Interpersonal Skills & Self-Development
Public Speaking & Executive Presence
This five-day course builds authority in front of an audience through structure, delivery, and composure. Participants deliver recorded talks, face hostile questioning, and refine presence under detailed feedback.
Introduction
Senior professionals are judged twice: once on what they say, and again on how they carry themselves while saying it. A well-reasoned message delivered with hesitation loses to a simpler one delivered with conviction. This Public Speaking & Executive Presence Training Course builds both substance and stature. Learners study message architecture, voice and body control, and the gravitas that makes an audience lean in. Furthermore, the course covers stagecraft, hostile questions, and high-stakes delivery under scrutiny. As a result, participants speak with authority, remain composed under pressure, and become the person a room listens to.
Public Speaking & Executive Presence Course Objectives
- Structure talks with the Minto Pyramid Principle and the SCQA framework.
- Apply the executive presence three-pillar model: gravitas, communication, appearance.
- Control voice projection, pace, pause, and intonation with intent.
- Use posture, stance, and purposeful gesture to project authority.
- Open with attention hooks and close with clear calls to action.
- Manage speaking nerves through breathwork, visualisation, and rehearsal.
- Read an audience's mood and adapt delivery in real time.
- Handle hostile questions using the acknowledge–clarify–respond method.
- Deliver impromptu remarks and structured improvisation confidently.
- Apply storytelling, including the hero's journey, to make ideas memorable.
Course Methodology
This course combines short input sessions with sustained, recorded practice. Participants deliver multiple talks of increasing difficulty, including one under hostile questioning, and receive detailed feedback on presence, voice, and structure. Trainers use video review, coached role-play, and peer critique. Group discussion examines what shifted audience attention. In addition, participants build a personal presence and preparation routine.
Who Should Take This Course
- Executives and senior managers speaking publicly
- Managers presenting to boards and large audiences
- Sales and business development leaders pitching at scale
- Spokespeople and media-facing professionals
- Project and programme leaders delivering keynote updates
- Subject experts speaking at conferences and panels
- High-potential professionals preparing for visible roles
Public Speaking & Executive Presence Course Outlines
Foundations of Executive Presence
- • The three pillars: gravitas, communication, appearance
- • Presence versus charisma: what audiences actually trust
- • Self-assessment of current presence and blind spots
- • Composure under pressure and emotional regulation
- • First impressions, posture, and stance
- • Credibility through expertise and consistency
- • Presence baseline recording and review
Message Architecture and Structure
- • Audience analysis and the WIIFM principle
- • The Minto Pyramid Principle for speech structure
- • SCQA: situation, complication, question, answer
- • Defining one core message per talk
- • The rule of three and the "what–so what–now what" model
- • Opening hooks and memorable closings
- • Speech mapping workshop
Voice, Body, and Stagecraft
- • Breath support and vocal projection without strain
- • Pace, pause, pitch, and emphasis techniques
- • Purposeful gestures, movement, and use of space
- • Eye contact and engaging large rooms
- • Microphone, staging, and lighting awareness
- • Managing nerves with grounding and visualisation
- • Recorded delivery practice with feedback
Difficult Audiences and Hostile Questions
- • Preparing for likely and adversarial questions
- • The acknowledge–clarify–respond method
- • Handling interruptions and aggressive questioning
- • Managing technical failures and last-minute changes
- • Recovering composure after a mistake
- • Speaking to sceptical and senior audiences
- • Press conference simulation with panel feedback
Impromptu Speaking and Final Assessment
- • Structured improvisation for unplanned remarks
- • Storytelling with the hero's journey
- • Executive summaries and short briefings
- • Panel appearances and moderated discussions
- • Building a personal presence routine
- • Final assessed keynote with detailed feedback
- • Personal 30-day development plan
Conclusion
By successfully completing Public Speaking & Executive Presence, participants will gain a practical understanding of how structure, delivery, and composure combine to create authority in front of an audience. They will be able to design messages that land, project confidence through voice and body, handle hostile questions calmly, and speak without preparation when required. In addition, they will know how to keep strengthening their presence deliberately. Gentex Training Center designed this course so that learners return to work ready to command a room in any setting.
FAQs
— What is the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course about?
It develops both the substance and the stature of public communication. Participants cover executive presence, speech structuring, voice and body control, difficult questions, and impromptu speaking through repeated recorded practice with detailed feedback.
— What are the key benefits of the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
Participants hold an audience's attention longer, project authority in high-stakes settings, and handle hostile questions without losing composure. They also speak confidently without preparation when needed and gain the visibility that supports senior progression.
— What skills will I gain from the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
You will gain executive presence and composure, speech structuring and message design, voice, body language and stagecraft, and hostile question handling and impromptu speaking. These four skills combine to make you consistently commanding in front of any audience.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
The course covers the executive presence three-pillar model, the Minto Pyramid Principle, the SCQA framework, the rule of three, the "what–so what–now what" model, the hero's journey storytelling structure, the acknowledge–clarify–respond method, and breathwork and grounding techniques.
— How is the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course applied in real-world practice?
Professionals apply it in board presentations, keynote addresses, conference panels, media interviews, town halls, and investor briefings. The methods transfer to any situation where a credible voice and visible composure decide whether a message is trusted.
Contact our team and let us help you find the right option.
