in-house Public speaking Training
bespoke training Courses to enhance your team’s speaking skills
Our in-house training options offer a different approach to corporate training. Our background is in the creative industries: as actors, performers or directors. So the thing we understand above all else is stories.
Through a number of years of developing and translating our practice, we’ve helped hundreds of Founders, Directors, CEOs and small teams to transform their public speaking by understanding, firstly, what it is that they are currently doing, and secondly, how small shifts to their practice can dramatically affect the audiences ability and desire to listen.
Being able to carry your audience with you when you speak is a craft that needs drawing out and nurturing. Our aim is to get individuals to think less about themselves when they speak, and more about their audience – something they tend to do very well in all other aspects of their work!
So that when you speak, you are able to forget about nerves or pressure, and instead focus on the message and how you can make sure it lands.
What is In-House Training?
We work with professionals from a wide variety of different industries, from marketing, sales, recruitment, doctors and legal services right through to schools, charities and councils.
They all come with different experiences and attitudes towards public speaking and communication and they are all working towards different goals.
But, they all have one common thread. They recognise that their message is only as good as their ability to communicate it.
The in-house training packages that we have to offer are designed to help your teams build confidence in their speaking ability, so that they can move from speaking with anxiety to speaking with clarity and conviction.
And the result is… their message lands.
Teams & Companies we’ve worked with…
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“I would highly recommend Guy Hughes and the Vocal Studio to anyone who is interested in becoming better at public speaking or presenting in general.
Everyone involved got some really strong value out of the sessions and we would certainly use him again when we require this type of training.”
– Aled Corcoran, Senior Recruitment Consultant, 5 Values
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“I really enjoyed the two day Public Speaking course hosted by Guy. He was very engaging and I feel I learnt a lot from him. Would highly recommend to those that aren't the most confident with public speaking.”
– Tom Dadswell, Senior Surveyor, Hartnell Taylor Cook
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"Guy’s approach is both insightful and transformative. He has helped me unlock a stronger, more confident voice and his storytelling techniques have made my presentations far more compelling. Working with him has been truly invaluable!”
– Dr Ahmed Salhin, Principle Data Scientist, Sage
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“I learned so much [on the course] and have already put so much into my everyday practise.
I led on a important meeting earlier in the week. I was able to slow down my speech, my ideas landed with my audience and I felt so much calmer.”
– N Davies, Deputy Manager, Newport City Council
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“It was great working with Guy. His sessions are informative, interactive, and highly engaging.
What really stood out to me is that Guy doesn’t just teach the theory, he demonstrates it. As a master of public speaking, he uses his own voice to physically show both the good and bad practices he’s teaching about. For me, this made the lessons far more memorable than any other training course I’ve attended.”
– Luke Perrins, Senior Recruitment Consultant, 5 Values
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“The Connect with Your Audience course, led by the exceptional Guy Hughes, was packed with learning and delivered immediate results. His engaging and practical teaching style involved the entire group, making the experience immersive and dynamic. Speaking on the Bristol Old Vic stage reinforced the power of presence and connection. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to improve their ability to engage and inspire an audience.”
– Gavin Foyle, Managing Director, Broadwater Technologies
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“I highly recommend the expert public speaking coaching provided by Guy Hughes at The Vocal Studio.
Guy's warm and engaging style immediately puts you at ease and I appreciated how carefully he listened to tailor his approach to my specific needs. His coaching focused on helpful vocal techniques but also storytelling skills that have made my presentations more engaging.
An invaluable experience for anyone looking to elevate their public speaking!”
– Jacob Diggle, Chief Impact Officer, UK Youth
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“I found The Vocal Studio by researching people online who could help me improve my public speaking confidence and ability.
Guy has been fantastic, unearthing and rewiring certain vocal traits I had to improve my confidence, eye contact and ability to convey messages when speaking in public.
So much so that I have recommended Guy to our Learning and Development Director to help others in my business improve the way they communicate in business.”
– Tom White, CEO, 5Values Consulting Group
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“I wish I had attended sooner! Working with Guy has been transformational for my confidence, storytelling, and public speaking ability. I am naturally quite shy and introverted, and Guy provides the right level of challenge for development, whilst still making me feel supported. I gain so much from every session, and I believe they will be instrumental in enabling me to raise capital for my business.”
— Olivia Coy, Founder & CEO, Remedy
Who Will you work with?
Our training is designed and delivered by Guy Hughes, founder of The Vocal Studio Bristol. He brings a wealth of firsthand experience working as an actor at some of the leading theatre companies in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe, Bristol Old Vic, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and Edinburgh Lyceum. He has also worked with and learned from world-famous theatre directors, including most notably Declan Donellan OBE, author of The Actor and the Target, one of the most highly regarded actor training books.
Guy is also a specialist in working with the voice, having taught and delivered workshops in drama schools across the country. His training as a voice coach is based in Estill Voice Training, which he studied at the Royal Academy of Music and with Anne-Marie Speed, founder of The Voice Explained.
Since 2022, Guy has been running training with The Vocal Studio and now runs regular 1:1 and group training in public speaking for individuals and business across Bristol and the UK. He is an associate coach with FuseCo., a collective that provides high-end corporate coaching for founders and entrepreneurs.
If you would like to hear more about this training you can book in a 10-minute chat where we can talk through what you’re looking for…
What to expect with our training Programs…
These training packages are bespoke to fit your team’s needs. We will always talk with you to see what skills in particular you are looking to work on. We can then tailor our delivery to focus on those elements. Here are some of the most common communication skills we work on...
Staying calm under pressure
Many people we work with have come to us because their team is struggling with nerves. We have number of different exercises adapted from performance/actors training including elements of performance psychology and physiology that help take us out of ‘fight/flight/freeze’ and take us into intense focus. Some people call this their ‘flow state’. We call it speaking skills.
Speaking with clarity & conviction
This work involves understanding what is happening when we speak, in terms of our mind/thoughts, voice and body language. Once we know what we are doing with those elements of our toolkit when we speak, we can make small shifts, allowing our thoughts and intended messages to really land. We can break this down into the specifics of how fast/slow we’re speaking, the pitch of our voice or use of gestures, but really this comes to down to connecting to your thoughts. That takes practice. But, it can have a dramatic and authentic impact.
Using stories in your pitching & presenting
No matter what your content is – we’ve worked with lots! – there is always a story to draw out. Why does this matter? Because people remember stories, not just because they are more entertaining, but because they make people FEEL something. If you want your audience to remember what you’ve said, you must connect to their emotions. And that’s where stories come in. This element of the training helps people to understand how to recognise the stories in their content; how to draw those stories out; and then how to deliver those stories so they feel alive.
We’d love to chat about how we can develop a program of training for you or your team. Book in for a free consultation chat below:
“Through a combination of psychology, physiology and performing arts, Guy creates a magic training formula”
Pete, Senior Manager, NHS