How is this different from presentation training?

The Spotlight teaches the encounter. Influence and persuasion training covers everything before, after and around it: building standing, working out who decides, making the ask, holding your ground, keeping promises.

Is this about being pushy?

No. Pressure without trust backfires; the research is unambiguous. The programme is about earning standing and then using it.

The first cohorts run in early 2027. Influence and persuasion work is available now through The Arena and bespoke engagements.

Mid-to-senior professionals who have to get outcomes through people they don’t have authority over – project leads, specialists, advisers, managers of managers, anyone influencing upward.

Influence & Persuasion Training

Getting things over the line

First cohorts early 2027 – founding cohorts by invitation
In-house
Mid-to-senior professionals
Built on each person’s real work – measured before and after

Most of what matters at work gets decided by people you don’t manage. The budget sits with someone else. The decision needs three teams who don’t report to you. The person who has to say yes has read your paper and isn’t convinced. Presenting well gets you the room. This is about everything before it, after it and around it – getting buy-in, and getting things across the line.

What this is. A programme for mid-to-senior professionals who have to get things done across an organisation they don’t control – sideways, upward, without formal authority. It’s built around the real thing each participant is trying to get over the line, and it’s measured: where people are before, and where they are afterwards.

How it works. Influence is two things, and most people only work on one. Trust – the credibility, relationships and track record you’ve built; slow, cumulative, what you are. Voice – the strength and skill of the ask: the case, the story, the moment, the challenge you can withstand; what you do. Push without trust and you’re resisted. Trust without voice and nothing moves – which, in New Zealand, is where most capable people quietly sit. The programme is the route to having both.

Who it’s for. Professionals who influence sideways and upward – project leads, specialists, managers of managers, anyone whose job is to get buy-in from people they don’t control. And the manager who’s tired of watching capable people go unheard.

Where it’s at. We’re building this now, on twenty years of teaching people to be heard and a year of research into how influence actually works in New Zealand organisations. The first cohorts run in early 2027. If you have a team this describes and you’d like to be one of them, talk to Russell. Until then, influence and persuasion is part of The Arena and available as bespoke work – ask.

Part of The Arena, and bespoke

Senior leadership teams
In-house, now
Keynote for a conference or leadership forum

Influence is one strand of The Arena, our mastery programme for senior teams, and we run bespoke influence work for leadership teams now. Russell also speaks on why capable people go unheard in New Zealand organisations – a keynote for a conference or leadership forum.

Questions we get asked

The Spotlight teaches the encounter – the meeting, the pitch, the paper. This is everything before, after and around it: building the standing to be heard, working out who actually decides, making the ask at the right moment, holding your ground, and keeping the promises that make the next ask easier. If you’re not yet confident in the room itself, start with The Spotlight.

No. Pushing hard without trust gets you resisted, and remembered for the wrong reasons – the research on pressure tactics is unambiguous. This is about earning the standing, and then using it.

The first cohorts run in early 2027 and we’re talking to organisations now about being among them. If you need influence and persuasion work sooner, it’s part of The Arena and we run bespoke engagements – tell us what you’re trying to move.

People who have to get buy-in and outcomes through others without the authority to instruct them – project and programme leads, technical specialists, advisers, managers of managers, anyone influencing upward. Mid-to-senior. Sent by a manager who wants them heard.

Tell us about your team

PO Box 78349. Grey Lynn Auckland, 1021. NZ

What our Clients Say

Dozens of programmes delivered across New Zealand and Australia…A transformational experience for participants - for some, life-changing…The difference between The Pickering Group and a typical supplier is that they have an ability to really understand a company – it’s purpose, values, culture, and current environment – at a deeper level than most. They get it. They adapt. They make an enormous difference.”

Victoria Goulden Learning and Design Manager Pernod Ricard Australasia

“When I needed Presentation Skills and Storytelling training for 60+ of our regional sales manager - delivered in just one impactful day - Russell and The Pickering Group totally nailed it!!”

Annaliese Atina General Manager Field Sales & NCC Coca-Cola Amatil NZ

“The ‘Leading with Stories’ programme empowered our senior leaders to continue telling the stories of our transformation – to lift our strategy out of the spreadsheets and PowerPoints and into the hearts of our people.”

Wayne McNee Chief Executive. Livestock Improvement Corporation

“Russell Pickering is STELLAR at his craft, absolutely the best in New Zealand. He exemplifies presence and connection. My clients rate him as a top notch presenter and executive coach. If you need to ramp up your impact as a leader, Russell is the man to call.”

Harold Hillman, Ph.D. Managing Director, Sigmoid Curve Consulting Group

"Hugely popular courses – with immediate, tangible results. Well over a hundred of our people are now more impactful, confident speakers because of The Pickering Group’s programmes"

Kerry Dewar Leadership & Capability Manager Mercury

"The ability to communicate your ideas with clarity, to inspire your audience to action, to share stories that bring your business strategy to life – these are all essential qualities for leaders in the modern business world. Nobody helps you do that better than Russell and his team at The Pickering Group.”

Joanna Simon Chief Operating Officer DLA Piper

“When we were looking to embed the crucial leadership capability of storytelling across the Agency, The Pickering Group provided a tailored programme that was engaging, practical and fun – but most importantly – that worked. Our people come away from the programme absolutely buzzing and eager to utilise their new-found storytelling skills.”

Trent Maulder Senior Organisation Development Consultant NZ Transport Agency

“Russell takes you out of your comfort zone and into a growth zone related to the art of presenting and personal persuasion. He is masterful at his craft; a true sensei in every regard. Step Into the Spotlight is an incredible gift of wisdom, insights and practical ways to influence others with maximum impact.”

Harold Hillman Ph. D, leadership coach Author of The Impostor Syndrome and EM-PA-THY