UPGRADE: The Speaking Confidence Programme

Core Value Proposition

Organisations lose their best people to silence. Not because those people leave, but because they stop putting themselves forward. They hold back in client meetings. They stay quiet in leadership conversations. They avoid presenting altogether.

The cost falls on the organisation. Missed relationships. Slower decisions. A leadership pipeline that does not reflect the capability available to it.

Most speaking training addresses the wrong thing first. It teaches technique before it addresses why people freeze. It tells people to practise more, breathe differently and stand up straight. None of that works if the mindset is untouched.

UPGRADE starts where other programmes stop. Participants work through the psychological barriers keeping them silent before any technique is introduced. The result is not a team performing confidence. It is a team that understands why they were holding back and what changes when they stop.

What makes it distinct is the measurement. The Speaking Confidence Index gives organisations a credible structured record of return on investment at three points across the programme and beyond.

Ideal Participants

High performers who are excellent in the work and go quiet in front of senior stakeholders. Emerging talent and early-career professionals with a visibility gap. Mid-level managers moving into roles where influence matters more than delivery. Client-facing teams whose relationships depend on how they show up. Employee network and inclusion cohorts where underrepresented professionals avoid visible roles.

Sectors include financial services, rail and transport, technology, professional services, education and the public sector. Cohorts are strongest where participants sit at a similar level of seniority.

Participant Outcomes

Identify the root cause of their speaking fear and articulate it in their own words
Build a personal preparation practice they will actually use
Move from self-focus to audience-focus when planning any communication
Use their own stories and evidence rather than reciting information
Structure content that achieves a goal rather than showcasing expertise
Deliver with presence, having completed two full run-throughs with structured feedback
Hold a clear plan for continuing to develop after the programme ends
Report measurable change across physical, mental and behavioural markers

Organizational / Employer Benefits

Confidence: built from participants' own evidence rather than encouragement
Engagement: with capable people contributing instead of attending
Inclusion: addressing why underrepresented professionals avoid visible roles
Leadership pipeline strength: as high performers become visible and promotable
Psychological safety: giving teams shared language for something rarely discussed
Resilience: through a practised method for recovering when something goes wrong
Retention: since people who feel heard are more likely to stay
Measurable change: tracked across physical, mental and behavioural markers at six points, including 90 days after delivery ends

Session Frequency Explanation

One phase every three to four weeks across six months. Between-session challenges run in the gaps, tied to real meetings in the participant's working week. A compressed four-month version is possible where a client has a fixed deadline, though anything faster reduces the effect, because the practice between sessions is where the change happens.

Phases / Modules Details

Phase 1: UNBLOCK. Group coaching, virtual. Root cause of speaking fear identified using the A.C.T. framework. No technique introduced. Outcome: each participant can name what is actually driving their silence. Baseline SCI completed beforehand. Between-session challenge: observe one meeting without changing anything.

Phase 2: PREPARE. Group coaching, virtual. A personal preparation practice built for each participant rather than a generic routine. Confidence rituals embedded. Outcome: a repeatable process each person will use before speaking. Challenge: apply it to one real meeting.

Phase 3: GRASP. Workshop, 3.5 hours, virtual. The shift from self-focus to audience-focus. Outcome: participants can identify who they are speaking to and what those people need. Challenge: audience-map an upcoming communication.

Phase 4: RELATE. Workshop, 3.5 hours, virtual. Storytelling. Participants surface their own stories and case studies. Outcome: a bank of personal material connected to audience needs. Mid-programme SCI completed. Challenge: use one story in a real setting.

Phase 5: ADAPT. Workshop, 3.5 hours, virtual. Structure, flow and the discipline to leave things out. Outcome: a piece of communication built to achieve a goal rather than showcase expertise. Challenge: draft the piece for the practice clinic.

Phase 6: DELIVER. Practice clinic, half or full day depending on cohort size, virtual. Presence, body language and audience connection. Two full run-throughs per participant with structured feedback and refinement between them. Outcome: every participant finishes delivery-ready, with evidence from their own experience.

Phase 7: EVOLVE. Workshop, 3.5 hours, virtual. Consolidation and forward planning. Outcome: each participant leaves with their own plan for continuing to develop as a speaker and leader. Final SCI completed for the programme. Follow-up measurements at 30, 60 and 90 days, with a cohort report produced at 90 days for the organisation.

Final Culmination / Deliverable

Phase 6, the practice clinic, is the culmination. Every participant delivers their prepared content to the cohort, receives structured feedback, refines it and delivers again in the same session. Participants finish having done, in front of their peers, the thing they joined the programme avoiding.

Each participant also produces a personal speaker development plan in Phase 7.

