My Story

A successful Company Director and a national award-winning Public Speaker and Storyteller…Your Public Speaking Trainer and Coach.

If you’ve landed on this page you will want to know more about me and what qualifies me to be your Public Speaking Trainer and Coach.

I left college as a working-class boy with an HND in Business Studies (which I had little real interest in as I wanted to be a rock musician!), and then took my first job when jobs weren’t that easy to find as a cleaner in a salted nut processing factory. Little did I think I would end up as a successful Company Director and an award-winning Public Speaker and Storyteller…

Here’s the whistle-stop lowdown on my career and the experiences that make me uniquely placed as The Speaking Director to help you.

“Andrew is truly inspirational.

I was offered an amazing opportunity to present to 80 fellow businesspeople. But just the thought of it, filled me with utter terror. Never having done anything like this before, I reached out to Andrew for help.

What I learnt during the bespoke course was absolute gold. In a welcoming & safe environment I gained a huge toolbox of skills such as; how to walk onto a stage, how to stand, how to create drama through words and the most important one, how to deal with the dreaded nerves!

When I came to deliver my speech to a packed auditorium, I loved every minute of it and can’t wait to do it again.”

Trina Beare
Managing Director
Lamberts (Norwich) Ltd

My time as a Director

Are you a Director, aspiring Director, Senior Manager or a leader who wants to become a confident and effective Public Speaker? As a national award-winning Public Speaker with 40 years manufacturing industry experience and a deep understanding of leadership roles, I can help.

I joined the ranks of Senior Management in 1990. At the age of 29, I was then the youngest member appointed to the Executive Management Team for a UK division of the US global manufacturing giant, TRW.

In 1996 I moved to PSS – Steering & Hydraulics Division in North Walsham, Norfolk as Sales & Marketing Manager, and was promoted to Sales & Marketing Director in 2001. As Sales & Marketing Director, and then as Commercial Director, I became second-in-command to the Managing Director / Company Owner.

I became Managing Director myself at PSS in 2016, a position I successfully held for three years before deciding to move back again to Commercial Director to be able to focus 100% on customers. My time as Managing Director gave me even more insight into all aspects of a successful business, and I had significant extra input and insight into such areas as Finance, Purchasing, Production, Human Resources and Quality.

I understand every aspect of running a highly successful manufacturing and engineering company employing 60 staff. My public speaking skills have helped me to become a better leader and now my mission is to help other Directors acquire this transformative skill. Book a 15-minute Discovery Call to find out how my Public Speaking Courses can help you.

Book a discovery call

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A leader and a ‘people’ person

With PSS I helped to grow the company sixfold, being responsible for all commercial aspects of the business and its customers. During my career, I have been responsible for winning, helping to win and looking after well over £150 million of business.

I have been the main commercial contact for major UK and global customers including Jaguar Land Rover, UK Ministry Of Defence, US Government Department of Defense, US Military Vehicle Manufacturers, General Dynamics Land Systems, Kion Group, Toro, Terberg, Hyster-Yale, CNH, John Deere, Volvo, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Caterpillar, and Volkswagen.

As a customer facing and ‘people’ person, I have dealt with a huge variety of people from CEOs, MDs and Vice Presidents to Government and Military Officials, Senior Executives and Managers of all functions, right down to very small companies and one-person bands.

I am a great believer in relationship-led sales, and building rapport, trust and great relations with customers, many of which last for years. I apply this same belief to my Public Speaking Coaching. I can meet or talk in advance with course participants to fully understand what they hope to achieve. Of course, if it’s a workshop you might want me to dive straight in. Our time doesn’t end when the course does, you have the option to take refresher sessions and the opportunity to join the Directors’ Speaking Club.

I won the Institute of Directors Global Director of The Year 2018 for East Anglia and achieved Fellow status with The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management back in 2001. My experience at Director level in business combined with my public speaking and storytelling skills, mean that I can help other Directors nail public speaking. Want to know how I can help you and your colleagues?

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Public Speaker and Storyteller

I have had to talk and present as a Company Director hundreds of times, delivering speeches and presentations to a wide range of audiences from internal teams to industry conferences.

As a fully trained and hugely experienced Public Speaker, I deliver training courses, seminars, workshops, and masterclasses on public speaking and the art of storytelling, and since 2009 I have been performing humorous storytelling shows (many of them sell-outs) and other events to a variety of audiences, including in theatres and other venues. In 2021 I launched a podcast telling my humorous stories of a gang of mischievous working-class boys growing up in the 1970s, which reached Number 30 in the Apple Great Britain Comedy Fiction chart and Number 22 in the Apple Australian Comedy Fiction Charts. I also have my own weekly radio show about growing up in the 1970s.
My public speaking has netted me several awards including the UK and Ireland Humorous Speech Championship and I am an undefeated nine times East Anglian public speaking champion.

Being a confident Public Speaker has positively impacted me beyond anything I could have imagined and given me great opportunities in my career and personal life. Now I want the same for Directors and leaders who take my Public Speaking Courses. Discover the difference that being an effective Public Speaker can make for you.

Please see the Experience section for more details on my public speaking experience, background and credentials.