I can help you have... more influence
I can help you be... more effective
AI can write the words…
it can design the slides, but it can’t stand in front of an audience and make people believe you.
Artificial intelligence allows everyone to create polished written material in seconds. It’s the human intelligence of speaking well that sets you apart and creates trust, which is essential for real influence.
Whether your focus is presentations, pitches, contributing to meetings or simply being more persuasive in informal conversations, I can help you be more effective.
The Two Daniels
I draw a lot on the work of psychologist and Nobel laureate, Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow) and Daniel Goleman, the man who popularised the term ‘emotional intelligence’.
Experiential Learning
Ultimately what counts is what happens in the real world. So I help my clients develop their skills and practise new, more effective influencing in a safe, confidential environment. I also regularly challenge them. I do it with a kindness and a smile but I give people the feedback need rather than telling them what they want to hear.
“Bill is incredible. His approach is so personal and effective in short periods of time. He spent two days with our group and the results are incredibly tangible, immediate, and lasting. Our groups only disappointment was that we waited so long to find Bill and have him work with our group.”
Chris Lo Sapio, COO FCP
“I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand.”
Who I am
The central thread running through my career has been a fascination with people and what makes them tick. This led me originally to take a degree in Psychology at Oxford University and then to train as an actor at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
After a few years working as a professional actor in theatre and television, I moved behind the camera and started writing and directing.
My first short film as a director One Night Stand was nominated for a BAFTA and subsequently developed as a feature film by New Regency in Hollywood. Through the late 90s and early noughties I directed numerous TV series and films for the BBC, ITV and Sky and I co-wrote the movie The Abduction Club. You can find some of my credits here
Working with top actors teaches you how nuances in behaviour make a huge difference to communication. In 2004 I began working in business, originally as a speaking coach, but subsequently also in leadership development for clients including UBS, EY, KPMG, DHL, BT, Time Warner and Skanska.
Alongside coaching, I taught screen acting for 16 years at the Drama Centre, one of the UK’s top drama schools, where alumni include Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Anne Marie Duff, Rege-Jean Page and Gemma Chan.
My book From Stage To Screen: a theatre actors guide to working on camera was published by Bloomsbury in 2014 and is a standard text in many of the top drama schools in the UK and other English-speaking countries.
I live in London with my wife and, currently, two delightful boomerang adult children. Outside work I enjoy watching Chelsea play, if such a routinely frustrating experience can be called enjoyable. I do quite a lot of Yoga and I love cooking, though not at the same time, and I’m a long-standing volunteer for The Listening Place, a fantastic charity that supports people who are actively suicidal.
Bill is a fantastic coach and led an
8 week program for us to learn how to Inspire and Engage in our communication as leaders. It was an excellent training program and Bill was such a great, compassionate and insightful coach providing thoughtful challenge and feedback to help us understand how to improve the way we communicate (and think). Highly recommended and really valuable
Georgina Kearney
Strategy Specialist in TMT and business transformation, BT