SaaS entrepreneur | Helping companies automate their sales with AI so they can grow and scale without extra costs | Built a 7-figure SaaS from scratch | CEO @Voxloud

👋 Hi, I’m Leonardo
🚀 Founder @ Voxloud – scaling toward €3 M ARR, profitably

What I share:

- Practical strategies for entrepreneurs and Sales Directors
- How to optimize sales processes with proven methodologies and AI
- Simple yet effective ways to multiply results without raising costs

By following me, you’ll get:

🚀 Concrete tactics to scale sales sustainably
📚 Insights on AI applied to sales
🔥 Clear, no‑fluff advice you can implement right away
💼 Exclusive updates on my journey with Voxloud

➡️ Ready to boost your sales team’s performance? 
Click “Follow” and let’s grow together! 💪

Leonardo Coppola

"Ma fai solo 3 milioni e scrivi di imprenditoria su LinkedIn?

Sì. E scrivo esattamente per questo motivo.

Non scrivo perché ho tutte le risposte.
Scrivo perché sto vivendo le domande.

Quel momento quando leggi il libro del CEO di Netflix che ti dice "paga il doppio per i migliori talenti" e pensi: "Bello... ma se quei soldi non ce li ho?"

È lì che capisci il valore di condividere un percorso mentre lo stai vivendo.

Non dopo. 
Non quando hai risolto tutto. 
Non quando fai 50 milioni e non ricordi più com'era farne 3.

Perché arrivati a quel punto, le sfide saranno diverse no?!

Scrivo quello che sto vivendo adesso.

Le decisioni che prendo questa settimana.
Gli errori che sto pagando questo mese.
I dubbi che ho oggi su come far crescere l'azienda.

E lo faccio con un vezzo: se qualcuno che è qualche passo dietro di me o nella mia stessa situazione trova utile quello che condivido, meglio.

Perché quando devi decidere se assumere un commerciale o investire in un altro canale di marketing con un budget per una sola scelta, ti serve qualcuno che quella scelta l'ha fatta 3 mesi fa. Non 10 anni fa.

Quando devi costruire il tuo primo team da remoto senza sapere da dove iniziare, ti serve qualcuno che lo sta facendo adesso. 
Con gli stessi dubbi. Con le stesse paure.

Quando devi capire come scalare senza budget infinito, ti serve qualcuno che sta cercando di farlo con le tue stesse risorse.

Non sono un guru. Sono uno che cammina.

E mentre cammino, condivido la strada.

Le buche dove sono inciampato.
I bivi dove ho sbagliato direzione.
I tratti in cui ho trovato una scorciatoia.

Non per insegnare. Per condividere.

Magari chi cammina accanto a me o qualche passo dietro trova utile sapere cosa c'è più avanti.

O magari semplicemente gli fa piacere sapere che non è solo.

Che i dubbi che ha li ho anch'io.
Gli errori che teme li sto facendo anche io.
Il percorso è difficile per tutti, non solo per lui.

Scrivo per questo. Non per sembrare esperto.

Per condividere un percorso vero, con chi lo sta vivendo o sta per viverlo.

E se lungo la strada qualcuno trova utile ciò che condivido, il vezzo è servito.

p.s. Non cerco di insegnare niente a nessuno. Sto solo camminando e condividendo quello che vedo. Se cammini accanto a me o appena dietro, magari ti è utile, quindi seguimi. Se sei già molto più avanti, probabilmente hai cose migliori da leggere.

CEO & Founder @Voxloud | I talk and write about how to grow sales (also with AI) without added costs | Scaling Voxloud profitably to $4 million in ARR

"Come fai a fidarti di gente che lavora da casa?"

Me lo chiedono ancora nel 2026. 

Come se il problema fosse dove lavorano, non come lavorano.

Quel momento quando realizzi che il manager che controlla se sei alla scrivania alle 9:00 non sta misurando la produttività. 

Sta misurando la presenza.

Ho team in Ucraina, Italia, Argentina, Spagna, Tunisia, Egitto, Indonesia, Filippine, Russia, Stati Uniti. 

Non li vedo in faccia da mesi. Eppure sappiamo esattamente chi sta producendo e chi no.

Il lavoro da remoto non è il futuro. 
È il presente. 

E chi ancora pensa che "se non li vedo non stanno lavorando" sta semplicemente perdendo il 90% del talento disponibile sul mercato.

Ma costruire un team da remoto non significa solo "ok, lavorate da casa."

Significa rispondere a domande che la maggior parte dei manager ignora:

Quando ti aspetti che siano sempre online?
Non puoi dire "sempre disponibili" e poi lamentarti del burnout.

