Month: October 2026

The surprising reason your CEO should never give another speech

The surprising reason your CEO should never give another speech

October 7, 2026

By Kirsten Goodwin

Ironically, the more polished a CEO’s performance at an event, the less likely it is to deliver what you really want from it: belief.

Most leaders still default to broadcast mode. And the problem with this is that the script swallows up the person, working against what that slot is supposed to achieve.  

So if belief is what you need – and it usually is – your CEO should never give a speech.

Instead, for senior appearances, the crucial test is: do the audience feel like there’s an unscripted human in the room?

And that’s where a high-quality event host can help.

 

What a corporate event host adds: The Hosting Impact Scale

I measure the benefits of an event host using my Hosting Impact Scale.

At Level 1: Competence, the leader is introduced clearly, maybe a Q&A is delivered successfully, and the planned timings hold. All of this matters – but the leader’s message is quietly discounted, because nobody met the person behind it.

At Level 2: Presence, the host holds the room with warmth and energy, so the leader feels supported and the session flows. This is better – but the host is the only unscripted human on stage, and the leader is still performing.

That’s where Level 3 comes in.

At Level 3: Resonance, the leader is in the room as themselves, responding and thinking out loud in a real conversation. The host asks the questions the room actually wants answered, and the audience believes the leader because they can see nobody is managing the moment.

The event still needs to be polished. But the polish belongs to the organisation and the host, so the leader doesn’t have to carry it. (I hold the room, so they don’t have to.)

 

The wrong question most organisers ask

When organisers plan a senior appearance, the question they usually ask is:

will our CEO get through this without anything going wrong?

That’s Level 1 thinking. A better question is:

will the room believe them when they’ve finished?

A speechwriter, a comms team and a rehearsal can answer the first question. The second depends on the format – and the second is what really matters.

If you’re not sure which level your last senior appearance reached, that’s a good place to start on an Event Hosting Discovery Call – get in touch through my Expert Services Directory listing.

 

How I host CEO and senior leadership appearances: before, during and after

Everything I do around a senior appearance has one aim: getting an unscripted human into the room, with the least risk to the organisation and the least friction for the leader.

Before. I start with the organisers, to understand what this senior time needs to achieve – whether that’s belief, information, or a bit of both. The answer shapes everything else.

Then we design the format. Often that’s a hosted fireside chat or leadership Q&A, the kind Noel Quinn chose, with questions agreed in advance and answers that belong to the leader. The organisation keeps control of the shape of the session, and the audience gets the real person.

I then meet the leader to find the stories and views they’re comfortable sharing, so they arrive ready for a conversation rather than word-perfect on a script. The preparation moves from them to me – which is why this format usually takes far less of a busy leader’s diary.

During. On the day, I host the conversation live. I ask the follow-up the room actually wants answered and respond to what the leader says in the moment. And if something goes off course, my job is to protect them.

After. I deliver a debrief with any recommendations for follow-up, to make sure the moment is leveraged and future appearances have even more impact.

 

A fireside chat in practice

I chaired a fireside chat with two very senior partners at an international law firm, broadcast live across the firm’s global offices. The subject was Imposter Syndrome – about as far from broadcast mode as senior lawyers are ever likely to go.

People talked about how inspiring it was to know that leaders so senior had experienced it too. 

I don’t believe the partners would have been that open from behind a lectern. But in this format, they could be, because we’d shaped the questions together in advance, and they knew I was there to manage the conversation on the day. 

The event created a real sense of trust and belonging throughout the organisation – which is exactly what a senior appearance is for. That’s Level 3 hosting in practice.

Getting this right gives you a leader who’s glad they did it and a room that believes them. For you as the organiser, it also means a CEO who’ll want to do it again.

 

Conclusion

When Noel Quinn turned down a keynote, he chose the format that would work best for him – and for his purpose at the event. 

A Level 3 host makes that possible for any leader. They get to show up as themselves, and the host carries the risk. That’s what I do, before, during and after the event. 

Your CEO can make the same choice. Senior appearances at events are there to create belief, which is crucial to an organisation’s success.  And belief needs a human in the room. 

If your CEO or senior team is appearing at an event in the coming months and you want a corporate event host who’ll help the room leave believing, get in touch through my Expert Services Directory listing.

Here’s to events that land,

Kirsten

    Looking for suppliers? let us know.





    Are You Developing Your Finance Talent for the Role the Business Now Needs?

    Are You Developing Your Finance Talent for the Role the Business Now Needs?

    October 2, 2026

    This blog is by Leila Singh, Leadership & Career Development Consultant at Success Redefined Limited and you can find out more about Leila and her work here

    When you review leadership development across your organisation, where does Finance sit?

