Presence Means Business

An advanced, hands-on speaker mastery day with Stage-to-Sales Strategist Amanda O and Actor & Director Kaye James, designed to help you command the room, communicate your value and turn speaking opportunities into business opportunities.

Have the room eating out of your hand. Then turn that attention into business opportunities.

A one-day speaker mastery experience for business owners who want to be remembered, trusted and sought after.

You already know how to get up and speak. Now it's time to learn how to make every speaking opportunity work harder for your business.

26 November 2026 | Chester Zoo | With Amanda Outram & Kaye James

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Join us at Chester Zoo for a practical, hands-on day where you'll learn how to:

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Command the room without putting on a performance.

Use your voice, breath, energy and presence to captivate an audience, hold their attention and make every word count.

Read the room and respond with confidence.

Know when to lift the energy, when to slow things down and when to shut up and let the moment land.

Make people truly understand your value.

Structure your talk so your audience doesn't just hear what you do, they understand why you're so bloody good at it and why you're worth investing in.

Move people towards a buying decision without pitching.

Learn what to say, how to say it and how to create the trust and desire that lead to enquiries, conversations and clients.

Because a brilliant business talk shouldn't just end with applause and someone telling you how wonderful you were.
It should open doors. Create conversations. Generate enquiries. And make people want to work with you.
That's what Presence Means Business is all about.

You know how good you are. But are other people seeing it too?

It's frustrating, isn't it?

You KNOW how good you are at what you do. You know the depth of your expertise, the experience behind it and the difference you make to your clients.

But when you try to explain all of that, somehow the words just don't do it justice.

You find yourself talking about what you do, rather than helping people understand just how valuable it is.

Or maybe you've got plenty to say, but when you're up on stage, you're not quite delivering it with the conviction and authority it deserves.

And that's the annoying bit. Because you KNOW you're good!

There's a big difference between being brilliant at what you do and being PERCEIVED as brilliant at what you do.

You might deliver a great talk. People listen, they clap, they tell you how much they enjoyed it.

But do they walk away truly understanding why they should work with YOU?

Do they see someone they'd trust, recommend or happily invest their money in?

That's the gap we're closing at Presence Means Business.

Helping you find the words that do your expertise justice, and the presence, confidence and conviction to deliver them in a way that makes people sit up and take notice.

Because you shouldn't have to tell people how brilliant you are.

They should be able to see it for themselves.

Learn more

This isn't public-speaking training and it isn't a day spent learning how to pitch harder from stage.

It's for business owners and experts who already speak — on stages, panels, podcasts, webinars, workshops and in rooms where what they say can create opportunities for their business.

We'll work on both sides of a talk that actually works.

Then we bring the two together and you put the talk on its feet.

A talk that works. A speaker who can work it.

Amanda Outram

Stage to Sales Strategist

Amanda tackles the commercial strategy underneath your talk — what you're saying, why you're saying it, what your audience needs to understand and the conversations that need to happen in their head before they're ready to buy.

Kaye James

Actor & Director

Kaye works with human delivering it — your voice, breath, body, energy, timing, movement, stillness and relationship with the room.

“I’ve done a lot of speaking. I’m confident on stage, I don’t struggle with nerves and I genuinely thought I knew what I was doing.

Then I worked with Kaye.

She opened my eyes to a completely different level of what’s possible on stage. I had no idea how much impact could be created through seemingly small things like pitch, pace, pause, movement, stillness or how intentionally you can use them to change the way an audience experiences your talk.

I realised I’d been confident on stage, but I hadn’t really understood stagecraft.

That was the biggest revelation for me. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Now I’m not just thinking about what I’m going to say. I’m thinking about how I want the audience to feel, where I want them to lean in, where I need to give them space and how I can make every part of the talk land differently.

I took the plunge because I wanted to become a better speaker. I didn’t expect it to completely change how I see the potential of the stage.

I’ve gone from feeling confident on stage to feeling genuinely excited about what I can do with it.

What an incredible experience.”

(Anon).

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What becomes possible when you stop simply giving a talk?

01 — Have the room eating out of your hand.

There is something extraordinary about watching a speaker who really has a room.

Everyone laughs together. The energy changes. A thought lands and nobody moves. A room full of people seems to breathe at the same time.

The speaker isn't desperately trying to impress anybody. They're not shouting. They're not marching around the stage. They're not performing “confidence.”

They're present.

Kaye will help you understand how to access and use the voice, breath, energy and presence you already have.

You'll explore how pace, pause, stillness, movement, energy and silence change what your audience experiences.

Because presence isn't:

LOOK AT ME.

It's:

I'm here. I know why I'm here. I know who I'm talking to. And I know what I want to make possible.

You don't need to hear a tiger roar to know she can.

She has nothing to prove.

Her presence is enough.

02 — Sell without turning your talk into a pitch.

Your offer shouldn't suddenly appear at minute 27 like an unexpected guest and your audience shouldn't have to work out for themselves why your expertise matters to them.