Come misuriamo i risultati?
Non puoi controllare le ore trascorse davanti al computer. 
Devi avere obiettivi chiari: specifici, misurabili, raggiungibili, rilevanti, con scadenze.

Come costruiamo cultura senza ufficio?
Non puoi pensare che due chiamate al mese bastino. 
Serve onboarding vero, pause caffè virtuali, celebrare i successi e performance review almeno semestrali.

Il problema non è mai stato il remoto.

Il problema sono i manager che vogliono controllare invece di guidare.
Manager che misurano le ore invece dei risultati.
Manager che pensano che "essere presenti" significhi "essere produttivi".

La verità semplice: un team da remoto ben gestito batte un team in ufficio mal gestito 10 volte su 10.

Non perché il remoto sia magico.
Ma perché, per farlo funzionare, devi essere un manager migliore.

Devi avere obiettivi chiari.
Devi comunicare meglio.
Devi fidarti delle persone che assumi.

E se non ti fidi di loro quando non li vedi, il problema non è il remoto.

Il problema è chi hai assunto. O come li stai gestendo.

Nel 2026, la domanda non è più "possiamo lavorare da remoto?"

La domanda è "possiamo permetterci di NON farlo?"

Perché mentre tu cerchi il candidato perfetto nel raggio di 20 km dal tuo ufficio, il tuo competitor sta assumendo il miglior talento del mondo.

Indipendentemente da dove vive.

p.s. se stai ancora facendo colloqui solo in presenza perché "è più facile valutare le persone," stai perdendo il 90% dei candidati migliori. 

E loro stanno andando da chi ha capito come funziona il 2026.

366 giorni di contenuti su LinkedIn. 

Cos'è cambiato?

Marzo 2025. Decido di scrivere con continuità. 3 post a settimana. 

Niente strategia perfetta. 
Solo pensieri ed errori vissuti.

Quel momento in cui capisci che le persone che ti scrivono in privato cambiano la tua azienda.

Oggi, un anno dopo, metà dei nuovi innesti del mio team è arrivata grazie a questi post.

Perché, leggendo quello che scrivo, hanno capito chi siamo e hanno deciso di scrivermi.

Sì, c'è stato un impatto sul fatturato e sulla generazione di contatti. 
Ma quella non è la storia vera.

La storia vera è che, per la prima volta in anni, ho iniziato conversazioni vere con persone che non avrei mai incontrato.

Prima ero chiuso nel mio mondo. Clienti, fornitori, qualche evento.

Ora ho capito che qui è dove posso trovare le 5-10 persone giuste tra migliaia di persone sbagliate.

È trasformare il "non conosco nessuno" in "ho più conversazioni interessanti di quelle che riesco a gestire."

366 giorni fa scrivevo per mettere ordine nei miei pensieri.

Oggi scrivo ancora per quello.

Ma nel frattempo ho costruito un team più forte e ho smesso di sentirmi solo in questo casino che è fare impresa.

Le vanity metrics sono ancora vanità.

Ma le persone vere che ho incontrato grazie a questi post? 
Quelle valgono tutto.

Se hai sempre rimandato l'idea di scrivere online, questo è il segnale. 

Inizia oggi. Basta un pensiero

La maggior parte di chi implementa venditori AI sta sbagliando tutto.

Pensano che lo strumento possa magicamente capire da solo come vendere per loro.

Non può. Almeno non oggi.

Nessuno di loro può.

Lo strumento non conta più di tanto, finché ne scegli uno valido.

Quello che conta davvero è come lo alleni:

In Voxloud abbiamo implementato oltre 200 agenti AI negli ultimi 6 mesi.

Oggi però ti parlo del nostro SDR AI che gestisce centinaia di chiamate e messaggi WhatsApp al mese, quello che prima facevamo con 3 SDR umani...

E di come abbiamo fallito i primi 30 giorni dal lancio.

Messaggi generici. Tassi di risposta terribili. Lead che riattaccavano o bloccavano il numero.

Oggi, è attivo h24 e 7 giorni su 7 per qualificare ogni lead che entra in contatto con noi dalle campagne di marketing.

Cosa è cambiato?

Abbiamo smesso di trattare l'AI come un software e abbiamo iniziato a trattarla come un nuovo dipendente.

Nello specifico, abbiamo clonato il nostro miglior SDR umano.

Ecco dove il 90% delle aziende sbaglia nell'implementazione.

Si aspettano la magia senza investimento umano massiccio.

La loro fantasia è quasi sempre: Compro un SDR AI → arrivano lead → fai soldi.

La realtà è questa invece: Compro un SDR AI → passi 15-20 ore a settimana ad addestrarlo su come vendono già i tuoi migliori venditori → raffini costantemente → poi fai soldi.

