Simon Eastwood, Head of Leadership Skills at Management Futures, shares an example of how Coaching+ combines coaching and Leadership Communication Skills Training to help people communicate with greater clarity, confidence and impact.
What happens when a leader knows what needs to change but not how?
That’s where Coaching+ comes in. By combining executive coaching with tailored Leadership Communication Skills Training, it bridges the gap between understanding and action - helping people communicate with greater clarity, confidence and impact.
To show how it works in practice, we turned to Simon Eastwood, Head of Leadership Skills at MF. Instead of listing techniques, he shared a recent client story - one that shows how practical skills training, combined with coaching insight, can unlock real, lasting change…
The Challenge
The client had received consistent feedback about their communication style: speaking too fast, interrupting, jumping off-topic and often leaving thoughts incomplete. These habits were undermining their clarity, credibility and presence in meetings.
They brought this feedback into an initial coaching conversation as they were unsure how to act on it.
During that first session, the patterns showed up right away. As the client described the challenge, they raced through their words - making it hard to follow. So that’s where we started: slowing the pace.
This simple shift began to reveal some of the deeper patterns behind their style and opened the door to more focused skills work.
The Skills
- Technique 1: Verbal Target Practice -
We picked a familiar scenario - the opening of a meeting - and ran it 6 times. Each round focused on three things:
- Chunking ideas clearly
- Pausing intentionally
- Noticing and correcting where clarity or pace slipped
Almost immediately, the structure and delivery improved.
You can see an example of this exercise in the following video:
- Technique 2: Managing Energy -
While Verbal Target Practice was a success, there was a catch.
The client had slowed down but this resulted in a noticeable drop in vocal energy and engagement. So next, we worked on balancing pace with energy.
This exercise helped the client find an "about right" level of vocal energy. Most clients can afford to bring more energy than they believe, and this technique gave real-time feedback on how their voice landed.
The client quickly began to sound clearer and more engaging without rushing.
The Impact
By integrating “Verbal Target Practice” with the “Energy” exercise, the client achieved a dramatic improvement. Their delivery became more impactful, clear and confidently paced.
But something else emerged too.
Underpinning the habits - the fast-talking, the unfinished thoughts and the tangents - was something deeper: a lack of confidence.
The use of apologetic language hinted at self-doubt. We explored this through exercises focused on tone and emotional intent - experimenting with expressing the same message in different ways.
This insight also opened the door for further exploration with their coach, offering a pathway to more authentic and effective communication.
Why This Matters
This is the heart of Coaching+.
Coaching helped the client understand what was holding them back. Communication skills training gave them the tools to move forward.
And together, they created a space that delivered a much clearer picture of the communicator, and leader, this client wanted to be.
