by Steven Maddocks | 30 June, 2025 | Authenticity, Client Skills, Communication, Pitching, Trust
In a post earlier this month, I reflected on the dangers of communicating over-certainty about the future. Naturally, if we are selling our services or asserting our credentials, we want to gain an edge over our competitors. One way of doing so is to envisage the...
by Steven Maddocks | 9 June, 2025 | Authenticity, Client Skills, Communication, Trust
“My clients expect a degree of certainty from me that I am not always able to give.” If you work in an advisory role – for example, as a consultant, lawyer or investment professional – that probably sounds familiar. The future is by its nature uncertain. Yet many...
by Steven Maddocks | 28 April, 2025 | Authenticity, Voice
“The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain” Once upon a time, a voice coach might have asked you to repeat this sentence over and over until you were placing your vowels in exactly the right region of the soft palate. Thank goodness the days of elocution lessons,...
by Martyn Barmby | 30 June, 2020 | Authenticity, Leadership, Public Speaking, Storytelling
At MSB we often talk about the importance of pauses. They are great for adding impact and helping your audience process information. Pauses are a great replacement for filler sounds and words. We generally say you can pause for longer than you think. Canadian Prime...
by Martyn Barmby | 28 May, 2020 | Authenticity, Leadership, Personal Profile, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking
We often look at how our leaders communicate to see what we can learn. Sometimes we share examples of outstanding communication as well as times they get it wrong. At the moment, what our leaders are doing and saying is affecting our lives in an extraordinary way....
by Nicola Hainey | 10 December, 2019 | Authenticity, Authority, Body Language, Emotional Engagement, Leadership, Performance, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Voice
It’s hard to avoid the current election frenzy with the political party leaders debating at (almost!) every opportunity. However, watching the party leaders during the ‘Question Time Leaders Special’ the other week, it struck us here at MSB Executive, just how...
