What Executive Communication Coaching Actually Includes

Executive communication coaching is not a collection of performance tricks

I am not interested in giving accomplished people a borrowed persona.

I do not teach leaders to press their fingertips together to look authoritative, stare over people's heads to manage nerves, or imagine the audience naked. And I usually do not recommend memorizing a talk word for word. Those techniques often make people less natural, less connected, and less trustworthy.

Communicating with human beings is not logical. It is BIO-logical.

That means great coaching has to account for how people actually experience trust, attention, story, emotion, credibility, and connection. It also has to respect the leader's real expertise and personality.

The objective is not to turn you into someone else's idea of a polished speaker. It is to make your own style clearer, more engaging, more persuasive, and more fully yours.

The work begins by understanding the person, not merely the presentation

When I begin working with a new client, I want to understand their history with communication, how they feel about it now, where they already excel, what has been frustrating, and what they want to make possible.

I ask direct questions:

• What do you think your strengths are?
• Where do you believe you are getting in your own way?
• What would you like to be able to do when our work is complete?
• Which upcoming conversations, presentations, or decisions matter most?

I also pay close attention to what happens in the conversation itself. Where does the person become animated? When do their words suddenly become vivid and specific? Where does the energy flatten? What are they saying beneath what they think they are saying?

People often tell me that this process uncovers valuable things they did not expect. That is because communication is never only about the words on a slide. It is about what matters to the person using them.

Private clients complete the Speak Like a Leader Boot Camp at the beginning of the engagement. It is included in the coaching. The course gives us a shared vocabulary and lets the client begin examining their own communication through the principles we will use together. By the time we have our first full coaching session, we can usually move quickly into meaningful work.

We usually begin with your Origin Story

Unless a client strongly prefers not to, I usually begin by developing their Origin Story.

I believe an Origin Story is one of a leader's most useful communication tools because it answers questions that a résumé never can:

• Why does this person care so much about the work?
• What shaped the way they see the world?
• Why are they the person we can trust with this?
• What has their experience taught them that could contribute to us?

We begin with the long version. I want to understand how you grew up, the people and experiences that shaped you, what you loved, what you resisted, what you learned, and how you arrived where you are now.

There is almost always a golden thread running through that story—often all the way back to childhood. When people see it, they frequently understand their own motivation, work, and leadership at a new level.

Then we make the story usable. We may develop:

• A fuller version that contains the important nuance
• A roughly three-minute version for a podcast or the opening of a talk
• A roughly 90-second version for media or a brief, consequential introduction

The point is not to tell everyone everything. It is to share enough of yourself, your values, your thought patterns, and your lived wisdom that people understand why the work matters to you and why they can trust you to lead.

That is part of what I call Emotional Credibility™.

Then we develop one idea worth spreading

The next foundational asset is often a leadership-focused TED-Worthy Talk built around one idea worth spreading.

You do not need to want a TED or TEDx Talk. You may never apply to one.

The value is in the rigor.

Creating one clear, defensible, human idea forces you to decide what you really believe, why it matters, what evidence supports it, and how to make it useful to another person. That process produces a valuable leadership communication asset whether it eventually appears on a major stage, in an all-hands meeting, during an investor conversation, or in the way you lead your team.

Along the way, we usually uncover other important experiences and turn them into Leadership Stories.

You build a library of reusable communication assets

An excellent communicator should not have to begin with a blank page every time.

As we develop the Origin Story, TED-Worthy Talk, and other Leadership Stories, the client builds a collection of well-shaped ideas, examples, explanations, and stories. Think of them as Legos—or reusable code.

They can be combined differently for:

• A board presentation
• An investor pitch
• A keynote or conference talk
• An all-hands meeting
• A media interview
• A podcast appearance
• A panel or fireside chat
• A difficult leadership conversation
• A customer or sales meeting
• A moment when the team needs meaning, direction, or reassurance

Each piece has already been examined, clarified, practiced, and made authentic to the leader. That makes it much easier to prepare a new message that feels fresh without starting over.

Many clients ultimately want to expand the core TED-Worthy Talk into a 45- to 60-minute keynote. We can open the talk in the middle, build additional modules, and create a larger experience while protecting the clarity of the central idea. Developing the full progression from Origin Story through a substantial keynote often fits naturally into a six-month engagement.

That is a useful path, not a rigid requirement. If a keynote is not relevant, we work on the messages, stories, and situations that are.

Real opportunities take priority

Foundational development matters. So does Tuesday's board meeting.

If a client has an important investor pitch, all-hands presentation, keynote, media interview, podcast, panel, difficult conversation, or other consequential moment approaching, we prioritize it.

We work on the real thing.

At the same time, the foundational work continues in the background because it improves everything in the foreground. An Origin Story can strengthen an investor presentation. A well-developed leadership story can bring humanity to a technical explanation. A clearer understanding of Emotional Credibility™ can change the way a leader enters a difficult conversation.

This is one reason private coaching is so individualized. Two clients may learn the same principles while applying them to completely different leadership realities.

What happens during a coaching session?

A representative session begins with the most important thing happening now.

We may review a draft, watch a short recording, rehearse a section aloud, reorganize an idea, clarify what the audience needs, identify the moment where trust is being lost, or find the story that makes a complex concept understandable without dumbing it down.

The work is active. We try language. We notice what lands. We revise. We test again.

I prefer to give substantial feedback live, online or in person, because the conversation itself gives me information. I can see how the feedback is landing, ask a better question, notice the client's response, and adjust in real time. That exchange is usually richer than sending a page full of comments into a vacuum.