Ogni giorno, fatti una domanda sull'output del tuo venditore AI:

"Questa chiamata è buona quanto o meglio di quella che farebbe il mio miglior venditore umano?"

O almeno... ci si avvicina? Ci arriva all'85%?

Se la risposta è no, non farla partire.

Sembra ovvio. Non lo è.

La maggior parte delle aziende manda chiamate AI di merda perché "beh, è AI, cosa ti aspetti?"

No. Sbagliato. Stop.

Il tuo SDR AI dovrebbe essere meglio del tuo SDR umano medio.

Ha memoria perfetta. Non si stanca mai. Può richiamare ogni interazione, ogni dato, ogni contesto storico.

Se il tuo AI produce contenuti peggiori dei tuoi venditori umani, non l'hai addestrato correttamente.

Torna al punto di partenza.

Addestrare il tuo venditore AI sul tuo miglior venditore umano è la priorità numero 1.

Il limite di qualità è determinato dalla qualità dell'addestramento che gli dai.

Lo addestri su template generici? Avrai risultati generici.

Lo addestri sul tuo miglior venditore? Avrai il tuo miglior venditore scalato.

Le aziende che vincono non sono quelle con gli strumenti migliori.

Sono quelle che hanno investito il tempo per clonare le loro persone migliori.

Copia il tuo miglior venditore umano.

Questo è il segreto.

Tutto il resto è solo software.

______

Per te che mi leggi, hai già implementato AI nella tua rete vendita? 
Raccontami se ti va la tua esperienza nei commenti.

Se pensi che bastino prodotto e marketing, prova a chiedere ai tuoi ultimi 5 clienti persi perché se ne sono andati. 

Spoiler: raramente è il prodotto.

Molti pensano che basti avere un buon prodotto.

"La qualità parla da sola."
"Se funziona bene, i clienti lo capiranno."
"Concentriamoci sul prodotto, il resto viene da sé."

Cazzate.

Quando realizzi che il cliente felice non è quello con il prodotto migliore, ma quello che sa esattamente cosa aspettarsi e quando aspettarselo, ti scatta un click nella testa.

E te lo confesso io stesso dopo 10 anni in trincea: abbiamo perso clienti con un prodotto ottimo perché la comunicazione faceva schifo.

Abbiamo tenuto clienti con qualche bug perché il servizio clienti era impeccabile.

La differenza non era il prodotto. Era tutto il resto.

Quella roba noiosa che nessuno vuole fare:
- Rispondere alle mail e chat velocemente
- Dire chiaramente cosa possono aspettarsi e quando
- Fare onboarding come si deve invece che mandare un link e sperare
- Gestire il problema prima che il cliente debba inseguirti
- Comunicare in anticipo se qualcosa va storto

Questo è il lavoro vero.

Non il pitch perfetto. Non la feature innovativa. Non il design figo.

Ma la mail/chat di risposta entro pochi minuti non giorni.
La chiamata proattiva quando c'è un problema.
L'aspettativa settata chiara dal primo giorno.

I neo imprenditori credono che il business si vinca con il prodotto migliore.

Il business si vince con il prodotto buono e tutto il resto fatto bene.

Perché il tuo competitor magari ha un prodotto migliore del tuo.

Anzi 9 su 10 è così, soprattutto nel software e se i clienti possono adottare tecnologia da aziende estere finanziate milioni da VC.

Ma se tu rispondi in poche ore e lui in 3 giorni.
Se tu setti aspettative chiare e lui lascia i clienti nel dubbio.
Se tu gestisci i problemi prima che esplodano e lui li ignora fino al rinnovo.

Indovina chi tiene i clienti?

Non quello con il prodotto migliore.
Quello con la comunicazione, il servizio, l'attenzione ai dettagli.

Quella roba noiosa che tutti snobbano perché "non scala" o "non è strategica."

Ti farò storcere il naso ma...il tuo prodotto probabilmente non è così speciale come pensi.

Ma il modo in cui tratti i clienti può esserlo.

E quello fa la differenza tra un cliente che rinnova e uno che se ne va appena trova di meglio.
_________

Felice di leggere qui nei commenti la vostra opinione.

Helping technical experts & product specialists improve their win rate on pitches. 829 clients helped to-date with training that had an immediate, positive impact on their results. Will you be next?

Your presentations are being seen. Are they getting results?

Most executive presentations inform. They don't drive decisions. 
Leadership listens politely, asks a few questions, and says, "Let's revisit this next quarter."

I fix that.

