Challenge: Explain technical financial information in a straightforward and engaging manner.

A Managing Director at UBS was giving a high-profile speech to an international governing body in the securities world. There was a lot on the line—large capital flows, and the Swiss financial giant’s reputation for financial expertise and insight. He would be judged by some of the most influential members of the global financial community.

Like many of my trainees, the young man was a rising star. with a brilliant financial mind. But he had a bad case of stage fright that had kept him from public speaking before.

The managing director had mastered reams of data. He had the slides and charts and graphs to back up his claims. The problem was that he had little to offer beyond clicking through a series of information-packed slides. As a result, his important message and insights were buried.

Solution: Harness the power of narrative to connect with the audience.

Together, we worked to discover and bring to the fore the narrative behind the numbers. Anyone can recite sets of relevant. To dramatize the insight behind the data, I probed my client to review each slide. We asked the questions as if from the audience’s point of view: “Why would this be important to me? What opportunity does it present? What about it might make me concerned?”

The presentation we crafted was thoughtful and daring, a wake-up call that would challenge received ideas. We rehearsed for weeks an authoritative delivery for his edgy, new thesis. But as I listened, I realized his tone was too abrasive.

To convince this target audience, he would need to be pitch-perfect. And this audience included some of the most powerful and experienced financial leaders in the world, from whom my client had learned—and earned—a good deal. It was important to be gracious, to show humility. We worked on delivering the same audacious message in a courteous and respectful tone.

The speech was a huge success—a defining event that put the young man’s career into overdrive. My client was immediately asked to speak at several international events and meetings. He gained recognition for his powerful, challenging insights into financial markets. And he never had to refuse an invitation because he was afraid of speaking publicly.

Recognizing that presentations are an essential business skill, UBS invited me to teach workshops in many divisions across the company. I focused on crafting clear and rich narratives, streamlining PowerPoint presentations, helping speakers across the company find their voices and persuade their target audiences.

Open workshops also helped break down silos between departments. As employees gained a better understanding of their colleagues’ roles, they found better ways to work together and share information.

The workshops were extremely popular, with long waiting lists for each course.