Richard Jones

Do you experience any of the following just before you’re about to go on stage or speak at a meeting, networking or training event?

• Sweaty palms
• Dry mouth
• Increased heart rate
• Butterflies in the stomach

If you do, it’s perfectly natural! It’s your body putting you on high alert. The modern day equivalent of hearing a twig snap and sensing a sabre tooth tiger waiting to attack you in the undergrowth.

It’s how you react next, though that’s key. Often people will experience one (or more) of these three things:

• have the urge to run away or hide from sight (“flight”)
• take on an argumentative or defensive attitude (“fight”) or
• feel frozen, unable to move or think straight, like a deer in the headlights (“freeze”)

The work I do with clients is designed to reduce the severity of these reactions so that, rather than getting hijacked by them, you can show up in stressful situations with confidence and more like your naturally relaxed self.  

Through working together over time, you will either experience these reactions less often, with less severity or be able to recover from them more quickly when they do show up.

Hey, I’m Richard! I work with leaders and creatives to overcome the fear and anxiety they feel around public speaking and performing so they can express themselves with confidence, authenticity and impact.

Who I work with

I work with artists, purpose-driven business owners and change advocates. These include musicians, actors, improvisers, coaches, healers, mental health support practitioners, not-for-profit representatives as well as individuals with a personal cause they want to raise awareness of on a variety of stages.

My background

Although I am an accomplished trainer, musician, improviser and speaker, it wasn't always that way. Indeed, when I was child I was painfully shy. For part of my first year at school, I couldn't even speak out loud in class and had to whisper into the teacher's ear. Being bullied at school in my teenage years also taught my nervous system that it is safer to hide from than be in the spotlight.

As a consequence, for much of my early career I was terrified of the idea of speaking up in meetings or giving presentations. But then not long after I qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC, I started getting involved in training the new joiners and found I had a real passion for making a difference to them at this crucial point in their careers. I threw myself into giving presentations and while it was terrifying at first, it slowly got easier and easier. 15 years later, I retrained as a coach and decided I wanted to help others find their voices and the courage to speak up too.

During the ten plus years I have been coaching, I've found and honed various somatic techniques that, had I known about them before, would have made my development as a speaker and performer so much easier. These are the techniques I now use with my clients.

More about how I work

I use two key processes in my work.

1. Helping you develop a feeling of safety and confidence in yourself

This includes cultivating your ‘felt sense’ through practising various centring and grounding techniques. You do these on a daily basis (like working out in the gym) so you’ve built the muscles to deal with stressful situations as they arise.

2. Processing the conditioning that might be the ‘root cause’ of the reactions you experience in anticipation of performing, speaking and other stressful situations.

I use a combination of different somatic techniques, including providing a container for you to experience these feelings in a controlled, manageable way and using hands-on touch work through the body.

Why I do this work

I do this work because I believe that art, stories and speeches have the power to change lives and the people that deliver them have the power to change the world. I help artists and speakers to become more confident so they can have more impact by leaning more authentically into their natural strengths and skills.

I have been diagnosed with ADHD and also suspect I am on the autism spectrum. I therefore understand and relate to the neurodivergent experience and can especially help clients to see their challenges through this lens.

If you are interested in working with me one-to-one, I offer a free initial one hour consultation over Zoom or by telephone which will help you to get crystal clear about where you are now and where you want to be in the future. This is also an opportunity for us to test the chemistry between us to determine whether we would like to continue working together.

My coaching programmes can be tailored to your individual circumstances and so prices vary. 

My method of coaching is most impactful when we meet in person. I am therefore particularly keen to hear from potential clients in London, North Kent and East Sussex to see if we would be a good fit.