Amanda will audit the commercial architecture of your talk and look at the conversations happening inside your audience's head.

What do they believe when you begin?

What needs to change?

What questions are they silently asking?

What does this story need to do?

Why this detail?

Why now?

What needs to land before they're ready to consider the next step?

And are you spending twelve precious minutes telling your life story when your audience needs something entirely different?

The goal isn't to make your talk more salesy.

It's to make it more intentional.

So by the time your offer appears, it doesn't feel like you've suddenly started selling.

It makes sense.

03 — Learn to curate what happens in the room.

The audience isn't a passive mass of people waiting for you to finish your slides.

They're giving you information constantly.

Are they with you?

Did that land?

Did something shift?

Do they need more?

Do they need less?

Do they need you to stop talking for three seconds and let the idea percolate?

This is where speaking becomes live.

You'll explore how to read the room and work with its energy rather than simply delivering at it.

How to create space for laughter.

Thought.

Anticipation.

Relief.

Emotion.

Silence.

And action.

Not because you're manipulating the audience into having a reaction but because you're intentional enough to understand the experience you're creating for them.

The words don't hold the room. You do.

Stop treating the talk and the speaker as two separate things.

You can have commercially brilliant words and still lose people when you deliver them.

You can have extraordinary presence and leave everybody thinking you're fantastic while nobody understands what you actually do or why they should buy it.

Presence Means Business brings both together.

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First: Make every minute earn its place.

Amanda audits your talk commercially.

Your stories, teaching, structure, offer and the buying journey you're taking the audience on.

What needs to stay, what needs to change and what can disappear completely.

You'll work on building a talk that leads naturally towards action without pitch-slapping the audience.

Then: Put it on its feet.

Kaye works with what happens when you actually deliver it. You voice, breath, body, pace, pause, energy and movement. You’ll learn how to use stillness, timing and how to build a connection.

We’ll look at what happens when you start selling? Where do you rush? Where do you disappear? Where are you performing rather than connecting? Where could doing less create considerably more impact?

Then: Play.

This isn't six hours of people talking to you about speaking.

Kaye has an incredible background and experience in rehearsal techniques. That’s doesn’t mean repeating you talk over and over again. Kaye has proven workshop exercises that will first have you develop awareness and then develop your stage presence.

Rehearsal isn't repeating the same words until you sound like a parrot. It's playing, experimenting and discovering what the talk can do.

You do the work beforehand so that when you're actually in front of the room, you have the freedom to listen, respond and enjoy.

You rehearse so you can let go.

Hear from our clients

What's it like to work with us and what results can you expect?

Laura Robson

Laura had always vowed she would never get on a stage to speak. It wasn’t nerves or a lack of confidence. She simply didn’t believe she had anything interesting to say — or anything people really needed or wanted to hear.

Through working on her story and messaging, Laura began to see her business differently. She recognised just how much businesses need the work she does, and more importantly, the impact that work has on the lives of her clients.

That’s when things got exciting.

Laura created and delivered a talk that captivated the audience and completely changed the way they thought about systems — not simply as processes and tech, but as something that should make life and business easier for the person running it.

By the end of her talk, it was clear what Laura does, who it’s for and why it matters.

And Laura herself walked away seeing the value of her work in a completely different way.

“I was the person that always said, ‘You’ll never get me on a stage.’ That wasn’t nerves or confidence, I just didn’t believe that I had anything to say.

Working with Amanda on my talk and speaking on Stage One helped me to see that not only do I have plenty to say, but that people want to hear it too.

Working together on my story and messaging was valuable in itself. Amanda has a real talent for seeing things in you that you are too close to see yourself.

Taking that and then turning it into a stage talk that flows, that’s engaging and that actually sells what I do and why it’s important is an experience that’s given me a new confidence in why I do what I do.

I’d recommend working with Amanda to anyone who believes that they don’t have anything to say, or that is already speaking but not making the sales they want to.”

‘I was the person that always said "you'll never get me on a stage".. that wasn't nerves or confidence, I just didn't believe that I had anything to say.

Working with Amanda on my talk and speaking on Stage One helped me to see that not only do I have plenty to say, but that people want to hear it too.

Working together on my story and messaging was valuable in itself, Amanda has a real talent for seeing things in you, that you are too close to see yourself.

Taking that and then turning it into a stage talk that flows, that's engaging and that actually sells what I do and why it's important is an experience that's given me a new confidence in why I do what I do.

I'd recommend working with Amanda to anyone who believes that they don't have anything to say, or that is already speaking but not making the sales they want to’.

Monica Kauzeni

Monica was preparing for her first stage talk. As an introvert, she didn’t want to become louder, bigger or turn herself into a different version of herself just because she was stepping onto a stage.

Working with Kaye changed the way Monica approached her delivery.

Through experimenting with her voice, energy, breath and presence, she discovered how much more engaging she could be without changing who she was. In fact, it was when she stopped trying to hide the mischievous side of her personality that she became even more compelling to watch.

