Make Your Mark with Susan Room®
Business communication and voice coaching workshops and keynote
Help your people look, feel and sound more confident and credible, not least when under pressure.
Everyone can make their mark. Yet many don't - perhaps because they lack confidence, think they don’t have ‘presence’, fear speaking up or don't like the sound of their voice when they do.
That's where Make Your Mark with Susan Room® comes in. It's a transformative four-step framework, specifically designed to help business people develop the four pillars of effective communication:
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A confident mindset
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Body language and executive presence
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Clear, concise speech
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Great voice and listening skills
Make Your Mark blends powerful insights, demos, conversations, models, exercises and authoritative resources to help professionals:
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Improve their confidence, resilience and capacity to manage self-doubt and ‘imposter syndrome’.
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Enhance their personal presence, impact and ability to elegantly 'own the room'.
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Articulate their thoughts clearly, concisely and convincingly.
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Listen actively, accurately and with minimal judgment, assumption and bias.
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Use and flex their voice to influence, persuade and connect more credibly and effectively.
All content is
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Focused on achieving better business outcomes.
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Relatable and evidence based.
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Applicable to all, irrespective of gender, role, nationality, longevity and seniority.
To enhance relevance, when needed, I customise examples and scenarios to appeal to specific audiences: for example, investment managers, women in tech, cross-functional teams, global project leaders.
The framework raises businesspeople's awareness of their blindspots and development opportunities, and gives them a practical toolkit they can use straightaway to achieve better business and personal outcomes.
Depending on goals and budget, I can deliver Make Your Mark in the following formats, virtually or in person:
My 14-hour flagship programme
Virtual or in person
Maximum group size of 12 people.
4 x 3-hour modules (each on one of the four Make Your Mark pillars) plus a 1-hour kick-off and 1-hour closing session.
Input, demos, interactive exercises, lots of individual coaching and time for Q&A. Modules typically delivered every 2-3 weeks.
Fee from £13,450.00 + VAT per cohort of 12.
Fees include a pre-engagement and post-engagement call plus a list of reading suggestions, references and resources to extend and embed learning.
Make Your Mark with Susan Room® - key takeaways
Whichever format you choose, participants will leave with:
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A practical toolkit to use immediately to achieve better business outcomes on-line, on the phone and in-person.
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A greater sense of agency, choice, and control when it comes to ‘soft skills’.
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A deeper understanding of how mindset affects body language, speech and voice.
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Simple tools for managing self-doubt and tapping into their inner coach.
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Insights into the science of executive presence and body language tips to convey it.
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Ideas for speaking clearly, concisely, authoritatively.
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Tips for using the voice to engage, persuade and influence others more effectively.
Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss your requirements.
The Make Your Mark with Susan Room®
Coaching Model
I coach groups and teams to improve the four key pillars of communication: mindset, body language, speech and voice.
This is because how you think (mindset) affects how you look (body language), what you say (speech) and how you say it (voice).
Mindset: the voice leaks information. Whatever you’re feeling - be it tired, hungry, stressed, anxious, irritated or something else, people will hear those emotions in your voice. That’s why my work starts with taming the negative voice in your head and refocusing you on the wise voice of your inner coach.
Body language: as well as mindset, posture and breathing habits fundamentally affect the voice, which is why improving them is an essential part of voice coaching. They also convey how you feel about yourself and others, as do your eye contact and hand gestures.
Voice: the voice is a remarkable instrument, which I help professionals understand and use to maximum effect in different scenarios, for example, to defuse conflict; command attention; push back firmly and collaboratively; project strength and warmth; and inspire and engage others.
Speech: speech coaching includes minimising unhelpful habits; honing confident, concise language; learning and flexing different communication styles; crafting and rehearsing impactful conversations, presentations, pitches and speeches; improving articulation; and, if relevant, softening a non-native English accent.
What others say
Since 2016, I have run Make Your Mark workshops, keynotes and programmes for organisations including 30% Club, Accenture, Apple, ANZ, Association of Foreign Banks, Bridgepoint, Bouygues, Citibank, First Sentier Investors, Grant Thornton, Imperial College Business School National Association of Women in Construction, Northern Trust, Oracle, PA Consulting, Skanska, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Women in Banking and Finance, Värde and wefox.
Thousands from over 40 countries have attended.
Over 400 employees from Baillie Gifford have attended my full flagship programme, which I run for mixed gender and women-only groups. A further four cohorts of 12 will start the programme in January 2024 and 20 are on the waiting list. Read 'How Baillie Gifford embraces coaching to enable colleagues to make their mark'.
Nominated by the FT’s Senior Management Committee, over 140 Financial Times employees have attended the full programme to date. Originally run for women-only groups, it is now open to all genders.
Read 'Helping the Financial Times achieve its diversity and inclusion goals'.
“Thought-provoking, impactful online workshops. The feedback we are hearing is great and we’re seeing lots of action plans being delivered.”
Rebecca Wright, Global Learning and Talent Manager, Financial Times
“Very informative, practical and helpful tips from a real expert on the things that we never tend to share or ask about in
the workplace.”
Jennifer Fegan, Legal and Commercial Director, Skanska
“People came away feeling confident, reflecting on themselves, what they want to work on and how they need to work on it. ”
Claire Smith, Deputy Head of HR, Bank ABC (ex-DVB Bank)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who delivers Make Your Mark with Susan Room® workshops and keynote?
I do – learn more about me here. For groups larger than 12, I’ll ask the business hosting the event to moderate and feed questions to me.
Who should attend?
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Business leaders wanting to refine their communication skills and make a lasting impression.
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Investment managers wanting to build strong relationships and trust with clients.
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Team leaders wanting to inspire confidence and enthusiasm in their people.
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Salespeople wanting to improve their pitching skills and close deals with confidence.
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Marketing professionals wanting to hone their presentation and persuasion skills.
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HR professionals wanting to establish themselves and their function as strategic players.
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Engineers wanting to effectively communicate complex ideas and technical information.
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Finance executives wanting to confidently present financial reports and data to stakeholders.
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Business analysts wanting to deliver clear and concise presentations to clients.
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Early years graduates needing to improve their soft skills.
Are they only for those who identify as women?
It’s up to you. They can be. Or they can be open to other specific groups or open all.
Are they just for developing presentation and public speaking skills?
No. They go much deeper, and you’ll be able to apply everything you learn to conversations with more than one person in any setting or situation.
Are they available for my time zone?
Yes. I work across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, APAC and North America. Email contact@susanroom.com for answers to specific time-zone questions.
Can participants ask questions?
I love to take questions! The amount of time we spend on them depends on your objectives and the number of participants. We’ll discuss this during the pre-engagement call.
Do participants need previous experience?
No – just an open mind and willingness to learn.
Is recording permitted?
Not without my written permission. See section 2.9 of my Terms and Conditions for more.
Will this be death by PowerPoint?
No. You’ll be lucky to see more than five slides.
What technology is used for the workshops?
Ideally Zoom because it’s the most stable platform I know.