After 24 years in corporate banking — JPMorgan Chase, PwC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Commerzbank — I've sat on both sides of the boardroom table. I know exactly why some presentations get immediate buy-in while others get indefinitely deferred.

It's rarely the idea. It's the structure, the delivery, and knowing what executives actually need to say, "Yes."

I help executives in two ways:

→ Corporate Training
I work with leadership teams at banks, consultancies, and corporates to transform how they present. From board decks to investor pitches to QBRs — I teach the frameworks that get decisions made. Delivered remotely or on-site.

→ Digital Resources
Not ready for full training? 

Start with The Executive Slide System — 17 PowerPoint templates + 51 AI prompts for every executive presentation type. 

Or join my AI-Enhanced Executive Presentation Mastery course launching January 2025.
What I cover:
- Board presentations & investor pitches
- QBRs & Budget Requests
- Strategic recommendations &amp; project updates
- AI tools: Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude for faster, better slides

The results speak:  Clients have used my frameworks to close major deals, secure board approvals, and get promoted to roles they'd been passed over for.

Ready to transform your presentations?

📩 DM me for corporate training enquiries
🔗 Get templates now: https://mbhazeldine.gumroad.com/l/executive-slide-system
🎓 Join the course: https://maven.com/winning-presentations/ai-enhanced-presentation-mastery/

Mary Beth Hazeldine

I watched an executive rehearse for 6 hours.

It made her worse.

By hour four, she was second-guessing every word.
By hour five, she'd lost all natural energy.
By hour six, she couldn't remember her opening line.

Here's what happens when you over-practice:

Your brain shifts from "knowing the material" to "performing the script."

One interruption, one question, one blank moment—and the whole chain breaks.

The executives I've trained who present most effectively?

They rehearse for 90 minutes total. Three passes:

Pass 1: Content flow (Does this make sense?)
Pass 2: Transitions (Can I move smoothly between sections?)
Pass 3: Timing (Am I hitting my marks?)

Then they stop.

Because after that, you're not getting better.
You're just memorizing a script you'll forget under pressure.

The goal isn't perfect recall.
It's flexible confidence—knowing your material well enough to present it from any starting point.

What's your rehearsal sweet spot?

I help executives present with confidence | 10,000+ trained | Ex-JPMorgan, PwC, RBS, Commerzbank

I sat through a full-day presentation course when I was a banker.

By lunch, I'd learned how to make eye contact and use hand gestures.

I've been presenting to boards for 24 years. I didn't need tips on eye contact.

I needed to know:
→ How to restructure 47 slides for a CFO who gives me 10 minutes
→ How to handle hostile questions from stakeholders who've already decided no
→ How to present when I'm the most junior person and everyone has an agenda

The course taught none of that.

Here's the problem with most presentation training:

It's built for beginners.

80% performance skills (delivery, body language, slides)
20% strategic skills (structure, stakeholder management, politics)

For senior professionals, that ratio should be inverted.

What executives actually need:

✓ Executive-specific frameworks (not "3 key points")
✓ Stakeholder psychology (what they want vs. what they say)
✓ High-stakes scenario handling (hostile Q&A, technology failures)
✓ Efficiency systems (90 minutes, not 6 hours)

Before investing in any presentation course, ask:

1. Who's the target audience? (If it mentions "overcome fear of public speaking" prominently—it's not for you)

2. What's the framework-to-tips ratio? (You want 60%+ strategy)

3. Does it address executive scenarios? (Board presentations, budget requests, presenting bad news)

4. Is there peer interaction? (Learning from other senior professionals is half the value)

5. Does it include modern workflows? (AI-enhanced efficiency isn't optional in 2026)

If the course can't speak to these directly, it's not designed for your level.

See a full breakdown of what senior professionals actually need from presentation training in the comment below.

---

#ExecutivePresence #PresentationSkills #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveTraining #ProfessionalDevelopment #CorporateTraining #SeniorLeadership

Most 5-minute presentations contain 15 minutes of content.

That's not a 5-minute presentation. That's a 20-minute presentation delivered badly.

I watched a senior analyst destroy his promotion chances in exactly 4 minutes and 47 seconds.

He'd been given five minutes with the Managing Director. The slot every ambitious professional dreams of.

He spent the first two minutes on background.

By minute three, he was rushing through slides.

By minute four, he was apologising.

The MD cut him off at 4:47. "Thank you. Next presenter."

Here's what I've learned training 5,000+ executives:

A 5-minute presentation requires MORE preparation than a 50-minute one, not less.

When you have an hour, time forgives mistakes.

Five minutes forgives nothing.

