Earlier this year, I hit a brick wall in my business. Something was missing, and I was searching for it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.
So I walked. Many walks, alone, through nature and forests, asking myself why I do what I do and what I was put on this planet to help people with.
Something was missing
I’ve been creating presentations for 14 years, and over the last two, my work began to change. I found myself doing more strategy with speakers and leaders, especially around those high-stakes moments when they had to present. My work has always been about taking the ideas, data and information presenters give me and turning them into presentations and visuals that bring clarity to their message.
But this year, I kept noticing something missing from commercial communication – emotion. That deeper feeling we all connect to as humans when we feel felt and heard.
Where the name came from
Felt & Heard™ came to me after a trip abroad to visit some dear friends. I was sitting at dinner with two sisters, Ivana and Kristina, and for the first time in a long while, I felt heard.
When I got home to Yorkshire, I sat down to update my old branding, and something didn’t feel right. It just wasn’t me anymore.
I’d outgrown the shirt, and it was time for a new one.
The problem with “Designer”
Back in 2012, there was a problem with my old brand that I couldn’t see. I couldn’t imagine a world where AI could create almost anything. And at the heart of my brand was one word – “Designer.”
I’ve thought of myself as a designer, though I’ve never quite fitted that box. I’m completely self-taught, I never went to art school. My career has always been in communication design.
That makes me something else.
What I stand for
We all want to stand for something and have a purpose on this planet. Mine is to help others be felt and heard.
That might be through your storytelling on a panel, in a keynote or in a boardroom pitch. Whatever the opportunity, I know it can stir up a lot of feelings: self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and the fear that people won’t want to listen.
The speakers and leaders I’ve worked with have incredible ideas. Some have the power to change the way people see the world.
“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.”.
– David Augsburger
That’s always been a driver in my business, love. I do everything for love. It’s a powerful motivator for many.
We live in a world dominated by technology, one that has lost something of what makes us truly human. This is my response to that. I’m not against AI, it can be a great foundation for laying out ideas and shaping our thoughts. But a machine can never tell you how to feel. It can’t understand what you want to say to your audience, or what they need from you to feel felt and heard too.
Every great presentation I’ve worked on succeeded because it did one thing well, it connected people. We can’t assume we know what an audience will relate to. There’s real work in understanding their challenges and what they’re feeling in the moment we present to them. That’s the work that fascinates me.
My own best-kept secret
In my own life and business, I’ve often felt like the best-kept secret. I’ve stood on the sidelines and watched others take the limelight waiting for my chance to come. I hope this new chapter helps me feel felt and heard too, and lets me grow my ideas to reach stages around the world.
How I can help
I now offer guidance and coaching to take your presentation from its very beginning, through developing the narrative, to visuals that elevate your personal brand and bring clarity to your ideas.
I’m not looking to convince anyone anymore. I’m looking for the people who want to speak from the heart and share something that will move others. I strongly believe that if you speak from the heart, the head will listen. Yet, so much commercial communication is led by information and data, which overwhelms and confuses audiences. We need to return to what connects us as human beings, feeling felt and heard.
If you’ve been with me over the last 14 years, thank you for your support, and for coming with me into this new chapter. I hope it’s a fun ride, and that in another 14 years I can look back at this post and know it was the best decision I ever made.
I look forward to helping you feel felt and heard, on stage, in the boardroom and throughout your career.
Let’s have a chat
If something here resonated, my virtual calendar is open. Book in for a warm, friendly chat about your next talk, pitch or big idea. I’m always happy to help someone figure out how their ideas should be communicated.
I’ll put the kettle on.