The client remains the author and owner of the communication. I bring a process, pattern recognition, candid feedback, and deep experience. Then we make the result completely theirs.

What happens between sessions?

Between sessions, clients may:

• Work through relevant lessons in the included course
• Write rough drafts of stories or presentations
• Practice using a specific process
• Record themselves and review the result
• Revise material we developed together
• Send a reasonable number of brief questions or short clips for feedback

I encourage people to forget perfection while creating the first draft. In Hollywood, they sometimes call it “throwing up on the page.” Get the raw material out. Bring it to me. Then we can turn it into something clear, powerful, and beautiful.

For a brief question, a written response may be all that is needed. If the issue will benefit from nuance, experimentation, or real-time exchange, I may suggest that we handle it live. The purpose is to use the form of feedback that will genuinely help—not to turn every small question into another meeting.

What is the normal coaching cadence?

The typical cadence is:

• One one-hour coaching session every other week
• A shorter check-in during the intervening week, often 10 to 30 minutes
• Reasonable access for brief questions and short clips between sessions

We customize that rhythm when needed. The people I coach already have demanding schedules, and I want the work to fit into a real life.

At the same time, regularity matters. If too much time passes between sessions, life takes over and momentum becomes harder to maintain. The cadence should be flexible enough to be humane and consistent enough to create change.

What does the client need to contribute?

Great coaching is collaborative. The strongest clients bring:

• A willingness to practice and revise
• Time on the calendar for work that matters
• Openness to candid feedback
• Curiosity about habits they may not yet see
• Shoshin, the beginner's mind
• A belief that communication materially affects their immediate and long-term success

One of the tools I use is YIPE!:

Your Impression = Performance × the Impression you make when you communicate that performance.

You can do extraordinary work for months or years, then have a very small window in which senior leadership, a board, an investor, or an audience experiences it. The impression you create in that window affects whether all that work is understood and valued.

That is why making time for communication is not vanity. It is part of the work.

Is the course enough, or do you need private coaching?

The $875 Speak Like a Leader Boot Camp is always a strong place to begin. It teaches the underlying principles and gives you a practical way to improve immediately.

Explore the Speak Like a Leader Boot Camp →

For anyone who takes it seriously, the course will create significant value on its own.

But it is hard to see the picture when you are in the frame.

At a high level of performance, small hinges swing big doors. A subtle change in structure, story, delivery, or presence can change the way an important message lands. Private coaching makes sense when the stakes are high, the opportunity is near, the problem is highly individual, or the leader wants lasting development rather than information alone.

The Boot Camp is included in every private coaching engagement, so a client does not purchase it twice.

Who is, and maybe is not, a good fit?

This work is especially useful for accomplished leaders, founders, technical experts, scientists, physicians, executives, and other people whose ideas are strong and whose communication increasingly shapes trust, alignment, investment, decisions, or action.

It is not a good fit for someone who does not believe communication matters, is unwilling to make time for the work, or wants validation without coaching.

You do not need to arrive as a great speaker. You do need to be coachable.

The unexpected benefits often matter just as much, sometimes more

Clients usually begin with a professional goal: a presentation, promotion, keynote, investor conversation, leadership transition, or desire to become a more trusted voice.

Then the principles begin appearing everywhere.

They change the way a leader talks with employees, customers, peers, and investors. They can improve sales and marketing. They can also change the way someone communicates with a spouse or child, honors a loved one at a funeral, speaks at a graduation, or handles an ordinary conversation that turns out not to be ordinary at all.

Communication is part of every aspect of life.

That is why leaders are often most grateful for benefits they did not predict when they began. They came to improve a speech. They leave understanding themselves, other people, and the practice of leadership differently.

L=f(c)

Leadership is a function of communication.

Great leadership is a function of great communication.

Frequently asked questions

Is executive communication coaching only for speeches and presentations?

No. Speeches are one application. The work also applies to meetings, interviews, podcasts, panels, sales conversations, investor pitches, board communication, media appearances, difficult conversations, and everyday leadership.

Do I need to want a TED or TEDx Talk?

No. A leadership-focused TED-Worthy Talk is useful because the discipline helps you clarify one important idea and make it meaningful to others. TED does not need to be the objective.

Is the Speak Like a Leader Boot Camp included in private coaching?

Yes. Every private coaching engagement includes the course because it establishes the principles and shared vocabulary we use together.

How much time should I expect to spend?

The typical rhythm is one hour every other week, a shorter check-in during the intervening week, and focused work between sessions. The cadence can be customized to fit a demanding schedule while maintaining momentum.

May I send questions or recordings between sessions?

Yes. Clients may send a reasonable number of brief questions and short clips. John may respond in writing or recommend discussing the material live when real-time coaching will be more valuable.

Will the coaching change my personal style?

The goal is not to replace your style. It is to make your own communication clearer, more trustworthy, more engaging, and more effective.

What does private executive communication coaching cost?

Private coaching with John begins at $9,500. The scope depends on the outcome, duration, access, and depth of the work. Read the complete investment guide →

What needs to become possible?

The best first conversation is not about squeezing your work into a predetermined package.

It is about understanding what is at stake, what needs to be different, and whether I am the right person to help.

Explore private executive communication coaching →

Read the client case studies →

See what leaders say →

LET'S TALK →

No generic assessment. No hard sell. Just a thoughtful first conversation about the opportunity, the stakes, and whether we are a good fit.