Speak Up: Develop Your Executive Presence & Leadership Communication Style

419: This Overused Approach to Executive Presence Drives Senior Leaders Bonkers and Weakens Their Respect for You

Jun 11, 2025

James Turk, an executive coach and CEO of The Turk Group, discusses common pitfalls in executive presence that frustrate senior leaders. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity in leadership and communication, encouraging new managers to embrace vulnerability. Turk shares strategies to navigate tough messages and build influential connections without inauthenticity. He also highlights how emotional resilience can be enhanced through introspection and improv, urging leaders to cultivate open dialogue and personal understanding within teams.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Acting and Authentic Leadership

Acting teaches you to be authentic in imaginary circumstances by finding emotional truth in stories.
This skill translates to authentic, empathetic communication in leadership, even with tough messages.

ADVICE

Deliver Tough Messages Authentically

Find the part of the message or policy you can authentically support when communicating tough or unclear directives.
Acknowledge questions and commit to raising concerns productively while supporting the team to move forward.

ADVICE

Own Your Executive Presentation

To present to executives confidently, be yourself and clarify your presentation's purpose for that audience.
Build the story focused on key points, practice delivery, and add energy appropriate to your style.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In today’s episode you’ll discover how this absolutely normal and common approach to executive presence is a major turn off for senior leaders.

Whether you’re a new manager, a technical expert stepping into leadership, or just someone who struggles to feel supremely confident communicating up the chain, this episode is packed with clarity and practical strategies. You’ll hear exactly how to find your voice, project executive presence, and stop feeling like you have to prove yourself all the time.

To chat with Laura to see if her Executive Presence Mastery System is right for you click here.

By the end of today’s episode with guest James Turk you’ll know:

🚀The #1 communication mistake rookie leaders make—and how to fix it

🧩How to deliver tough messages when you’re not fully confident or in agreement with the message

🔑Ways to build influence and charisma without pretending to be someone you’re not

If you want to lead with more confidence, clarity, and connection—especially when stakes are high—press play and start learning what really works from day one.

If you’d like to assess your own communication through an Executive Presence checklist I created, it's waiting for you here. My compliments. It goes through the 10 qualities that make up executive presence that are essential for success as a senior executive.

For more information visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. Our Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

About our guest:

James Turk is an author, executive coach, keynote speaker, and CEO of The Turk Group, a boutique learning and development consulting firm. With over 25 years of experience, he has designed and delivered leadership solutions to clients globally, coaching and training upwards of 10,000 people. Clients include Walmart, NYSE, BuzzFeed, Spotify, Seattle Genetics and others..

Influenced by his background as a trained actor, James builds strong, trusting client relationships. He holds a BS in Liberal Arts from The New School and gained valuable HR experience at Goldman Sachs, Random House, and P&O Nedlloyd. Clients highly value his forward-thinking insights.

In Speak Up communication and executive presence coaching, high performing leaders and executives learn to enhance their influence and confidence, refining their communication style to increase visibility and effectiveness in promotion opportunities.

By honing communication skills and fostering a trusted advisor mindset, aspiring executives cultivate mastery in public speaking and beat imposter syndrome. Your leadership becomes more strategic and inspiring.