How can owning your expertise, and learning to tell its story, unlock confidence?

In this episode, I sit down with Ken Deeks, communications expert, former journalist, PR agency founder, and media trainer, to explore confidence from three angles: how you communicate it, how you spot it in others, and how you build it in yourself.

We explore how so many people undersell what they bring to the table, how to find and tell the stories that make your expertise stick, and why the most powerful communicators are often the best listeners in the room. Ken also shares his own experience of stepping well outside his comfort zone, including performing Shakespeare in his sixties, and what it taught him about confidence, teamwork, and doing things that scare you.

Key Takeaways

• Why so many people undersell what they bring and what believing in your own skill set has to do with confidence.
• The NICE framework (New, Important, Clever, told with Emphasis) a practical tool for communicating with clarity and impact in interviews, pitches, and presentations.
• Why the most memorable stories aren't about what you do, but about the people your work has helped and how to tell them that way.
• Why confidence isn't always loud and what personality profiling reveals about the different ways it shows up.
• The block and bridge technique: how to stay composed and credible under pressure, even when you don't have the answer.
• Why the most persuasive communicators lead with listening and what genuinely confident leadership actually looks like to the people being led.
• How taking action on one small idea (a poster on the tube, a phone call) led to 14 million pounds raised and an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II.

About Ken 

Ken Deeks is a communications expert who has spent decades on both sides of the microphone. He began his career as a journalist before moving into PR, where he founded and ran his own agency. He later co-founded The Amber Group, where he works with individuals and organisations to sharpen how they communicate, present, and tell their stories. He is also the founder of Boycott Your Bed, the UK’s largest corporate sleepout, which has raised over £14 million for Action for Children over the past 20 years—an organisation where he also serves as Vice President. In 2015, he was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to children. Ken is also the author of The Little Black Book of Presentation Secrets.

Resources

• The Amber Group: www.ambergroup.co.uk
• Insights Discovery: The personality profiling tool that Ken uses in his coaching and training work. www.insights.com
• Book: The Little Black Book of Presentation Secrets by Ken Deeks.
• Boycott Your Bed: Ken's charity sleep out supporting Action for Children  www.actionforchildren.org.uk/support-us/boycott-your-bed/

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