Goal: Be assertive when speaking up in meetings and holding presentations.

Sara wants to be more confident about giving presentations and speaking up in meetings. She is actually not a shy person when she is around people she knows, but as soon as all eyes are on her – she freezes up and doesn't know how to deal with her nerves.

She has been spotted as a talent in her company, but in order to move forward in her career, she fears that her inability to present herself and her content reflects badly on being taken seriously as a manager.

Here are a few examples of what we worked on in our sessions:

• her general beliefs about speaking up
• her confidence when speaking in front of people in more senior positions
• worst case / best case scenarios
• how she could shift her focus from her nervousness to the content of her speech and use that energy in order to be more engaging
• her confidence in her capabilities and knowledge
• her body language and structure of her presentations

After our coaching process Sara felt more confident about her capabilities as a manager. She felt that through staying focused during her presentations, her message was not only more clear in her head, it was also easier for her audience to understand. This way she could convince her audience of her knowledge which helped her to be taken seriously in her position.

Goal: Feel confident when being tested on her presentation skills in an assessment center

Marta is applying for a job at the European Institutions. She is very good at written tests and has already passed through those exams. Her biggest challenge is the assessment center where she will have to give a presentation about a subject that she will get that day. Her biggest fear is that she will freeze up and there will be no words coming out of her mouth.

Here are a few examples of what we worked on in our sessions:

• her general beliefs about presenting
• her confidence in her own knowledge and abilities
• her confidence when speaking in front of people in an evaluation scenario
• worst case / best case scenarios about passing the assessment center
• how she can best structure a short presentation
• how to deal with the situation of her mind going blank

After our coaching process Marta felt more confident about public speaking. After having practised with me several scenarios of what could go wrong, she felt prepared for any situation. She managed to pass the assessment center and felt a lot more relaxed about giving presentations.

Goal: Have a strong voice that conveys authority

Paul works for a big company. He has to give weekly presentations about current topics and generally feels confident about public speaking. He feels that when he speaks up though, people don't really understand him a lot of the time. He would like to have a voice that has more volume and that conveys authority.
Here are a few examples of what we worked on in our sessions:

• Factors that influence the way he speaks in front of others
• Breathing technique and connection of the voice to the diaphragm
• Emphasizing of words that are important (not every single word)
• Slowing down his speech, as he was «swallowing» syllables
• Experimenting with different tones of his voice
• Creating a sense of space for his voice to resonate

After our coaching process Paul felt much more in control of his voice. He felt like he could give it more volume whenever he needed to. Nowadays he manages to emphasize the points he wants to make, which helps him to be a more convincing public speaker.

Goal: Feel confident holding presentations in English.

Marie has to give presentations on a regular basis. Her company's work language is English, but her mother tongue is French. Whenever she has to give presentations in French, she doesn't have a problem. When she has to give presentations in English, she feels like her level of English is not good enough to measure up with her level of knowledge. She feels like she is selling herself short by giving mediocre presentations in English.
Here are a few examples of what we worked on in our sessions:

• body language and eye contact with audience
• structure of presentations
• general confidence about speaking English
• worst case/ best case scenarios when giving a presentation in English
• her general beliefs about presenting
• her confidence in her own knowledge and abilities

After our coaching process Marie noticed that her level of English was actually really good. She let her belief about her own shortcomings cloud her vision of the reality. Through our coaching sessions it became clear to her that she is actually a very important part of her company. She realised that what she has to say in her presentations is really important. And compared to that her initial fear of sometimes searching for words was rather insignificant by comparison.