The fix isn't speaking faster. It's the 1-3-1 structure:

→ 1 minute: Hook + main message 
→ 3 minutes: Three supporting points 
→ 1 minute: Call to action + close

Start with your conclusion, not your introduction
What's your biggest challenge with short presentations?

"You need to project more energy. Be more dynamic. Work the room."

I heard this feedback for five years when I worked at JPMorgan Chase.

So I tried. I forced myself to be "on" before every presentation. Projected enthusiasm I didn't feel. Tried to "work the room" like my extroverted colleagues.

Every time, I crashed afterward. Exhausted. Depleted. Convinced something was fundamentally wrong with me.

Then a senior partner pulled me aside after a client pitch:

"You seem like you're performing. It's distracting. Your content is excellent—why are you trying so hard to be someone else?"

That conversation changed everything.

I stopped trying to present like an extrovert.
I started presenting like myself.

Here's what I've learned from 24 years in banking and training 5,000+ executives:

The standard presentation advice fails introverts because it assumes extrovert energy creates impact.

It doesn't.

What actually works:
→ Thorough preparation (your natural strength)
→ Energy management (protect time before and after)
→ Depth over showmanship (substance wins)
→ One-to-one connection (not "working the room")
→ Strategic pauses (silence is power)

The most impactful presenters I've encountered aren't the loudest.

They're the most prepared. The most substantive. The most genuine.

Many of them are introverts who learned to present authentically—not performatively.

Your quiet nature isn't a liability to overcome.

It's an advantage to leverage.

"Any questions?"

The worst way to end a presentation. And yet almost everyone does it.

Here's what happens when you say those words:

→ Your audience shifts from "listening mode" to "escape mode" 
→ Nobody wants to risk asking a "stupid" question publicly 
→ Awkward silence kills the momentum you built 
→ Everyone—including you—just wants to leave

I learned this the hard way at Commerzbank.

Delivered what I thought was a compelling 20-minute strategy update. Hit every point. Polished slides. Confident delivery.

Then I said: "Any questions?"

Twelve executives staring at their notepads. Eight seconds of silence. The CEO checked his phone.

"Thank you, let's move on."

I left convinced I'd failed. But the feedback said the content was excellent. The strategy was approved.

The problem wasn't my presentation.

It was my ending.

"Any questions?" had killed the energy I'd built. It created an awkward moment that overshadowed everything before it.

Real audience engagement doesn't happen at the end.

It happens throughout:
- Directed questions to specific people
- Strategic pauses for reflection
- Reading the room and adjusting
- Check-ins before moving on``

The best presenters never ask "any questions?"

They've already answered them—by staying connected the whole time.

I used to hide in bathroom stalls before presentations.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Shaking hands. Racing heart. Convinced I was dying.

Then I'd walk out, deliver the presentation, and no one had any idea.

Years later, I learned something that changed everything:

The executives I was terrified of?

Many of them were doing the exact same thing.

We just never talked about it.

If you've ever felt alone in your presentation anxiety — you're not.

Not even close.

Happy Saturday. Be kind to yourself this weekend. 💛

The presentation you're dreading tomorrow?

It's probably taking up more mental space this weekend than it deserves.

Here's something I learned after 24 years of high-stakes presentations:

The anxiety you feel on Sunday night is almost never proportional to the actual risk on Monday morning.

Your brain treats "presenting to the CFO" like a survival threat.

It's not.

It's a conversation with slides.

Three things that help me reset on Sundays:
→ Write down the ONE thing you want them to remember 
→ Accept that some nerves are useful (they mean you care) 
→ Stop rehearsing after 6pm (diminishing returns are real)

The presentation will go better than your Sunday brain thinks it will.

It almost always does.

And if you want the full protocol for appearing calm when presenting to senior leadership — even when you don't feel it — get the link to the article I wrote in the comment below.

What's your Sunday night presentation ritual? Or are you blissfully presentation-free this week?

I watched a VP present 47 data points to the CFO last week.

The CFO's response after 12 minutes?

"What do you actually want me to do?"

Here's what most professionals get wrong about data presentations:

They think more data = more credibility.

Executives think: more data = you haven't done the thinking for me.

The shift that changes everything:

❌ "Here's all the data so you can decide" 
✅ "Here's my recommendation, supported by these 3 data points"

Executives don't want a tour of your spreadsheet.

They want your conclusion — and the confidence that you've already done the analysis.

Data is evidence. It's not the presentation.

I wrote about this today — including the exact structure that turns data dumps into decisions.

Link in comments 👇

I once watched a senior leader walk into a Town Hall with a 28-slide deck…

…and lose the room in the first 3 minutes.

Not because the message was wrong.

Because the structure quietly signalled:
“I’m here to present at you, not with you.”