Introduction
Senior professionals are judged twice: once on what they say, and again on how they carry themselves while saying it. A well-reasoned message delivered with hesitation loses to a simpler one delivered with conviction. This Public Speaking & Executive Presence Training Course builds both substance and stature. Learners study message architecture, voice and body control, and the gravitas that makes an audience lean in. Furthermore, the course covers stagecraft, hostile questions, and high-stakes delivery under scrutiny. As a result, participants speak with authority, remain composed under pressure, and become the person a room listens to.
Public Speaking & Executive Presence Course Objectives
- Structure talks with the Minto Pyramid Principle and the SCQA framework.
- Apply the executive presence three-pillar model: gravitas, communication, appearance.
- Control voice projection, pace, pause, and intonation with intent.
- Use posture, stance, and purposeful gesture to project authority.
- Open with attention hooks and close with clear calls to action.
- Manage speaking nerves through breathwork, visualisation, and rehearsal.
- Read an audience's mood and adapt delivery in real time.
- Handle hostile questions using the acknowledge–clarify–respond method.
- Deliver impromptu remarks and structured improvisation confidently.
- Apply storytelling, including the hero's journey, to make ideas memorable.
Course Methodology
This course combines short input sessions with sustained, recorded practice. Participants deliver multiple talks of increasing difficulty, including one under hostile questioning, and receive detailed feedback on presence, voice, and structure. Trainers use video review, coached role-play, and peer critique. Group discussion examines what shifted audience attention. In addition, participants build a personal presence and preparation routine.
Who Should Take This Course
- Executives and senior managers speaking publicly
- Managers presenting to boards and large audiences
- Sales and business development leaders pitching at scale
- Spokespeople and media-facing professionals
- Project and programme leaders delivering keynote updates
- Subject experts speaking at conferences and panels
- High-potential professionals preparing for visible roles
Public Speaking & Executive Presence Course Outlines
Foundations of Executive Presence
- • The three pillars: gravitas, communication, appearance
- • Presence versus charisma: what audiences actually trust
- • Self-assessment of current presence and blind spots
- • Composure under pressure and emotional regulation
- • First impressions, posture, and stance
- • Credibility through expertise and consistency
- • Presence baseline recording and review
Message Architecture and Structure
- • Audience analysis and the WIIFM principle
- • The Minto Pyramid Principle for speech structure
- • SCQA: situation, complication, question, answer
- • Defining one core message per talk
- • The rule of three and the "what–so what–now what" model
- • Opening hooks and memorable closings
- • Speech mapping workshop
Voice, Body, and Stagecraft
- • Breath support and vocal projection without strain
- • Pace, pause, pitch, and emphasis techniques
- • Purposeful gestures, movement, and use of space
- • Eye contact and engaging large rooms
- • Microphone, staging, and lighting awareness
- • Managing nerves with grounding and visualisation
- • Recorded delivery practice with feedback
Difficult Audiences and Hostile Questions
- • Preparing for likely and adversarial questions
- • The acknowledge–clarify–respond method
- • Handling interruptions and aggressive questioning
- • Managing technical failures and last-minute changes
- • Recovering composure after a mistake
- • Speaking to sceptical and senior audiences
- • Press conference simulation with panel feedback
Impromptu Speaking and Final Assessment
- • Structured improvisation for unplanned remarks
- • Storytelling with the hero's journey
- • Executive summaries and short briefings
- • Panel appearances and moderated discussions
- • Building a personal presence routine
- • Final assessed keynote with detailed feedback
- • Personal 30-day development plan
Conclusion
By successfully completing Public Speaking & Executive Presence, participants will gain a practical understanding of how structure, delivery, and composure combine to create authority in front of an audience. They will be able to design messages that land, project confidence through voice and body, handle hostile questions calmly, and speak without preparation when required. In addition, they will know how to keep strengthening their presence deliberately. Gentex Training Center designed this course so that learners return to work ready to command a room in any setting.
FAQs
— What is the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course about?
It develops both the substance and the stature of public communication. Participants cover executive presence, speech structuring, voice and body control, difficult questions, and impromptu speaking through repeated recorded practice with detailed feedback.
— What are the key benefits of the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
Participants hold an audience's attention longer, project authority in high-stakes settings, and handle hostile questions without losing composure. They also speak confidently without preparation when needed and gain the visibility that supports senior progression.
— What skills will I gain from the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
You will gain executive presence and composure, speech structuring and message design, voice, body language and stagecraft, and hostile question handling and impromptu speaking. These four skills combine to make you consistently commanding in front of any audience.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course?
The course covers the executive presence three-pillar model, the Minto Pyramid Principle, the SCQA framework, the rule of three, the "what–so what–now what" model, the hero's journey storytelling structure, the acknowledge–clarify–respond method, and breathwork and grounding techniques.
— How is the "Public Speaking & Executive Presence" course applied in real-world practice?
Professionals apply it in board presentations, keynote addresses, conference panels, media interviews, town halls, and investor briefings. The methods transfer to any situation where a credible voice and visible composure decide whether a message is trusted.
Partners in Learning
Our Partners in Learning include leading companies and organizations that trust Gentex Training Center for high-quality training courses and professional development programs. Together, we deliver impactful training programs that support skills growth, leadership development, and organizational excellence.
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