Executive presence was one of the leadership development goals when an agency CEO hired me to coach one of the agency’s SVPs.

The CEO was hard-charging and wanted to see this SVP lead with more presence.

We started with courage.

Together, we worked on speaking with conviction: presenting her ideas because she believed they were in the best interest of the client, the agency, or the CEO.

She stopped judging her ideas by whether they were accepted. And she came to accept her own real value.

We built our coaching on the Energy Leadership Index, an assessment that reveals how a leader’s thoughts and emotions drive their actions and shape how they show up as a leader.

Her executive presence grew. And grew. After a few months, she was promoted. Then she was promoted again.

What Is Executive Presence?

Executive presence matters more than many leaders realize. In research from the Center for Talent Innovation, 268 senior executives said executive presence accounts for 26% of what it takes to get promoted into leadership.

Sixty-seven percent called gravitas the most important factor when promoting someone to a leadership role. The researchers describe gravitas as projecting credibility, assertiveness, and the confidence to convey a clear message.

Those numbers suggest that when two leaders are equally skilled, presence can decide who earns the promotion.

Many leaders read that and decide they need to look more confident. Stand taller. Speak louder. Act the part.

My client’s story points somewhere else. Her presence grew from conviction. Confidence followed.

Why Talented Leaders Hold Back

Most leaders who want more presence already have strong ideas. What holds them back is what happens in the moment before they speak.

They run a quick calculation. Will this land? Will my peers accept it? Will the CEO agree? What if I’m wrong in front of everyone?

When acceptance becomes the measure of an idea, every meeting turns into a test. And people who feel tested tend to hedge, wait, or stay quiet.

Working for a hard-charging leader can raise the stakes further. A strong personality at the head of the table can make the calculation feel even riskier.

The result is a talented leader whose best thinking stays in her notebook. Her colleagues see the hesitation and read it as a lack of presence.

In many cases, the presence is already there. It’s waiting for permission to show itself.

Why Conviction Comes First

Confidence is a feeling. Conviction is a decision.

Conviction comes first because it rests on what you believe. Confidence follows.

When you speak because you believe your idea serves the client, the agency, or your organization, your job is to present it clearly and concisely. Agreement and acceptance are the room’s choice.

That shift frees you. You stop auditioning and start contributing.

Conviction also shows. When you’re clear about why an idea matters, your voice, your pace, and your posture tend to follow. Outward signals of presence grow from inner certainty.

That’s why coaching presence from the outside has limits. Polish without conviction can read as performance. Conviction, even when the delivery is imperfect, reads as passion.

People sense the difference. A leader who speaks from conviction is easier to trust, because her words match her beliefs.

What Conviction Looks Like in the Room

Conviction shows up in small, visible moments.

• You state a recommendation, and you’re comfortable when someone pushes back, and open to listening to their perspective, knowing that collaboration may make your idea even better.
• You disagree respectfully.
• Your mood stays steady when an idea is declined, because your worth isn’t riding on its acceptance.
• You bring back a modified idea, based on others’ input.

Each of these takes knowing what you believe, and why. As such, you don’t need a booming voice, just clarity, calmness, and the confidence that comes from conviction.

Even Beyoncé Has Those Moments

Confidence struggles reach everyone, at every level.

In a Taking the Lead conversation with Fatou B. Barry, founder of PR Girl Manifesto, I shared something that had initially surprised me: Beyoncé created her stage persona, Sasha Fierce, because she struggled with confidence. Beyoncé!

If Beyoncé has those moments, so will all of us.

Sasha Fierce gave Beyoncé a way onto the stage. Conviction gives leaders a way into the room as themselves.

Many of the PR and communications executives I coach are women, and lack of confidence comes up often in our work. We start by discussing conviction.

Five Ways to Build Presence Through Conviction

Know why you’re speaking. Before an important meeting, name the idea you’ll bring and why it serves the client, the agency, or the organization. Writing it in one sentence sharpens both your thinking and your delivery.

Lead with your recommendation. State your point first, then your reasoning. Drop the qualifiers that shrink an idea before anyone hears it, like “This may be off base, but…” Your listeners will take your idea as seriously as you do.

Separate the idea from the outcome. Judge your contribution by whether you brought your best thinking. Whether the room is a separate question, and often depends on factors outside your control.

Take stock of your value. Write down the results you’ve delivered and the problems you’ve solved. Read the list before high-stakes conversations. With the evidence in front of you, it’s easier to claim your value.

Notice what’s driving you. Your thoughts and emotions shape your actions. When you name them, you choose how to show up, rather than reacting. An assessment like the Energy Leadership Index can make those patterns visible, so you can shift them.

Building conviction takes practice, and often a thinking partner. It’s at the heart of the executive coaching work I do with PR and communications leaders.

If You Lead Leaders

If you’re the CEO or agency head hoping your senior people will show more presence, you play a role, too.

Ask for their views before you share yours. Once the most senior person in the room has spoken, almost everyone else will lean into agreement, when dissent would be more valuable.

Judge ideas on their merits and say so. Thank people who bring a point of view, even when you decide to go another way.

And when someone holds her position with good reasons, recognize it. Each time you do, you show the whole team that conviction is welcome.

The presence you want from your leaders grows fastest in a culture that makes room for it.

Ask Yourself

Take five minutes with these questions before your next leadership meeting:

• When did I last hold back an idea I believed would help?
• Do I judge my ideas by whether they’re accepted, or by whether they serve the client and the organization?
• What value do I bring that I’ve been slow to claim?
• How do my thoughts and emotions shape the way I show up in high-stakes meetings?
• If I spoke with full conviction in my next meeting, what would I say?

Presence Follows Conviction

Executive presence is what others see when you lead with conviction.

The next time you have an idea you believe in, say it plainly, explain why it matters, and let the room decide. Then do it again. And again.

My client stayed fully herself. Her conviction made that self visible, and her agency noticed. Twice.

If you or a leader on your team wants to build executive presence, I offer a complimentary consultation. You can schedule it here.

And if you’re not sure coaching is right for you, email me at ken@jacobscomm.com or send me a DM on LinkedIn. Sometimes it helps to just talk it through.