    Your finance professionals are likely to have access to technical updates, CPD and systems training. All of those matters. But if the business now expects them to challenge thinking, influence decisions and work as strategic partners, are they getting development for that part of the role too?

    It is a question worth asking at your next talent review, particularly if you are looking at succession, internal mobility or the retention of experienced finance people.

     

    The expectations have moved beyond the numbers

    Finance still needs to produce accurate information and maintain strong controls. At the same time, business leaders increasingly want finance professionals who can explain what the numbers mean, understand commercial priorities and contribute while decisions are being shaped.

    That calls for more than technical expertise.

    Think of a capable finance manager who knows the business well and can see that a proposed course of action carries a risk.

    •         Can they raise it in a way that keeps the conversation open?
    •         Do they have a strong enough relationship with the stakeholder to be involved before the proposal is almost final?
    •         Can they offer a useful alternative rather than simply point out the problem?

    Those skills affect whether the organisation benefits from the expertise it already has. Yet they can be easy to overlook in a finance development plan built primarily around technical capability.

    If you are reviewing leadership development for finance professionals, you can view my Expert Services Directory listing and send me an enquiry about the gap you are seeing.

     

    This belongs in your workforce plan

    For a People or Talent leader, the issue reaches beyond the training budget. It touches the question of who will be ready to lead your finance function in the years ahead.

    You may have experienced people with deep knowledge of your organisation who are capable of more. But if they have had little opportunity to build stakeholder influence, commercial confidence or leadership presence, they may not yet be seen as candidates for broader roles. Recruiting externally can appear to be the answer, even when there is potential within the team.

    There is a retention question here too. As automation changes parts of finance work, experienced professionals want to understand where they can continue to contribute and grow. A credible development path helps them see a future in your organisation. It also helps the business make better use of the knowledge they have built over years.

    None of this means promising everyone a promotion. It means being clear about how finance roles are changing, recognising the people who could grow with them, and giving those people opportunities to develop.

     

    Two questions to ask about your finance population

    You do not need to begin with a complex assessment. At your next talent discussion with the Finance Director, try asking:

    Who is building relationships beyond the finance function?

    •         Look at where people spend their time and who seeks their input.
    •         Do they understand the priorities of the teams they support, or are most of their conversations confined to finance?
    •         Are they developing the trust that makes it easier to offer a perspective when it matters?

    Who is brought into decisions early?

    •         When a team is considering a new investment, commercial proposal or operational change, does it involve finance while options are still open?
    •         If it consistently turns to finance afterwards, what is getting in the way?

    The answers may differ from a conventional performance or potential rating. Someone can deliver excellent work and still need support to become visible and influential across the business. Another person may already be building strong relationships but need help expressing a clear recommendation in senior discussions.

    That is where a more tailored development conversation begins. If you would value an external perspective on where to focus, visit my directory listing and tell me what you are noticing in your finance team.

     

    What useful development could look like

    I would start with the work these professionals are already being asked to do, then build development around the situations they face. That might include:

    •         Seeing themselves as business partners. Some experienced finance professionals have built successful careers by being the technical expert. They may need help recognising that their judgement, questions and relationships are also part of the value they bring.
    •         Communicating for a business audience. This means turning analysis into a clear point of view, explaining the implications and making it easier for a non-finance colleague to act.
    •         Handling challenging conversations. Finance needs people who can question assumptions, discuss risk and hold their ground without becoming known as the function that simply says “no”.
    •         Building stakeholder trust. Strong relationships develop through curiosity and regular conversation, before there is an urgent issue to resolve.
    •         Practising on real work. A workshop can introduce useful ideas. Applying them in meetings, presentations and stakeholder conversations, with feedback and support, is where the change becomes visible.

    Your Finance Director can help identify where earlier involvement or stronger influence would make the greatest difference. People and Talent leaders can then connect that development to succession plans and meaningful career opportunities.

     

    A question for your next talent review

    When you discuss your finance population, ask: are we developing these people for the contribution the business needs from Finance now?

    If your strongest technical people are rarely invited into wider decisions, there may be untapped leadership potential in the team. Understanding why is a useful place to start.

     

    I’m Leila Singh, an FCCA qualified leadership development specialist and founder of Success Redefined. Drawing on more than 25 years in corporate Finance and Sales, I help organisations develop mid to senior finance professionals who can influence stakeholders, contribute to better decisions and become trusted strategic partners to the business.

    To explore what this could look like for your finance team, visit my Expert Services Directory listing and send me an enquiry. 

     

    Your Finance Team Is Technically Strong. So Why Isn’t the Business Listening?

