When I was 13 'influence' was not a word I knew. I had just told my form tutor, Mr Stubbs, that I was going to be missing school because I had got a part in a TV show for the BBC. I asked him not to tell anyone about it, because I had been bullied for the previous 2 years – if they knew it would make it worse.
A minute later he stood me up in front of the entire class and said 'Boys, Stewart won't be in school much this term. He will be filming for a TV show.'
That one comment caused an avalanche of bullying, where every day for 2 years, in break times and lunchtimes, I was shouted out of classrooms. I literally roamed the corridors with nowhere to go and no one to hang out with.
When I was 18 I spoke in an assembly about my experience of bullying. I remember seeing a sea of 600 faces, all boys, all wearing dark navy uniforms. I told them I didn't need their pity, I told them the majority of them were arrogant and it had to stop. When I ended that assembly I expected boos, but to my complete surprise I got thunderous applause! It didn't stop for 5 minutes. I had just told them my story, with passion, conviction and authenticity. I didn't know back then, but that is when I influenced my audience.
When my friend Mia asked me to help her present a talk back in 2011 I didn't know that the presentation skills I was giving her, (learnt from my time as an actor) were much more than just a few techniques. I was coaching her to have inner and outer confidence, to step into every room she was in, to be fully present, impossible to ignore and someone who could influence not only her audience but the whole atmosphere. You might call that "Executive Presence".
That is where Amplify started - with Mia. It only took 20 minutes, but she transformed from too-shy-to-speak to fully-present-confident Maria. Then came the startups, and on the way to the corporates I found myself working as a barista and coaching prisoners who were about to leave HMP Pentonville to be job-ready. In 2015 I got an email from Microsoft. I travelled the world coaching their global sales team for the Windows phone and the rest is history. From Microsoft Graduates in Seattle and India to Moody’s Analytics Global Sales teams in Hong Kong, to Blockchain engineers in Sardinia. whoever my client is - C-suite to PHD game theorists to graduates to engineers - my job is to help them tell their story, to have executive presence and to influence their audiences. And as they do that they build their career, make that sale, get the board to say "yes", earn that promotion, elevate themselves to collaborator and partner, not just service provider, raise that $10,000,000 to build a world-changing healthcare product, move the needle step by step and get the job done.
You may be an Executive needing to influence the board.You may be a startup needing to raise millions.
You may lead a team that wants to be more than just a service provider. You could be a valid business partner if your audience would only listen to you!
At Amplify we don't just coach a few communication exercises you could learn from drama school (although that is important).
We don't just coach on how to create content that is compelling (although that is essential to keep your audience interested).
That is the external fruit of something much deeper – being a confident presence in a room, which leads to influence. We coach on how to deal with the inner critic so you can be set free from the maze of self-limiting beliefs that stop you from revealing your passion, your presence and your message. We coach on how to listen exceptionally well so you can read and know and understand your audience. And then know what to say to move that needle. Everything we get you to do, we have already done to ourselves - and it works! 22,000 people in 92 countries proves that it works.
So who do you need to influence? What obstacles do you need to overcome? Where do you struggle with your communication? Get in touch and let us help you transform into the confident communicator you only dreamed of!