Here’s what most leaders miss about Town Halls:

People don’t need more information.
They need orientation + reassurance + belief.

So if you want your next Town Hall to build trust fast, use this simple structure:

1) The Reality (name what’s true)
“Here’s what’s happening and why it matters.”

2) The Meaning (translate the impact)
“What this changes for customers, teams, and priorities.”

3) The Direction (what stays stable)
“Here’s what we’re continuing, protecting, and doubling down on.”

4) The Ask (how people can help)
“What I need from you over the next 30–90 days.”

5) The Human Moment
A short personal line that creates connection:
“What I’m paying attention to… and what I’m learning.”

That’s the difference between a Town Hall that feels like a corporate update…
and one that feels like leadership.

I shared the full template you can copy in the comments below.

What’s the hardest part of Town Halls for you—clarity, trust, or handling tough questions live?

A VP used Copilot, ChatGPT, and Gamma to build her board presentation.

The slides were beautiful.

The board said no.

She came to me confused: "The deck was better than anything I've made before."

She was right. The slides were polished.

But the structure was wrong.

She'd built up to her recommendation over 20 slides when the board wanted her position in the first 60 seconds.

She'd included data that addressed HER concerns, not theirs.

She'd structured it for herself, not for how her CFO actually makes decisions.

AI had made her faster at building the wrong presentation.

That's the trap nobody talks about.

Here's what I've learned after 24 years in banking and working with executives on high-stakes presentations:

AI can generate slides.
AI cannot generate buy-in.

Three things AI fundamentally cannot do:

1. Read the room
→ See the CFO lean back at budget mention
→ Notice the CEO nod at your third point
→ Adapt in real-time

2. Build YOUR credibility
→ Answer unexpected questions with depth
→ Show judgment about what matters
→ Demonstrate command of the material

3. Structure for YOUR specific decision-maker
→ Know your CFO wants numbers first
→ Know your CEO needs strategic context
→ Know your board wants risk before opportunity

AI produces average content for average audiences.

Executive presentations require tailored thinking for specific people.

The professionals who thrive with AI will be those who invest in the human judgment layer—the framework—and use AI to accelerate execution.

Those who rely on AI for thinking will produce faster mediocrity.

70% framework. 30% AI execution.

That's the ratio that works.

Full breakdown in the comments 👇

Stop sending decks that end in "We'll think about it." 🛑

Most presentations fail because they are built for the presenter, not the audience. If you want to move from "Maybe" to "Yes," you need a system, not just a template.

Here's my 5-step framework for high-stakes presentations:

1️⃣ Know Your Audience: Solve their specific pain points. 
2️⃣ Craft a Story: Use a hook, a problem, and a proven solution. 
3️⃣ Design for Clarity: Keep it simple—less is always more. 
4️⃣ Deliver with Confidence: Passion and body language are your secret weapons. 
5️⃣ The Call to Action: Make it impossible for them to say no.

⚡ 48-HOUR FLASH SALE ⚡

I want to help you close your next deal, so I’m running a massive flash sale (30% off) on my Presentation Success Products.

Grab the complete toolkit for a fraction of the price before the timer runs out.

Discount code and link in the comment below.

Don't just present. Persuade.

#Presentations #SalesTips #PublicSpeaking #FlashSale #CareerGrowth

The CFO who lost a £4M approval in 11 words.

Actually, he wasn't the CFO. He was presenting TO the CFO.

I watched it happen at Commerzbank.

A VP—brilliant analyst, 15 years of experience—had requested 30 minutes for a technology investment pitch. He'd prepared 47 slides. Rehearsed for hours.

His first 11 words:

"Thank you for making time. I'd like to walk you through..."

The CFO raised his hand. "What's the number and what do you need from me?"

The VP froze. His recommendation was on slide 34.

He tried to explain why the context mattered first.

The CFO checked his phone. Then stood up.

"Send me a one-pager. I don't have time for this."

Meeting over. Budget denied.

Here's what those 11 words signaled:

→ "Thank you for making time" = This is a favor, not a business necessity
→ "I'd like to walk you through" = Your time will be spent on MY process

Now imagine he'd opened with:

"I'm requesting £4M for platform migration. It reduces operating costs 23% within 18 months."

Same request. Completely different frame.

Six months later, I coached a different VP on the same pitch.

He led with the headline.

Approved in 12 minutes.

The difference wasn't the analysis.

It was the first 11 words.

---

What's the worst opening line you've heard in a presentation?

47 slides → 23 rejections.
12 slides → £4.2M raised.

Same founder. Same science. Same market.

Dr. Sarah Chen came to me after 23 failed investor meetings. Her biotech was breakthrough-level. Three pharma companies had already expressed licensing interest.