    Your Finance Team Is Technically Strong. So Why Isn’t the Business Listening?

    October 2, 2026

    This blog is by Leila Singh, Leadership & Career Development Consultant at Success Redefined Limited and you can find out more about Leila and her work here.

    Your Finance Team Is Technically Strong. So Why Isn’t the Business Listening?

    Ask a Finance Director about their team and they’ll often tell you how capable they are. The reporting is accurate. The deadlines are met. They know the numbers inside out.

    Then comes the frustration: “We have the insight, but the business doesn’t always involve us until the decision has been made.”

    If that sounds familiar, the question may not be whether your team needs more technical training. It may be whether they have the relationships, confidence and communication skills to make their expertise count early enough.

     

    Why good finance insight arrives too late

    A finance professional can produce an excellent analysis and still have little influence over the outcome. By the time their report reaches a stakeholder, a preferred course of action may already have taken shape.

    Imagine a commercial team working towards a new deal. Finance could help test the assumptions, explore the margin and find a way to make the deal work. But if colleagues expect finance to say “no”, they may wait until the proposal is nearly complete before bringing them in.

    At that point, finance faces a difficult choice: raise concerns that feel like an obstacle or stay quiet about a risk they can see.

    That is an expensive position for any business to put its finance team in. It can mean rework, slower decisions and missed opportunities to improve the deal while there is still room to change it.

    I have worked in both finance and executive sales, spanning 25-years, so I understand why those conversations can become difficult on either side. The opportunity is to help finance become a partner colleagues want to involve while options are still open.

    If this is a pattern you recognise, you can view my Expert Services Directory listing and send me an enquiry about the challenges you’re seeing in your team.

     

    Is your team known beyond finance?

    Here are two questions I would ask a Finance Director looking at their team’s development.

    First, who do your finance people speak to regularly outside the function?

    •         Think beyond the meetings they are required to attend.
    •         Do they understand what matters to colleagues in Sales, Operations and other areas of the business?
    •         Are they curious about the pressures behind the numbers?

    Second, who seeks them out before making a decision?

    •         When a stakeholder is weighing up an investment, a customer proposal or a change in direction, do they think to involve someone from finance at the start?

    The answers can reveal a gap that a performance review might miss. Someone can be highly capable, respected within finance and ready for more responsibility, yet remain largely unknown to the people they need to influence.

    That does not mean they should spend their week networking for the sake of it. It means building enough trust and understanding that a useful conversation can happen before a decision becomes difficult to change.

    Sometimes that starts with a simple question: “What are you trying to achieve, and where would a finance perspective help?”

     

    Developing finance business partners takes practice

    Finance business partnering training is most useful when it changes what people do in real conversations. Your team may need support to:

    •         turn financial analysis into a clear recommendation that a non-finance colleague can act on;
    •         ask better questions about a stakeholder’s commercial priorities;
    •         challenge an assumption without closing down the discussion;
    •         speak with confidence when senior people disagree; and
    •         build relationships across the business before an urgent issue arises.

    These are finance influencing skills, and they become stronger through practice. A presentation or workshop can start the conversation, but people also need opportunities to apply what they learn to their own stakeholders and decisions.

    For a Finance Director, the result to look for is straightforward:

    •         Are your people being brought into more useful conversations, earlier?
    •         Are they helping colleagues make better-informed choices, rather than explaining the financial consequences afterwards?

    If you are considering how to develop that capability, visit my directory listing and use the contact form to tell me where your team is getting stuck.

     

    Start with the people who are ready to contribute more

    Often, the greatest opportunity sits with your experienced finance professionals. They know the organisation, understand the detail and can see patterns others miss. Some are already doing the work of a strategic partner, but have not yet developed the visibility or confidence to be recognised as one.

    Give them a clear expectation that building relationships and contributing to decisions is part of their role. Then give them support with the conversations they find hardest, whether that is challenging a senior stakeholder, presenting a recommendation or making the first approach to a team outside finance.

    This also matters for your future leadership pipeline. If you want more of your own people ready to step into senior finance roles, technical strength alone will not tell you who can earn trust and influence across the business.

    So here is the question I would leave you with: when the next important commercial decision is taking shape, will someone think to involve your finance team before the options narrow? If you are unsure, there is useful work to do.

     

    I’m Leila Singh, an FCCA qualified leadership development specialist and founder of Success Redefined. Drawing on more than 25 years in Corporate Finance and Sales, I help organisations develop mid to senior finance professionals who can influence stakeholders, contribute to better decisions and become trusted strategic partners to the business.

    To explore what this could look like for your finance team, visit my Expert Services Directory listing and send me an enquiry.