Maureen was a senior executive in a corporate organisation and had recently been promoted to Deputy CEO. The new role required her to make presentations to the board and also to represent the organisation at functions where she was sometimes required to speak.
She was terrified to the point of not being able to sleep for days before an event or board meeting, and was throwing up in the hours before.
Previously she had managed to escape every situation where she was expected to make a presentation. On two occasions she feigned illness. As Deputy CEO however, the game was up. She could no longer avoid the thing she feared the most.
In her 25+ year career she had also managed to avoid attending the various training courses on public speaking. In her words, she had ‘escaped’. Maureen watched people more junior to her sail through their speaking presentations. Some had been offered jobs outside or been promoted within because of their speaking confidence.
There was no doubt Maureen knew her stuff. She was a personable, intelligent woman with a great deal of varied experience, except when faced with speaking to groups of people.
In private coaching sessions Maureen was confident, articulate, persuasive, even powerful. However, when it came time to present to the board – an intimidating audience – her confidence vanished. The next step to growing her confidence was via group coaching.
Terrified yet determined, after a few coaching sessions, Maureen wrote this:
“When David called me out to stand in front of all those people, I was terrified. I was so close to tears it was unbelievable.
I did not try to focus on the way I needed to stand or the faces of the people. Instead I focused on the back wall of the room. David asked me questions about something I was very passionate about, making it easy for me to respond.
Nobody laughed at me like I thought they would. I recall David saying that it’s not about the content but the way you present. That day I learned how true this is.
David, thank you so much for giving my self-confidence such a boost. I felt like I climbed Mount Everest.”
Maureen now presents regularly. She’s still yet to enjoy it, but she’s learnt how to present intelligently, eloquently and receives good feedback. She’s growing into it.
This is a great success story of which I’m very proud, especially as I found out later that Maureen was in an abusive relationship for many years. Her confidence in speaking has flowed over into her personal life and she is now out of that relationship and living a fulfilled life at work and at home.