Within just a few sessions, Monica went from describing her own delivery as “monotonous and boring” to knowing how to use her voice, energy and presence to hold an audience’s attention.

She walked onto the stage feeling confident, knowing how to steady her nerves and, most importantly, knowing how she wanted the audience to feel.

The response afterwards was exactly what she had hoped for: people remembered the talk, told her how much it had made them think and remembered her.

“I had the pleasure of working with Kaye for my first stage talk. She created a safe space where I could practise without judgement, and gave me detailed feedback around my voice, energy and delivery.

Within only a few sessions I saw a dramatic improvement in my public speaking. I went from a monotonous, boring talk to being energetic and knowing exactly how to make the audience hang onto my every word.

As an introvert, I didn’t need to change who I was. And I learned that I didn’t need to hide my mischievous side in order to be ‘taken seriously’. By leaning into that side of my personality, I came across as more authentic and engaging on stage.

The tools Kaye shared, from voice exercises to breath work, were things I was able to rely on in the moment to steady my nerves.

I got so many positive responses about how amazing my talk was and how I made people think. That’s what I wanted to do: make people remember me on stage.

When you work with somebody like Kaye, she just knows how to get the best out of you. She takes the best of what she’s learned through her experience as a theatre director, actress and playwright and injects that into the public speaking space, so you end up being the performer you’ve always wanted to be.”

Cheri McMahon

We asked Cheri why she has booked to attend Presence Means Business at Chester Zoo on Nov 26th.

She's already speaking on stages and wants to make it a bigger part of her business. She spends a lot of time supporting other people's development, and this is her investing some of that time and energy in herself and her own business.

. . . She sent us a voicenote.

"Why you? Oh gosh, where do I start? Because you're full of mischief?

And from the moment I met Amanda, I felt like I just clicked with her. She was really open, easy to talk to, genuinely helpful because she wanted to be.

You can tell that she works completely with integrity in getting the best out of people. It was always about delivery and what she can offer. And she's got a wealth of experience.

And you, Kaye, wow. You're unique, aren't you?

You're very, very cheeky, which I think is hilarious. You say the obvious thing, but in a way that's fun and playful.

The way you get people to do things they might feel a bit awkward doing takes away that 'Oh my God, I'm doing this thing and everyone's looking at me.'

I have this theory that adults have forgotten to play. You almost get to a certain age and then that's it. Everything's serious and we don't play generally, do we anymore?

I think that's where you two have a really nice combination. Amanda's very funny, but she's also very, very caring and wants everyone to be looked after and to feel included.

And you have that playful, mischievous side, which really brings people's character out.

So that was the reason I decided to come to Chester.

I think the two of you together will be a force to be reckoned with in a really fun and productive way."

FAQ's

I'm already a confident speaker. Why do I need this?

Good.

We're not interested in teaching you how to pluck up the courage to stand in front of a room.

You already speak.

You may already be pretty bloody good.

That's exactly what makes this interesting.

Experience can create habits you no longer notice. You know you can get through the talk. You know your stories work. People clap. You're invited back.

But none of that tells us whether you're using everything available to you.

Where are you losing attention?

What is every minute doing commercially?

What happens to your energy when you start selling?

What are you doing physically that you've stopped noticing?

And what else becomes possible when two specialists finally look properly at what you're doing?

Will you teach me how to pitch from the stage?

No.

The awkward “and now I'd like to tell you about my programme…” moment is not necessary.

A commercially strong talk doesn't suddenly become commercial when the offer appears.

The audience has been moving towards that decision throughout.

We're interested in selling without the pitch-slap.

I hate selling. Will this make my talk feel salesy?

No.

Commercial intention and aggressive selling aren't the same thing.

We'll look at what your audience needs to understand, believe or decide before your offer makes sense.

Your job isn't to pressure them into buying.

It's to make the journey clear enough that the right person can recognise the logical next step.

I never rehearse. Won't rehearsal make me sound scripted?

Quite the opposite.

There's a difference between memorising and rehearsing.

Rehearsal is where you experiment.

What happens if you slow this down?

What happens if you stop moving?

Does this story need three minutes or seven?

What happens if you leave silence after that line?

Can you change the energy without changing a single word?

Actors rehearse so that when the live moment comes, they have choices.

Preparation creates freedom.

Why do I need to work on my voice or breath?

Because your audience isn't only receiving your words.

Your breath affects your voice, pace and physical state.

Your voice can carry authority, warmth, hurry, uncertainty, ease, curiosity or distance — whether you consciously chose those things or not.

And what happens when you're under pressure matters.

The aim isn't to give you a fake “speaker voice.”

It's to give you greater access to your natural voice, breath and presence, so they're available when you need them.

Is this only useful on a stage?

No. Once you become more intentional about how you communicate, it travels. Podcasts, panels, webinars, video, reels and networking rooms.

Plus sales conversations and presentations.

Anywhere you're asking another human being to listen, trust, remember or act.

Presence doesn't begin when somebody hands you a microphone.

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