Helping Beazley colleagues sharpen their message and strengthen their presence

Session: From competent to compelling: How to sharpen your message and strengthen your presence

Beazley is a global specialist insurance and reinsurance business, headquartered in London. Penny delivered a virtual session for 100 colleagues from across the business.

The session gave colleagues practical ways to build confidence in public speaking, manage nerves and communicate more effectively. It was designed for everyone from experienced presenters to those who find speaking in front of others daunting.

Participants explored how to:

• Understand why public speaking can feel so difficult, including the neuroscience and physiology behind nerves — and why that inner experience does not necessarily reflect how well they performed.
• Treat communication as a skill that can be developed over time, rather than something people must get right immediately.
• Reframe speaking around the audience: what they should do, know and feel by the end of a presentation.
• Structure a presentation so audiences can follow it, remember it and relate to the speaker.
• Use Penny’s presentation planning tool to shape messages that are compelling, relatable, informative and inspiring.
• Make more purposeful choices about slides, rather than relying on generic templates or dense content.
• Handle nerves before, during and after a presentation.

The session gave colleagues a practical planning resource to take away and use when preparing future talks, helping them communicate with greater confidence and influence.