Would your leaders and team members benefit from developing presentation skills?

Presentations and speeches have the power to move and inspire people, yet many people have a huge fear of public speaking. Thanks to The Proficient Speaker and Emcee Course©, participants will find themselves enjoying public speaking! This course is based on practical experience and not just theory. Every participant will get to practice their new speaking skills throughout this course.

Speak with Confidence. Connect with Authenticity. Deliver with Impact.

Effective public speaking is about much more than standing in front of an audience and sharing information. It’s about connecting with people, communicating a meaningful message, and inspiring others to think, feel or act differently.

Yet even experienced professionals can feel nervous when presenting, struggle to organise their thoughts, rely too heavily on slides, or find it difficult to maintain audience engagement.

The Proficient Speaker Course©, developed by Scott Epp at Breakthrough Corporate Training, helps participants become more confident, authentic and engaging communicators. Through interactive learning, practical speaking activities and personalised feedback, participants develop skills they can immediately apply to workplace presentations, leadership communications, conferences and speaking opportunities.

Seven Key Learning Outcomes

By the end of The Proficient Speaker Course©, participants will be better equipped to:

• Plan and structure impactful presentations. Develop purposeful presentations with engaging openings, logically organised messages, relevant content and memorable conclusions.
• Speak with greater confidence and manage nervousness. Apply practical techniques from our Proficient Speaker Confidence Model© to manage speaking anxiety, strengthen their mindset and present with greater composure.
• Deliver presentations with engaging vocal techniques. Use vocal variety, tone, pace, pauses and appropriate volume to communicate clearly and maintain audience interest.
• Demonstrate confident and purposeful body language. Reduce distracting speaking habits while strengthening eye contact, facial expressions, posture, gestures and movement.
• Build authentic audience connection and engagement. Understand audience needs, establish rapport and adapt delivery to maintain attention and interest.
• Communicate with clarity, influence and impact. Present ideas persuasively, simplify complex information and use visual aids effectively without becoming overly dependent on slides.
• Respond confidently and improve through practice. Handle questions, think on their feet and respond to unexpected moments while using feedback and rehearsal to continually improve.

Building the Foundations of a Proficient Speaker

Our training introduces participants to the Proficient Speaker HACK©, an important foundation for effective public speaking:

H – Humility | A – Authenticity | C – Confidence | K – Know

These principles encourage participants to focus on their audience, communicate genuinely, develop confidence and know their message, material and audience.

Participants also explore our Proficient Speaker Confidence Model©, learning practical strategies to manage nervous energy and prepare mentally and physically before presenting.

Through our 12 Strategies to Writing a Winning Speech© and 12 Strategies to Present a Winning Speech©, participants discover how to develop compelling content and deliver it with greater clarity and impact.

Our Body Language Breakout Activity© introduces The 10 Poor Body Language Habits©, helping participants recognise distracting behaviours and replace them with confident, natural communication techniques.

Optional Specialised Proficient Speaker Training Modules

The Proficient Speaker Course can be extended with specialised training and coaching to develop advanced communication skills for specific workplace responsibilities.

Optional Module 1: Proficient Speaker Business Storytelling

Turn everyday experiences into powerful stories that connect, influence and inspire action.

Great storytelling is one of the most effective ways to communicate ideas, build trust and inspire people. In the workplace, a well-crafted story can bring a message to life, make complex information easier to understand and help an audience connect with something meaningful.

This module equips participants with practical skills to identify, craft and confidently deliver authentic stories that engage audiences and create lasting impact.

At the heart of this training is our SPARK Storytelling Framework©, a five-part approach to transforming real workplace experiences into purposeful, engaging stories.

The SPARK Storytelling Framework©

• S – Story: Establish the real moment, people and situation that bring the story to life.
• P – Pressure: Introduce the challenge, tension or stakes that make the experience meaningful and capture the audience’s interest.
• A – Action: Describe the decisions, behaviours or actions taken and how the situation unfolded.
• R – Revelation: Uncover the insight, learning or realisation that gives the story its deeper meaning.
• K – Kickstart: Connect the story to the audience with a relevant takeaway or practical first step that encourages action.

What Participants Will Learn and Practise

Through engaging demonstrations, guided storytelling activities and practical exercises, participants discover how to recognise meaningful stories within their own professional experiences and shape them into compelling narratives.

We’ll explore techniques for creating engaging openings, building curiosity and anticipation, communicating emotion authentically, using descriptive language and delivering memorable conclusions. Participants also develop their vocal variety, body language, timing and storytelling presence to strengthen the connection with their audience.

An important focus is learning to tell stories with purpose. Rather than simply entertaining, participants discover how storytelling can communicate organisational values, strengthen leadership messages, support change, influence decisions and encourage meaningful action.

Practical Application: Participants will identify and develop their own workplace stories using the SPARK framework, practise delivering them and receive constructive feedback to refine their storytelling skills. The aim is for each participant to leave with a meaningful, ready-to-use story they can confidently share in their workplace.

Ideal for: Leaders, managers, sales professionals, presenters and team members who want to communicate with greater authenticity, influence and impact.

