You’ve spent months planning the event. The opening video is a banger. The lighting is perfect. The energy in the room is electric. And then the leader steps on stage, starts speaking, and the whole thing deflates like a paddling pool in October.

Sound familiar?

In the first episode of our podcast, The Big Whydea, our founder Pete Barber sat down with Naomi Venables to talk about what makes leadership communication actually land. With over 30 years spanning theatre, global event production and leadership consultancy, Naomi has spent her career helping leaders find the words, the presence and the courage to connect. Here are some of the standout takeaways.

Early in her career, Naomi produced a spectacular launch event for an international car company. A purpose-built auditorium for 500, constructed on the grounds of a castle. Twenty-six cars, twenty-six performers, a bespoke musical score, and Shirley Bassey doing cabaret in the evening. The audience was spellbound.

Then the MD walked on stage. No preparation. No presence. Just a flat “hello” that punctured the energy like a pin in a balloon. It was, as Naomi puts it, “the waste of a moment.” And it was the moment that shaped her entire career: a decision to focus on “that one square metre” where a leader either connects with their people or loses them.

There’s something almost tribal about it. Naomi likens it to elders gathered around a campfire, sharing wisdom with their people. We’re wired to look up, to listen, to be led. And in a business context, those moments of leadership communication carry enormous weight. An audience sitting in a conference hall isn’t just passively absorbing your slides. They’re asking themselves real questions: Am I going to give this person another year of my life? Am I going to work harder? Do I actually believe in where we’re going?

Here’s the kicker. Research suggests that only around 7% of what an audience remembers comes from the words themselves. The rest? Body language and tone of voice. How you say it, not what you say. Which means delivery isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the thing that determines whether your message sticks or evaporates the moment people reach for their phones.

Naomi’s process begins with one disarmingly blunt question: What do you want your audience to do after you’ve shut up?

We love that.

It’s about painting what she calls “a picture of Nirvana,” then working backwards. Where is the audience now? Where do you need them to be? She frames it through three lenses: what do you want them to know, feel and do? If you want them to know your vision, feel empowered and walk out ready to crack on, that becomes your compass. Every section of your communication can be tested against it.

Sounds obvious. So why do so many presentations feel like nobody asked that question?

A red thread is a single, unifying theme that runs through everything. If a leader can’t summarise what they’re trying to achieve in a couple of sentences, the audience certainly won’t be able to either. And trust us, they won’t try.

That thread isn’t just a line in a script. It’s the glue that holds together pre-event comms, the event itself and the follow-up. It’s what makes a message cohesive and, crucially, memorable. And nailing it early is what gives you the time to weave it into everything else. You need to start earlier than you think. Always.

Naomi’s framework for structuring a presentation is brilliantly simple: think of it like a newspaper article. The headline grabs attention. The bold text underneath gives context. The detail? Most people won’t read it, so send that in an email afterwards.

Structure your communication as a series of headlines, each with a different mood and energy. Start big to grab attention. Drop down to deliver information. Pick it back up. Drop down again for something intimate or important. It’s a roller coaster, and it should feel like one. Nobody wants to ride a conveyor belt.

Drawing on the work of voice coach Patsy Rodenburg, Naomi talks about three “circles” of presence. The first is under-commitment: you’re not quite there, not quite believable. The third is over-commitment: too much ego, too far from authentic. The second circle is the sweet spot. One hundred per cent present to your words, your audience and the moment.

For leaders, this is reassuringly practical. It’s not about being a performer. It’s about being fully behind what you’re saying. Meaning every word. Making eye contact. Letting your body and your voice match the message.

Not the corporate kind that lives on a values poster next to the recycling bins. The real kind. The willingness to let people see who you actually are.

Most leaders got where they are for a reason. Their authentic self is already there. The challenge is letting it come through when the instinct is to retreat behind corporate language and the safety of a script. But when a leader reveals something of themselves, even just a pause that says, “I know this is hard,” people stop being an audience and start being a community. That’s not soft stuff. That’s the stuff that moves organisations.

If there’s one thing running beneath all of this, it’s that the people who make it look effortless have put the work in. Learn your opening and closing 30 seconds cold. Get the script right early enough to actually rehearse. Understand that getting the words right is 75% of delivery, because if you’re still searching for what comes next, you’ll never be free to focus on how to say it.

As Naomi says, effort equals reward. Everyone has a comfort zone. The magic happens just outside it.

We asked Naomi for her one big idea for leaders. Her answer was typically direct:

Have a headline. And sell it.

Know the one thing you want people to get behind. Make it punchy. Make it land. Then work backwards to build the story that brings it to life.

Watch Episode 1 of The Big Whydea here!