You can be the top expert in your field, but if you don't communicate the impact your work has on the business, you will be overlooked and underappreciated.

When you learn to communicate complex ideas with clarity your colleagues and bosses begin to see you as crucial to the business' success.

Here are three ways this transformation happened with recent coaching clients.

Client #1 - The Case Information Instead of Impact

In this case my client was a genius in tech. He built and refined a system that connected the inventory created in the company's lab directly to their online store.

The tech was fantastic. But his detailed explanations overwhelmed the scientists. In turn, they avoided using the tool. His boss was frustrated by the lack of adoption.

My client had one last chance to present this tool to Senior Leaders at his company.

We focused on moving away from giving information about the tech to presenting the impact of the tool - increased efficiency, lower cost, and improved customer experience.

Mid-presentation a Senior Leader sent this message to my client's boss:

"Gotta say, the coaching for [client's name] has really paid off.  I thought he was great there."

Moving from information to impact opened the eyes of leaders to my client's value.

Client #2 - The Case of Perfection Over Presence

As I started to work with this client it became clear that her desire to be perfect interfered with her ability to be present in a meeting.

She scripted everything, including every detail of her work in her script. Regardless of what happened in the meeting, she stuck to her script.

We worked to memorize key ideas rather than an entire script. We empathized with the audience and focused on what information was most helpful to them avoiding overwhelming them or causing unnecessary angst by sharing too many details.

My client presented her work on a key clinical trial to the Senior Leadership Team.

After the meeting her boss messaged her on Teams:

"I want to share that I thought you had an excellent delivery for your part of the presentation. you made an excellent pivot given the reduction of time and kept the messaging crisp and concise, staying on point . . . very nicely delivered!"

Her presence in the meeting and freedom to pivot got her the recognition she deserves.

Client #3 - The Case of Missing Trust & Imposter Syndrome

My client's boss contacted me because her employee was selected to present their team's research at a key conference. She let me know that she thought this opportunity was too big for her employee and she didn't trust she could succeed in reaching the experts in the room.

Once I met the client, I realized she felt this too. The room at the conference would be filled with key stakeholders they needed to buy into their work. These were leading researchers, doctors and academics and if they weren't on board the project was dead. She felt like an imposter. Who was she to speak to these people?

We met for months, thought through the audience, and prepared a presentation that spoke to their challenges and offered solutions.

Then my client practiced her delivery. Over and over, until the confidence was there.

Then the big day. At the end of the conference, she emailed me:

"The key stakeholders stayed 20 minutes after my presentation and dove into a deep Q&A . . . I had a few key opinion leaders come up to me later in the day to let me know they were having further discussions about my presentation . . . our dinner last night with them was awesome as well. It's just really incredible - I'd say mission accomplished! Thank you again!!"

Her boss responded:

"Well done, Stephanie!"

Imposter syndrome managed and trust restored.

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I love it when my clients receive the credit they deserve for their work.

If you feel like you're not making the impact you want, contact me. I can help.