Performance Coaching
Haystack is proud to be the trusted partner to many leaders in marketing and communications. Within our event design and production team, our strategists and performance coaches can assist in determining content strategy, designing presentations, and coaching any performance.
For over 15 years, we’ve been the trusted coaches for dozens of C-Suite executives of public companies, private equity firms, activist investors, fundraisers, and lawyers. We understand what’s at stake and believe presenters must establish an authentic presence and credibility to build trust with their audience. The performance of a presentation can be a critical factor in achieving objectives. The effect that you have on others is the most valuable currency: a single keynote performance can raise millions of dollars, open inquiries, shift perception, alter behavior, and advance careers.
Our Process
Our coaches begin by identifying a presenter’s strengths and opportunities for growth. We openly communicate those strengths, mirror what we’re observing, and then refine the message to help the presenter engage the audience with confidence and candor. Unlike other coaches, we don’t lecture or outline silly tactics and tricks. Our objective is to curate a presenter’s expertise, build their confidence, and make incremental improvements using constructive criticism.
Building on the fundamentals of storytelling, we discuss the objective(s) of each initiative and take an audience-first approach. To achieve connection, presenters should know their audience, have a sense of what their audience knows, what they want them to remember, and how they want them to feel.
Once we understand the objective(s) and audience, we discover and advise regarding the content strategy. Conceptualizing and framing a presentation is a vital part of preparation. Starting in outline form, we expand the content into a script or talking points and strive to present it in a way that’s most memorable. Any visuals produced should support the presenter, not the other way around.
We add the most value when the presenter has a refined message. The sooner the presenter is able to speak to the message with few visual clues, the sooner we can craft any presentation into a performance. We understand the power of authenticity. Stage presence matters — as body language, positioning, and posturing can affect impressions — but only if that presence looks and feels natural to the presenter.
Finally, preparation builds mastery. The best performances come from adequate rehearsing. We make practice sessions fun and empowering by focusing on each presenter’s progress. We typically recommend a minimum of 3 sessions with each executive, some much more, and find it most valuable if we coach multiple executives on any given day.
