Executive Presence can be the difference between being ready for senior leadership and being seen as ready for it.

Rachel had the experience, knowledge and trust of the people around her. She had trained others, supported colleagues into bigger roles and could do the job standing on her head. Yet for 20 years, public speaking anxiety and the thought of a promotion interview kept her saying no.

Her story shows that getting promoted is not always about becoming more capable. Sometimes it is about allowing other people to see the capability already there. And this is where Executive Presence becomes practical: speaking up, making clear recommendations and showing that you can think under pressure.

You’ll hear how Rachel prepared for the presentation that had frightened her for years, why strong presentation skills are less about perfect slides and more about understanding your audience, and how three simple questions can sharpen your leadership communication: who is in the room, what matters to them, and what do they need to understand, decide or do?

You’ll also discover why unpredictable interview questions can reveal senior leadership presence. Asking for a question to be repeated, taking time to think and explaining what you know are not weaknesses. They are part of stepping up to leadership with judgement and composure.

Rachel did not walk into the room without fear. She walked in prepared enough to move with it. That shift changed more than the result. It changed what she believed was possible. Executive Presence grew through action, not through waiting to feel completely confident.

If you are navigating an executive leadership transition, this story is a reminder that confidence often comes after the bold move. If an important presentation or interview is ahead, download the Leadership Presentation Planner and prepare with more clarity and intention.

http://www.boldmovescoach.co.uk/planner

Send Liz a Message

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Support the show

Leadership Communication in Action is a podcast for women who are capable, thoughtful, and quietly questioning how they’re showing up at work and in life.

I’m Liz Boswell. I work with professional women who don’t need more advice, but do need space to think clearly, especially when the pressure is on.

Each episode is a calm, mentoring-style conversation grounded in real client moments. We look at the stories people carry, the behaviours those stories create, and the small, practical shifts that change how things land day to day.

You’ll hear honest reflections, psychologically precise questions, and simple actions you can try immediately, without overhauling your life or becoming someone else.

If you’re stepping into more responsibility, more visibility, or simply feeling the weight of decisions that matter, this podcast is here to help you slow things down, think more clearly, and move forward in a way that feels grounded and real.

A quiet companion for people who want to make better moves, not louder ones.

Speaking Up in senior leadership meetings can feel harder the moment attention starts to drift. Out comes a mobile phone, someone looks at another screen, and suddenly you’re questioning whether you’ve lost the room - even when people may still be listening.

Holding attention isn’t about controlling everyone around the table. It’s about creating clarity, staying connected to your message, and giving people a reason to care. Strong leadership communication starts by making the relevance clear: why does this matter, what’s at stake, and what decision needs to be made?

In this podcast episode, Liz shares three practical ways to hold the room in high stakes meetings: firstly - give people a reason to listen, second - stop assuming you know what distracted behaviour means, and finally - learn how to bring attention back when the room starts to wander. These are simple shifts that strengthen executive communication, improve public speaking and help you speaking up in meetings without forcing you to become louder or more performative.

Speaking Up with confidence also means reading the whole room, not fixating on one person’s behaviour. Sometimes someone who looks distracted is actually processing information in a different way. And this is where a pause, a well-timed question, or a clear expectation can help you reset the room without losing your authority.

If you want to sharpen your business communication before your next senior management meeting or presentation, this builds naturally on the earlier episode, Leadership Communication: How to Present a Recommendation to the Board Without Drowning It in Detail. It’s practical guidance for women leaders and women in business leadership who want to communicate with calm authority and make their message easier to follow.

For more support with Speaking Up and preparing a clear, focused leadership presentation, use the Leadership Presentation Planner - click on the link below.

https://www.boldmovescoach.co.uk/planner

If you have a question or you'd like to share an idea for a podcast episode, I would love to hear from you! Click on the link below to send a text directly to Liz.

Send Liz a Message

End of episode - follow for more

Support the show

Leadership Communication in Action is a podcast for women who are capable, thoughtful, and quietly questioning how they’re showing up at work and in life.

I’m Liz Boswell. I work with professional women who don’t need more advice, but do need space to think clearly, especially when the pressure is on.

Each episode is a calm, mentoring-style conversation grounded in real client moments. We look at the stories people carry, the behaviours those stories create, and the small, practical shifts that change how things land day to day.

You’ll hear honest reflections, psychologically precise questions, and simple actions you can try immediately, without overhauling your life or becoming someone else.

If you’re stepping into more responsibility, more visibility, or simply feeling the weight of decisions that matter, this podcast is here to help you slow things down, think more clearly, and move forward in a way that feels grounded and real.

A quiet companion for people who want to make better moves, not louder ones.

Executive Leadership Transitions can feel strangely unsettling. You’ve earned the senior role, but the conversations are less straightforward, decisions carry more weight and there is no obvious person to tell you whether you’re getting it right.

In this episode, Liz Boswell explores why stepping into executive leadership can knock the confidence of even the most capable women. The problem may not be your capability at all. The environment has changed dramatically and the first step is to find your bearings.

You’ll hear:
• why the communication skills that brought you here can feel less reliable at C-Suite level
• how new relationships, expectations and consequences change the leadership terrain
• why working harder rarely creates the clarity you’re looking for
• one coaching question to help you see your leadership transition differently

Your Bold Move:

What has changed around you that you may have mistaken for something changing within you?

Follow Leadership Communication in Action so the next episode, a practical bearings check for your next important leadership conversation, is waiting in your feed.

Liz Boswell is the founder of Bold Moves Coaching in the UK and works with senior women navigating leadership transition, executive communication and life at the top.

Explore Bold Moves Coaching: http://www.boldmovescoach.co.uk/connect

Connect with Liz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boldmovescoach/

Send Liz a Message

End of episode - follow for more

Support the show

Leadership Communication in Action is a podcast for women who are capable, thoughtful, and quietly questioning how they’re showing up at work and in life.

I’m Liz Boswell. I work with professional women who don’t need more advice, but do need space to think clearly, especially when the pressure is on.

Each episode is a calm, mentoring-style conversation grounded in real client moments. We look at the stories people carry, the behaviours those stories create, and the small, practical shifts that change how things land day to day.

You’ll hear honest reflections, psychologically precise questions, and simple actions you can try immediately, without overhauling your life or becoming someone else.

If you’re stepping into more responsibility, more visibility, or simply feeling the weight of decisions that matter, this podcast is here to help you slow things down, think more clearly, and move forward in a way that feels grounded and real.

A quiet companion for people who want to make better moves, not louder ones.