Optional Module 2: The Proficient Emcee

Confidently host corporate conferences, awards ceremonies and important organisational events.

An effective emcee does more than introduce speakers. They create a welcoming atmosphere, connect the different elements of an event, engage audiences and help everything flow professionally.

This specialised training develops the participant’s ability to prepare, organise and confidently deliver the essential components of corporate emceeing.

Participants learn to understand event objectives, interpret run sheets, establish the right tone, develop engaging openings, introduce speakers professionally and create smooth transitions between programme segments.

We also explore speaker acknowledgements, event protocols, audience interaction, effective use of humour, microphone techniques, time management and crafting meaningful closing remarks.

An important part of the training involves preparing for the unexpected. Participants practise responding confidently to technical difficulties, programme changes, delayed speakers, challenging audience interactions and other situations requiring quick thinking and composure.

Practical application: Participants develop their own emcee scripts, practise introductions and transitions, receive personalised feedback and rehearse realistic corporate event scenarios.

For an individual preparing to host an important event, our extended one-on-one programme includes a 3-hour immersion session, three 2-hour deeper learning and practice sessions, and a complimentary 1-hour post-event debrief.

This provides progressive development from understanding the emcee role through to a final rehearsal of the participant’s actual event responsibilities.

Optional Module 3: Panel Moderation and Advanced Speaking

Lead meaningful discussions, facilitate audience interaction and respond confidently under pressure.

Corporate leaders and professionals are increasingly invited to facilitate panel discussions, host Q&A sessions and represent their organisations in situations where prepared presentations alone are not enough.

This specialised module develops the skills required to guide professional conversations while creating opportunities for valuable audience participation.

Participants explore how to prepare purposeful questions, introduce panellists, establish a positive discussion environment and guide conversations towards meaningful outcomes.

We also develop techniques for balancing contributions, managing dominant speakers, drawing out quieter participants, asking effective follow-up questions and keeping discussions focused and within time.

Advanced speaking skills include managing challenging or unexpected questions, responding when information is incomplete, acknowledging different perspectives and thinking clearly under pressure.

Practical application: Through simulated panel discussions, impromptu speaking activities and challenging Q&A scenarios, participants receive constructive feedback to strengthen their confidence, facilitation skills and professional presence.

Practical Training That Builds Real Confidence

We believe people become proficient speakers by actually speaking.

Our approach combines engaging training, practical demonstrations, reflection, speaking activities and constructive feedback.

Participants are encouraged to work on their own presentations or upcoming speaking engagements wherever possible, making the learning immediately relevant.

Each participant receives practical workbook materials, speaking preparation tools and activities to support ongoing development.

Flexible Course Delivery

The course can be tailoured for individuals, leadership teams and larger groups through half-day workshops, full-day courses, multi-session development programmes and individual coaching.

Training is available onsite across Australia or online through Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Learn with Scott Epp

Scott Epp is the Co-Founder of Breakthrough Corporate Training, a keynote speaker, professional coach and experienced corporate trainer.

Scott spent 12 years developing his speaking abilities through Toastmasters International, participating in speaking, evaluation and impromptu speaking competitions. His practical and encouraging approach helps participants discover their authentic strengths while developing the confidence to communicate with impact.

Ready to Develop More Confident and Proficient Speakers?

Whether your team wants to improve workplace presentations, strengthen business storytelling or prepare someone to emcee an important corporate event, we can tailour the training to your needs.

Help your people move from simply presenting information to confidently connecting with and engaging their audiences.

Contact Breakthrough Corporate Training to discuss your requirements and receive a tailoured training proposal.

Empowering leaders and teams to breakthrough and achieve their potential!

Breakthrough Corporate Training offers workshops, corporate training, coaching, team building, retreats and speaking services to organisations in Australia and worldwide. 10s of 1000s of People from organisations in Sydney Australia and around the world have been transformed through our talks, corporate training, coaching, and mentoring. See some of our combined clients below.

Our Vision

Breakthrough Corporate Training is a Sydney Australia-based corporate training leader. We facilitate powerful breakthroughs that transform team culture through our CLASS (Communication, Leadership And Soft Skills) and RAW (Resilience And Well-being) Courses and Programs. Our clients experience transformation through our on-line and on-site training, coaching, team building, retreats, and keynote talks. We add enormous value to teams as they become healthy, cohesive, and successful.

Our Core Purpose

To Empower Leaders and Teams to Breakthrough and Achieve Their Potential!

Our Core Values

Our Core Values show you what is really important to us and how we behave. Our core values demonstrate who we are at our core to our clients. These Core Values are intrinsic to who we are, and they do not change. Our Core Values are Engagement, Breakthrough, and Passion.

Engagement – We are engaged in every client encounter.

We empower leaders and teams to Breakthrough.

Passion is our energy that fuels transformation experiences.

Our Nurture Values are values that we care about and that we aim to demonstrate in our behaviour. These values reflect our standards and how we function in our organisation. Our Nurture Values are Relevance, Heart, Integrity, Presence, Truth, Courage, and Teamwork.