The Speaking Gym 

For experienced professionals who are sick of nerves & anxiety holding them back at work

Does this sound like you?

  • You know you can do the job, but you’re sick of how nervous you get when you have to speak in meetings
  • A presentation or important meeting can take up far too much headspace, sometimes for days beforehand
  • Your heart races, your mind goes blank or you struggle to think clearly when it’s your turn to speak
  • You prepare, rehearse or run through what might happen, but still worry the nerves will take over when it matters
  • You keep thinking, “How am I at this age and this stage of my career and still getting this nervous?”

What if instead...

  • Speaking at work stopped taking up so much headspace
  • You knew what to do when the nerves kicked in
  • You could handle being put on the spot without feeling completely overwhelmed
  • You had tools you’d actually tested and knew worked for you
  • You trusted yourself more to get through difficult speaking situations, even if the nerves were still there

this isn't another communication course

Most communication training works on what to say and how to say it.

But you can know your material, know how to structure a presentation and still find that, when it’s your turn to speak, your heart races, you go red or forget the point you were trying to make.

The problem isn’t always knowing what to say - it’s being able to handle what happens when the nerves take over.

That’s where The Speaking Gym starts.

What it is:

  • Understanding what happens under pressure: learning to notice what happens in your body and your thoughts when the nerves kick in, and finding ways to manage it
  • Regular speaking practice: practising every week, including spontaneous speaking and situations that would normally make you nervous
  • Real work situations: bringing in the updates, difficult questions, senior conversations and other situations you actually face at work
  • Practical communication tools: using simple structures to help organise your thoughts and respond more clearly when you’re under pressure
  • A small group: maximum nine people, all experiencing similar nerves, anxiety & physical symptoms around speaking at work
  • A personal toolkit and plan: testing what works for you and building your own before, during and after plan for managing speaking situations

What it's not:

  • Presentation polish for people who just want to get a little bit better. There are loads of great courses out there for that. Go find one of them.
  • Your standard presentation or communication-skills training. We work on what happens internally under pressure first, then layer in the communication skills.
  • A one-off workshop where you learn a few techniques and then go back to work on your own. This is repeated practice, with time to test things, use them at work and work out what actually helps.
  • A promise that you’ll never feel nervous again. Nerves are a normal response to speaking under pressure. The aim is to have tools and techniques you trust, so when the nerves do show up, you know you can handle them.