Purpose Union’s SpeechMark Service
SpeechMark helps leaders and experts communicate with authority in high-stakes settings through advanced public speaking, debate and persuasion coaching.
What is SpeechMark?
Words matter. SpeechMark is a specialised coaching programme designed to help individuals find and deploy their voice and platform to drive social and environmental change.
It goes beyond standard media training by developing your leadership and campaign spokespeople into persuasive speakers. The service improves an individual's ability to think critically and debate today’s biggest issues in public forums. The programme combines our experience as world-leading debate strategists and media coaches to improve your persuasion.
SpeechMark is executive public speaking training designed for:
Senior leaders representing organisations under scrutiny
Individuals and teams engaging on complex, contested issues
Campaign or programme spokespeople
Individuals preparing for high-stakes public moments
The SpeechMark method:
Embracing your authentic self: We believe the most effective speakers are those who lean into their own personal style rather than mimicking others. Our coaching focuses on identifying and sharpening your unique speaking personality, ensuring you communicate with a genuine voice that resonates with your audience and builds lasting trust.
Highly interactive sessions: Our sessions are designed to be intensely interactive, ensuring participants spend the majority of their time speaking, debating and refining their delivery in real-time. This learning by doing method ensures that new skills are internalised and ready for immediate application.
Deep, forensic feedback: Improvement requires more than general encouragement. We invest significant time in breaking down every element of your communication. You will receive in-depth feedback from world debate championship-winning coach - Lewis Iwu - to identify specific gains.
Appreciating cultural contexts We bring a sophisticated understanding of how cultural nuances shape persuasion. Our coaches have worked with people across the globe, including in the USA, Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the UAE, Nigeria and the Netherlands. Our coaching is tailored to ensure your message lands effectively, regardless of the geographic or cultural setting.
Why this matters
Organisations are facing unprecedented competition for share of voice. In a noisy world where attention is a scarce resource, the traditional one-directional approach (such as opinion pieces) is less effective. To stand out and sound authentic, leadership must embrace executive public speaking in more two-way dialogue-based situations.
Benefits of the programme
Increased confidence: The ability to speak with authority about issues that matter to the organisation and succeed in a variety of high-pressure scenarios.
More effective agenda setting and negotiation: Individuals and teams are better placed to persuade and influence their stakeholders
Improved Strategic Thinking: The tools to understand how to persuade specific audiences and appreciate the strategies used by opponents.
Authenticity: A speaking style that embraces their own personality rather than conforming to a standard view of how a leader "should" sound.
Better teamwork: Our executive public speaking training encourages teams to work together through exercises and debates
Enjoyable: Our sessions are an effective way of engaging in the issues that matter to your organisation in a fun way
Lewis Iwu, Co-Founder & CEO Purpose Union
Case studies
Political Candidate Training
We ran training programmes for over 160 Labour Party candidates ahead of the general election, focusing on refining messaging and implementing effective persuasion strategies against political opponents.
Corporate Affairs Training
We provided training for corporate affairs leaders at a major multinational to help them improve their persuasive speaking skills which was important for engaging with governments and civil society on the sustainable development goals.
Net Zero Advocacy for a FTSE 10 Company
We prepared a cohort of 15 future leaders to make the persuasive case for Net Zero to key stakeholders. The training helped them integrate personal stories into their arguments and prepared them for challenge and debate. 100% of leaders reported feeling more comfortable being advocates for Net Zero following the training.
Diversity in F1
We worked with a senior executive at Formula One to develop compelling messaging about the sport's role in combating climate change and advancing diversity. This included preparing the executive to speak to drivers about sustainability commitments. The executive successfully launched a new DEI strategy with excellent feedback.
Global Pharma Executive Leadership Training
We worked with the executive committee of a global pharmaceutical company through 1-1 sessions to test arguments on gender, race, and LGBTQ+ rights. The outcome saw members integrating DEI messages into their broader personal communications, generating some of the most engaged posts from their company on LinkedIn.