropriate.

To view an in depth discussion about the Leader's Voice® click here