From Anxious Over-Preparing to Trusting Her Expertise & Presentation Skills: A Presence Under Pressure Case Study

Do you ever feel nervous or insecure speaking up in meetings with clients and execs, even though you’ve had plenty of opportunities to practice your communication skills? Ever spend what feels like HOURS of time preparing your presentations or talking points in order to feel confident about landing your message? 

If so, you’re not alone! In fact, Maria (the Senior Product Marketing Manager at Adobe Analytics and one of our amazing Presence Under Pressure grads) was in the exact same place before she joined the program. 

We sat down to talk about how she overcame hurdles like pre-presentation nerves, scripting, and over-preparing, and how PUP empowered her to start owning her role as a subject matter expert with confidence (and enthusiasm!).

Listen to our full conversation below!

We talked about how:

The trickiest parts of communicating before she joined Presence Under Pressure were…

• Pressure to fully script her talking points and over-prepare for customer or field-facing presentations
• Anxiety around sticking to her script, but not wanting to come off as robotic or unnatural
• Insecurity around whether she was projecting confidence and owning her role as a subject matter expert when meeting with execs
• Frustration with the resulting questions and perceived lack of trust from her audience post-presentation

“I’d been on a journey to improve my speaking skills, but I had to spend lots of time preparing to feel confident. I just wanted to own my career and project confidence…but all the stress of presentations would feel draining.”

Her hesitations about joining the program…

Were non-existent! She saw it as the perfect opportunity to improve, but never expected just how effective the course would be. 

“This has been life-changing to me. I feel like I’m on the other side of the spectrum—from first seeing myself as unsure, unconfident, and rambling to being concise and feeling like I’m the expert…I am that subject matter expert I had in mind. It’s been a huge change in my life and my career.”

The format and the course curriculum helped her transform her skills…

Through the support from other women in her cohort and the actionable, easy-to-do, low-time-commitment activities to practice on a daily basis. Maria received honest and open feedback about her progress as the weeks went on, and the group/coach accountability helped her stay engaged and on-track.

“Going in, I felt vulnerable, because I was gonna speak about all the things I perceived as weaknesses, but it was a safe environment…You learn from the other women in the class that they’re on the same journey.”

The time and financial investments in the course…

Were incredibly worthwhile—especially considering the long-term benefits.

“I think it’s 100%, 200% worth it. I went from feeling drained and insecure to just knowing who I am, and that I can become better every day of my life in the future. The gain, or the return on investment, is infinite.”

Watching Maria’s growth over the course of 8-weeks (and beyond!) has been nothing short of inspiring. If YOU want to feel as confident in YOUR interactions (without writing scripts or spending hours preparing), join us for the next round of Presence Under Pressure!

Our signature 8-week group coaching program opens back up for enrollment soon, and if you’re interested in joining an intimate cohort of 4 other badass women—who not only want to learn how to communicate more clearly and confidently under pressure, but who also genuinely want to support you in stepping into your *next level*—get yourself on the waitlist! I can’t wait to send you all the deets.