10/10/2025
When Training Meets Therapy: Tackling the #1 phobia!
For many NHS professionals, standing up to present doesn’t just bring nerves, it triggers a full fight or flight response. Sweaty palms. Racing heart. Tunnel vision.
Public speaking is still the world’s number one phobia. And in healthcare, that fear has real impact, in MDTs, board meetings, interviews, and teaching sessions. Brilliant people stay quiet, not because of a lack of knowledge, but because of fear.
This week, I delivered a two day Presentation Skills workshop on behalf of Excel Communications (HRD) Ltd, and it struck me, this is where my three professional worlds truly meet.
Trainer, Coach, Clinical Hypnotherapist.
As a Trainer, I give people structure and tools, frameworks like 4MAT, storytelling arcs, audience analysis, to make presentations clear and engaging.
As a Coach, I help people surface the stories behind the fear,
“I’m not a natural speaker.”
“I’ll freeze.”
“They’ll see right through me.”
We challenge these assumptions and build self belief.
As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I work with the subconscious. Public speaking anxiety isn’t just mental, it’s physiological. Hypnosis helps reframe triggers, calm the nervous system, and install new confidence patterns.
When these three approaches intersect, something powerful happens,
People stop dreading the spotlight and start owning it.
Presentations stop being stress events and become strategic opportunities.
For NHS teams, this means stronger leadership voices, more confident educators, and clearer communication with colleagues and patients.
It’s not about talent. It’s about belief, and belief can be built.
How does your organisation currently support staff to build confidence in high stakes communication settings?
Where would a blend of training, coaching, and therapeutic techniques make a difference?