Leadership Communication & Speaker Training

Find out why the message is not landing before creating more communication.

When communication is not working, the instinct is often to produce more content. Another campaign. Another presentation. Another set of leader messages.

But critically, the real issue may sit somewhere else, and the most cost-effective response is to address this early.

The strategy may be unclear. Leaders may be telling different stories. The audience may not understand what the message means for them. Approval processes may be weakening the idea before it reaches people. Managers may not feel equipped to translate it for their teams.

The Toucan Communication Diagnostic helps identify where the gaps are so they can be targeted quickly.

We explore:

• What leaders intend people to understand, feel or do

• What different audiences are actually hearing

• Where the message becomes diluted or inconsistent

• Which risks, sensitivities and constraints need to be considered

• Whether the story is clear enough to be repeated

• How communication moves across the organisation

• What is helping the message land and what is getting in the way, creating confusion or disruption

We then turn those findings into a practical set of priorities, so you know what’s working, what to fix first, what can wait, and where a workshop, campaign or leadership intervention will make the greatest difference.

For times of growth and change

A rigorous, evidence-led diagnostic for leadership teams making consequential decisions about what their organisation stands for, how it is perceived, and what it can credibly become next.

The diagnostic distinguishes what an organisation wants to be true about itself from what is actually true today - before a new positioning, narrative or direction is committed to publicly.

We combine senior leadership perspectives with structured research across the wider organisation and, where valuable, external audiences. This creates a grounded view of where perceptions align, where they diverge, what the organisation has genuinely earned, and where ambition is running ahead of credibility.

In a merger or transaction, the same approach can be applied across both organisations to understand the realities, strengths and tensions on each side.

The work follows a set of necessary diagnostic stages, but it is not a fixed process imposed on every organisation. The research design, stakeholder groups and areas of emphasis are shaped around the situation, and the approach can flex as circumstances, decisions or the remit change.

The result is not simply a new positioning. It is a clearer basis for leadership decisions: what is true now, what can credibly be claimed or built towards, and what should happen next.

Who it’s for

Senior leadership teams - typically CEOs, CMOs and communications or marketing directors - at moments when the organisation is changing, the stakes are high, or the existing story no longer feels sufficient.

It is particularly valuable when:

·      A new or evolved positioning is being considered, but has not yet been tested against what people inside and outside the organisation actually believe.

·      A merger, acquisition or transaction requires leadership to understand the perceptions, strengths, tensions and opportunities across two organisations before determining what should come next.

·      The business is operating under uncertainty - through restructuring, leadership change, growth or category disruption - and needs to make decisions before every variable is resolved.

·      Previous positioning or strategy work has felt more asserted than evidenced, or has relied too heavily on the perspectives of a small number of senior stakeholders.

·      Different parts of the organisation hold materially different views of what the business is, what makes it distinctive or where it should go next.

·      Internal politics, hierarchy or established assumptions make it difficult for the true state of the brand and organisation to surface without an independent perspective.

What to expect

A structured diagnostic, not a predetermined answer.
We begin with the questions the organisation needs to resolve, rather than an assumption about where the work should end. There are necessary stages to establish a robust evidence base, but the process is designed to respond to what the research reveals.

Evidence from beyond the leadership room.
Leadership perspectives matter, but they are one part of the picture. We use mixed-method research to understand perceptions across relevant groups within the wider organisation and, where appropriate, clients, customers, prospects, partners and the external market.

A clear distinction between reality and ambition.
We identify what is already understood and believed, what the organisation can credibly build towards, and where there is a meaningful gap between internal aspiration and current perception.

An approach designed for changing circumstances.
The diagnostic is rigorous without being rigid. If the organisational context, transaction or strategic remit changes while the work is underway, the programme can adapt without losing the integrity of the evidence or the decisions it needs to support.

Clear implications for what happens next.
The purpose of the diagnostic is not research for its own sake. Findings are translated into strategic choices and priorities: what should be protected, challenged, changed or built; what can be said credibly now; and what needs to become true before the organisation can credibly say it.