This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:
- 7 Ways to Project Boardroom Confidence
- FREE Webinar: Confidence on Command
- Book: How to Write 5000 Words in 1 Hour
7 Ways to Project Boardroom Confidence
The CMO shouts at the CTO: “That’s just not enough, buddy!”
It was my most bewildering boardroom experience.
They were arguing about who was to blame for missed financial targets. Ineffective marketing or tech glitches that reduced conversion?
What made it almost comical was that the CMO was a big, gregarious guy, whereas the CTO was a small, introverted man who was just sitting there, stoically taking the verbal beating.
Surely the meeting was about to derail, I thought. Then the CEO calmly declared: “That’s not helping” and guided the conversation back to fixing the issue.
Wow, I thought, we went from one-sided shouting match to back-to-boring business in 3 seconds. That’s true confidence on the CEO’s part.
In the boardroom, everyone is already confident. They understand that confidence isn't volume. It’s how you show up, from the second you enter the room to agreeing on the actions.
Drawing from attending many board meetings and coaching 300+ CEOs, here are 7 subtle-but-strategic techniques you can use to project authority.
(These work in any high-stakes meeting, not just the boardroom.)
1/ Enter Like a Leader
Don’t rush in, shuffle papers, or fiddle with your seat.
Pause at the door. Stand tall. Scan the room.
2/ Claim Your Seat with Intention
Where and how you sit shapes perception. Choose a visible seat. You belong there – show it.
3/ Frame the Conversation Early
Start by defining the focus or stakes. “Our objective for this meeting is …” That makes it easy to guide the conversation to the one thing that matters.
4/ Ask One Strategic Question
Ask, then listen. Listening is a power move. When you speak, make it count. Use questions to shape the discussion or challenge lazy thinking.
5/ When Challenged, Reframe with Authority
Someone challenges you. Stay calm. Say: “That’s one view. Let me offer a different perspective.”
6/ Lead the Decision, Don’t Wait for Consensus
Don’t let discussions drag on. Say: “Let’s keep moving.” Signal leadership, but leave room for discussion.
7/ Close with Conviction
Decisiveness leaves a lasting impression. “Here’s the direction I recommend we take.”
Anyone can build boardroom confidence. It requires you to:
- Tackle anything that holds you back
- Know how to switch it on in the moment
- Build real confidence over time.
I will show you how exactly you can do it next Friday. 👇
FREE WEBINAR
Some leaders command the room the moment they speak. Others struggle to hold attention for five minutes.
The difference? Specific, learnable skills that most leaders never master.
That's why I'm hosting the Leadership Voice Accelerator this October – FREE webinars targeting the core communication skills that separate senior leaders from everyone else.
Join me for the last session:
Even if you can’t make it, make sure to register to get the recording.
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
How to Write 5000 Words in 1 Hour
I started to write a new book (I'll share more with you shortly), which led me to revisit Chris Fox’ speed-writing classic.
Can you really write thousands of words an hour? Absolutely, anyone can – if you adhere to a few simple principles.
Since we can think way faster than we can speak or type, our thought process isn't the bottleneck.
What holds us back is either our typing or a habit, like editing while you write. (Or the belief that good writing must be a long, painful grind.)
Chris Fox’ approach matches mine that I developed while writing four books in four years. Here's the gist of it:
1/ Write in sprints. Block ten minutes first thing in the morning, then increase it to one hour. (I wrote a chapter for my next book in 3h this morning, it just takes practice). Ban all distractions.
2/ Don't stop for anything. Don’t fix typos, reread sentences and in particular: don't start editing while you write.
3/ Give yourself permission to suck. First drafts will always be bad. The point is to get the words out of your head and onto the page.
Polishing the text is for the editing process which puts you in a completely different mindset, so you have to separate writing from editing to make this work.
4/ Break your bottleneck. Become faster at typing or use voice dictation.
I use ChatGPT’s voice-to-text feature on my phone or laptop, then paste the transcript directly from my clipboard into my document. That’s how I created this section in just a few minutes.
Happy writing and an inspired weekend,
Oliver
PS: You can now join my winter 2025 cohort to become a top 1% communicator by Christmas. Take a look here.