But her deck was killing her.

I watched her pitch. By slide 8, she was still explaining the problem. Her solution appeared on slide 19. Her ask was buried on slide 43.

No investor made it that far.

"They need to understand the science," she said.

"They need to understand why YOU win," I replied. "The science is why they took the meeting."

We rebuilt her deck in one afternoon:

→ Slide 1: Her unique insight (not the problem)
→ Slide 2: The ask (not buried on slide 43)
→ Slide 3: Her team (not an afterthought)
→ Slides 4-10: Everything else
→ Slide 11: The ask again

Three weeks later: £4.2M at her target valuation.

Here's what most founders miss:

Every slide beyond 12 is an argument against yourself.

It signals: "I can't prioritize. I don't know what matters. I'll bloat your investment the same way I bloated this deck."

Investors pattern-match constantly. Lean decks signal lean thinking.

Six months later, Sarah sent me a note. Her board chair said it was the clearest update he'd seen in 20 years of investing.

He asked if she could teach their other portfolio founders.

The skills that fix pitch decks don't just raise capital.

They establish you as a leader worth backing again.

---

What's the longest pitch deck you've ever sat through?

#PitchDeck #Fundraising #StartupLife #VentureCapital #PresentationSkills

The night before a big presentation, most advice tells you to rehearse more.
I spent 5 years doing exactly that.

Rehearsing until midnight. Lying awake running worst-case scenarios. Waking up exhausted and more nervous than before.

Then a mentor told me something that felt completely wrong:
"Stop preparing by 8pm. Go to bed early. Trust that you know enough."
I didn't believe her.

But I was desperate. So I tried it.

The next morning, something shifted. The fear was still there—but it felt like energy instead of dread.

I delivered that presentation better than any before it.

Here's what I've learned since (and what I now teach):
Your brain needs time to consolidate what you've prepared. Rehearsing until midnight actually interferes with that process.

The goal isn't to eliminate fear. It's to arrive rested enough that fear becomes fuel.

The day-before protocol that changed everything for me:
→ Lock your content by noon 
→ One full run-through in the afternoon 
→ Prepare for 3 likely questions 
→ Stop ALL rehearsal by 8pm 
→ Normal evening. Early bed. No alcohol.

Counterintuitive. But it works.
—
What's your go-to ritual the night before a big presentation?

I felt the heat start at my chest.

By the time it reached my face, 200 people were watching me turn bright red.
I was 10 minutes into a client pitch. My slides were solid. My prep was thorough.
But my nervous system had other plans.

For years, I thought blushing was something I had to hide. Or power through. Or somehow "fix."

I was wrong.

Here's what I learned as a clinical hypnotherapist that I wish someone had told me in that boardroom:

Blushing isn't a weakness. It's your sympathetic nervous system doing exactly what it's designed to do.

And fighting it makes it worse.

The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to suppress the flush and started working WITH my nervous system instead.

The technique that finally worked? A 60-second reset that activates your parasympathetic response—the "rest and digest" system that naturally calms the flush.

I've now taught this to hundreds of executives who thought they were stuck with visible anxiety forever.

They weren't. And neither are you.

I wrote the full method (including the exact 60-second technique) - link in the comments.

If your face has ever betrayed you in a high-stakes moment, this one's for you.

The difference between a 10-minute and 15-minute presentation isn't 5 minutes.

It's a completely different mindset.

After 24 years in banking, I noticed something strange: every organisation defaults to the 10-minute format.

Leadership updates. Project reviews. Interview presentations. Client pitches.

It's not arbitrary. There's neuroscience behind it.

Research shows attention naturally cycles every 10 minutes or so. Your audience's brain wants a reset at that mark.

Fight that rhythm and you're fighting biology.

Work with it and you're working with how humans actually process information.

That's why 10 minutes became the dominant format of business communication:
→ Long enough to build a real argument
→ Short enough to maintain engagement
→ Flexible enough to work across contexts

Master the 10-minute presentation and you've mastered the format you'll use more than any other in your career.

What's the most common presentation length in your organisation?

"Can you say a few words?"

The most terrifying sentence in business.

It happened to me in a JP Morgan Chase conference room in 1991 (I remember the date because I had just moved from NYC to the London office). The Division Head turned, looked directly at me, and asked for my view on timeline risks.

Every head swivelled. Twelve executives waiting.

I had exactly zero seconds to prepare.

My mind went blank. Words came out—I'm not sure which ones. Forty-five excruciating seconds of rambling while my credibility evaporated.

That evening, I made a decision: never again.

Not by knowing all the answers. That's impossible.