The organisation receives an anonymised cohort impact report showing measured change across the three SCI domains.

Delivery Format Explanation

UPGRADE is delivered entirely virtually on Zoom. Workshops run at 3.5 hours with structured breaks. Group coaching sessions are shorter and more conversational. The practice clinic runs as a half or full day depending on cohort size.

Virtual delivery is deliberate rather than a compromise. Participants speak more openly away from their own office, cohorts can be drawn from multiple sites without travel cost, and the format mirrors the environment where most of them actually have to speak.

What’s Included

All seven phases, comprising two group coaching sessions, four 3.5-hour workshops and one practice clinic. Programme design and tailoring to the client's context. Session workbooks and between-session challenges for every participant. Speaking Confidence Index at baseline, mid-programme and completion, with individual behavioural translation. Participant onboarding. Anonymised cohort reports at completion and at 90 days. Certificates of completion. Lead facilitation throughout.

Not included: additional practice clinics, line manager briefings, refresh sessions after completion and any in-person delivery.

Provided by You

Full programme design and tailoring to the client's context. Lead facilitation by Anthea Armar, with a second facilitator at Tier 2 and full co-facilitation at Tier 3. Session workbooks for every phase. Between-session challenges. The Breaking the Silence Quadrant diagnostic. Speaking Confidence Index at baseline, mid-programme, completion and 30, 60 and 90 days post-programme. Participant onboarding. Anonymised cohort reports at completion and at 90 days. Certificates of completion.

Add-ons & Customization

Additional practice clinic: [inquire] standalone or [inquire] added to an existing phase.
Line manager briefing: 90 minutes virtual, [inquire]. Equips managers to support participants between phases.
Refresh session six to 12 months after completion: half day virtual, [inquire].
Opening keynote to launch the programme to a wider internal audience: from [inquire].
Industry-specific tailoring beyond standard customisation: [inquire].
In-person delivery of the practice clinic, quoted on request, London and within one hour of London (zones 1-4).
One-to-one coaching for selected participants alongside the cohort: [inquire] per session.

Required from Client

A named internal contact for scheduling, cohort communication and participant onboarding.

Participant commitment to attend all seven phases. Cohort integrity matters, since participants practise in front of each other and trust builds across the six months.

Zoom access for all participants, with cameras on. Exceptions for health or accessibility are always fine. Beyond that, a room of blank squares stops the work.

A quiet private space for each participant to join from, where they can speak without being overheard.

Confirmation that participants may complete the SCI confidentially, with only anonymised aggregate data returned to the organisation.

Minimum cohort of eight.

Measurable Outcomes

What is tracked
The Speaking Confidence Index, Amarkai's proprietary assessment, measuring across three domains. Physical, meaning the body's response before and during speaking. Mental, meaning the beliefs driving that response. Behavioural, meaning what people actually do in real situations.

When
Six points. Baseline before the programme begins. Mid-delivery, allowing facilitation to be adjusted. On completion. Then at 30, 60 and 90 days after the programme ends.

Why the final three matter most
Most training is measured on the day it finishes, when everyone feels positive. The 30, 60 and 90 day measurements happen after the room has gone quiet and ordinary working pressure has returned. That is where development either holds or quietly reverts, and it is where almost nobody looks.

What the organisation receives
An anonymised cohort report at completion and a further report at 90 days, showing movement across all three domains and the distribution of patterns within the group. Individual results remain confidential to the participant.

Additional indicators the client may choose to track
Meeting participation observed by line managers. Volunteering for visible work and presentations. Internal application and promotion rates over the following 12 months.

Case Studies / Testimonials

20 years in learning and development and five years specialising in speaking confidence. Sectors include rail and transport, financial services, technology, education and the public sector.

Asset Finance Connect: three NextGen speakers coached and prepared to be stage ready for a 600-person conference audience, including a pre-stage briefing on the day, plus advisory support to the event moderator. https://www.amarkaigroup.com/case-study-asset-finance-connect

Network Rail: keynotes delivered to the Elevate Your Excellence emerging talent programme, with further cohorts booked for 2027.

Women in Rail: a six-month speaking confidence programme currently in delivery, using elements of the same framework.

International School of Helsinki: methodology licensed and delivered across three academic years. https://www.amarkaigroup.com/case-study-ish

"Anthea helped me unlock the confidence within me, not only to speak up in meetings and engage in public speaking when needed but to actively seek out opportunities to do so." Steven Lynch-Barry, LCT International

"Anthea's session at the Youth Leadership Programme inspired our students with practical advice on speech crafting and confidence-building." Kim Nguyen-Quan, Deputy Head, Leigh Academy Halley

Further testimonials: www.amarkaigroup.com/testimonials

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