About me…
Who Am I and How Can I Help You?
I’m a former fashion designer and recovering actor, a speaker and podcast host. My reason for being is to empower professionals to speak with confidence and to use my 30 years of experience training and coaching to help teams and individuals discover the power to speak to their audience be it 1:2:1 or 1:1000.
My journey has been anything but linear. I started in fashion design, walked away disillusioned, and quite literally stumbled into the Royal Shakespeare Company as a dresser. Watching directors, designers, and actors collaborate daily, something clicked. I’d found my home. I auditioned for drama school, dove headfirst into this fabulous new world, and never looked back.
For three decades, I worked as an actor, director, and vocal coach. I performed at Edinburgh and London fringe festivals, produced theatrical shows, ran drama clubs, and even drew on my fashion training to help create costumes for The National Theatre and West End. Along the way, I produced a beautiful baby girl, moved to the New Forest, obtained a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing and English Literature, became certified coach and NLP practitioner.
In 2021, I founded Power to Speak because I wanted to help business leaders, entrepreneurs, and teams discover something I know from experience to be true – speaking to an audience can be exciting, not terrifying.
My job as a coach is to get my clients excited about sharing their ideas with an audience. Whether they’re presenting for business, education, or entertainment, I want them to feel that spark of anticipation rather than dread.
I bring all my performing arts experience to teach the physical and technical techniques that make public speaking work—voice, breath, movement, and performance. But the real transformation happens when we work on content. I help clients find the right stories and create compelling visuals that build both self-awareness and confidence. When speakers truly know their audience, believe in their message, and enjoy their content, something shifts. They stop dreading the stage and start looking forward to it.
As Business Coach & Board Chair, Christophe Stourton said, “Jackie listened. Jackie tested, suggested and shaped my content. She refocused my fears and as with my confidence, Jackie improved my performance. Now I feel excited to be invited to speak and am developing other presentations.”
And Author & Content Strategist, Sonja Nisson, “Jackie gave me the confidence I needed to step up and own the stage. The talk went brilliantly! Loads of audience engagement at the end, fantastic feedback, and a surprising number of work enquiries as a direct result.
This talk has turned out to be one of the most valuable things I’ve done in recent years”.
Shelley Rostlund, director at Harbour 32 LTD told me: “You’re just so easy to work with Jackie because you’ve got this wonderful mix of gentle graceful genius but also quite tenaciously persistent at moving people through the steps that they need to work on to get to the end.”
Through my Power to Speak and Speaking About Speaking podcasts, I talk to speakers, coaches, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders about their journeys and how they discovered their power to speak.
I asked my friend Claude (AI) what he thought my superpower was and he said…
Your superpower seems to be making people feel “seen, safe and supported” while simultaneously delivering exceptional practical results.
My mission is simple: to give you the confidence and skills you need to truly connect when you speak—and maybe even have some fun doing it.
Do you want the Power to Speak?
About you….
You want to make an impact, influence and inspire with your talks and presentations but the thought of speaking at the front of the room brings you out in a cold sweat.
You fear being judged, making a fool of yourself or damaging your credibility. You lack confidence in yourself, your product and the tech, too.
Then there’s the physical symptoms – the visible shaking, trembling voice, and your heart beating out of your chest.
No wonder you hate speaking to an audience (be it of 1 or 1000) and you’re not alone.
73% of the population have glossophobia – the fear of speaking in public.
Imagine that – only 5 out of 20 would be happy to stand up and speak in front of an audience, be they potential clients, customers, or employers.
With this common fear, how can we grow our business, influence an audience or promote our products and services?