But by having a framework that would let me respond coherently even when ambushed.

The framework I learned is called PREP:

→ Point: State your position first 
→ Reason: Explain why 
→ Example: Give one piece of evidence 
→ Point: Restate (signals you're done)

That's it. Four steps. Works for almost any question.

The people who seem naturally eloquent aren't smarter or quicker than you.

They've simply internalised structures that make organisation automatic.

What looks like talent is really preparation meeting opportunity.

Practice PREP in low-stakes situations—meeting questions, casual opinions, dinner conversations.

Within a month, it becomes automatic.

Then "Can you say a few words?" stops being terrifying.

And starts being an opportunity.

The Presentation Advice I Wish I'd Ignored

I spent years following "expert" presentation advice that made things worse.
Here are three rules I finally broke:

1. "Start with an agenda slide"

Nobody has ever thought: "This presentation was terrible, but thank goodness I knew what was coming."

Now I start with the point. The agenda is implied by... making the point.

2. "Make eye contact with everyone"

I tried this once. Looked like a malfunctioning lighthouse.

Now I talk to one person at a time. Four seconds each. Actual connection instead of performative scanning.

3. "Picture the audience in their underwear"

Who came up with this? It's weird. It doesn't work. And it definitely doesn't help when you're presenting to your CFO.

Now I picture them as colleagues who want me to succeed—because that's usually what they are.

The pattern?

Most presentation advice optimises for looking like a presenter instead of actually communicating.

The best presenters I've worked with break the rules constantly. They just make sure the audience gets what they need.

What presentation "rule" have you happily abandoned?

The 7-second window that determines if executives take you seriously.

I learned this the hard way at JPMorgan Chase.

28 years old. Three months into my role. Presenting a quarterly analysis I'd spent two weeks perfecting.

The CFO stopped me mid-sentence: "I've heard enough."

My analysis was solid. My slides were polished.

But I'd already lost.

I walked in apologising for taking their time.
I positioned myself in the corner.
I spoke to my slides instead of the room.

The executives decided I wasn't worth listening to before I finished my opening sentence.

Princeton research confirms what that CFO already knew:

→ People form competence judgments in 0.1 seconds
→ Those snap judgments become durable filters
→ Everything you say gets interpreted through that first impression

If you project confidence in those 7 seconds, your content sounds credible.

If you project uncertainty, even brilliant insights get discounted.

Same data. Same slides. Completely different outcomes.

The question isn't whether these judgments are fair.

They're not.

The question is whether you'll master them—or be victimised by them.

I've now trained 5,000+ executives on exactly how to command those first 7 seconds.

You'll find the link to the full breakdown (including the 3 pillars and 5 biggest mistakes I see weekly) in the comment below. 👇

Everyone's using AI to build presentations.

Most of them still look generic.

Here's why:

---

AI without framework = generic slides, fast.

Framework without AI = excellent slides, slowly.

Framework + AI = excellent slides, fast.

The order matters.

---

I see people open ChatGPT and type:

"Create a 10-slide presentation about Q3 results"

Then wonder why it looks like everyone else's deck.

AI doesn't know:
→ What decision you need from the room
→ What your audience already believes
→ What would make them say no
→ Your organisation's politics

Only you know that.

---

The fix isn't better prompts.

It's doing the thinking BEFORE you touch AI.

Here's the workflow I teach:

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟭: 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗬 (no AI yet)
• What decision do I need?
• What's the ONE thing they must remember?
• What objections will they have?

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟮: 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 (no AI yet)
• Build your narrative spine
• Write slide titles as assertions
• If it doesn't work spoken aloud, it won't work on slides

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟯: 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗗𝗗 𝗔𝗜
• Draft content for each slide
• Strengthen your headlines
• Identify gaps in your argument

The difference?

You're directing AI with clarity instead of hoping it reads your mind.

---

This is why I teach 70% framework, 30% AI.

The framework is the thinking.

AI is the acceleration.

Skip the framework and AI just helps you build the wrong presentation faster.

---

I've put 24 years of executive presentations into a course that teaches both:

AI-Enhanced Presentation Mastery (link in comments)

But even without the course — try this on your next deck:

Spend 15 minutes clarifying the decision before you open any tool.

You'll be shocked how much faster everything else becomes.

---

Are you using AI for presentations? What's working (or not)?

#presentations #ai #productivity #leadership

taplio

The Battle

Leonardo Coppola

Mary Beth Hazeldine

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreLeonardo Coppola's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMary Beth Hazeldine's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Leonardo Coppola

Mary Beth Hazeldine

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Leonardo Coppola's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMary Beth Hazeldine's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreLeonardo Coppola's LinkedIn Performance