Octopus Energy is one of the UK’s fastest-growing energy companies, on a mission to make a big green dent in the universe by building a truly sustainable energy system globally.
We partnered with Octopus Energy’s leaders to elevate their presentation skills and strengthen their ability to influence during high-stakes moments across the business.
Challenge
As a fast-paced and mission-driven organisation, senior leaders were required to communicate with clarity under-pressure: whether to influence decision-making at the C-Suite level, align stakeholders to a vision or build trust across their teams. But, they had limited opportunity to focus on developing practical skills to ensure their messaging landed effectively and were noticing the gap between intention and impact.
Octopus Energy wanted their leaders to show up with greater confidence, stronger presence and with more technique to steer conversations and shape outcomes in critical leadership situations.
We focused on three key behavioural shifts:
- Increased confidence when presenting at high-visibility, senior stakeholder meetings
- Stronger authority to shape conversations and driving decisions across the business
- Greater impact in virtual meetings and presentations through intentional communication techniques
What we did
We designed a three-part Presence & Impact bespoke programme combining.
- An in-person, immersive workshop
- Individual coaching for each senior leader
- A learning refresher session with individual presentations
Participants were challenged to present on the spot during the in-person workshop, and were then coached on how to refine their communication by working intentionally with the qualities of their voice and body language to strengthen their presence.
The emphasis was on building an authentic communication style that enabled leaders to connect more deeply with their audience and enhance their credibility.
IMPACT
Leaders developed a sharper awareness of how their communication techniques shape influence, trust and decision-making across the organisation.
When leaders reconvened two months later to present again, there was a visible shift in their command of the room. They applied new skills to maintain engagement, articulate their message clearly and direct conversations with greater confidence and impact.
We’ve been working with The SHIFT since 2022 as part of our all-colleague Roadshows. During this period, Matt and James have provided invaluable support, coaching myself, and the wider Exec Team, in the art of storytelling.
In applying their expert advice, I’ve become more confident in showing my authentic self and have drawn on personal stories relating to our Purpose and strategy to make meaningful emotional connections with colleagues.
These skills have really helped us to enhance the impact of storytelling across the organisation, something which is positively recognised and truly appreciated by colleagues and has really elevated our colleague events as a result.