Lead in the Room

Most rising leaders are excellent operators and uneven communicators. They can hold the plan in their head, but they lose the room when the question is hard, the silence is long, or the stakes are visible on every face.

This workshop is for the ones who want to walk into that room ready, not figure it out the hard way, in front of the people deciding their next move. It is one day, in person, with a curated group of peers at your level, built to give you the language, the posture, and the reps you don't get inside your own organisation.

You will work in a room built for honest work, not performance. And you will leave with something you can use at your next meeting, not a feeling, a sentence and the confidence to say it.

• A sharper, more decisive way of speaking under pressure — without sounding rehearsed.
• Exactly how to open, hold, and close a high-stakes room of executives, board members, or skeptics.
• A personal narrative you can use Monday morning — for the next pitch, the next promotion, the next hard conversation.
• Language for the moments that usually unsteady you — pushback, silence, being the most senior or the most junior in the room.

For you if: you're stepping into a Director, VP, or founder seat for the first time, or you're being trusted with more visibility than you've had before; you present to leadership, boards, or skeptical peers and want your delivery to match your thinking; you carry weight in the room by default and want to do it with less effort and more intention.

Not for you if: you're looking for generic public-speaking tips or stage tricks; you want a recording, a workbook, or a passive course experience; you're a team looking for a corporate keynote, this is a working room, not a talk.

1. 9:00
   Arrival & coffee

   Quiet open. Settle in, meet the room.

2. 9:30
   What presence actually is

   Unpacking the difference between performance and presence — and why senior rooms reward one and punish the other.

3. 11:00
   Your operating narrative

   Live work on the three sentences you should be able to say about yourself, your work, and what you stand for — without hesitation.

4. 12:30
   Lunch

   Catered. Continued conversation, no agenda.

5. 13:30
   The hard moments

   Pushback, silence, being underestimated, being challenged. Live drills with peer feedback.

6. 15:30
   Holding the room

   Opening, holding, and closing high-stakes conversations — boards, investors, executives, your own team.

7. 17:00
   Close & commitments

   Each participant leaves with a written set of commitments and language to carry into Monday.

8. 17:30
   Optional drinks

   Across the street. Stay if you'd like.

Rovita Nawbatt, Founder, Ro & Co

Rovita is a senior people executive with 15+ years inside high-growth and complex organisations. She has built and led people functions for venture-backed scale-ups, public companies, and global teams, and she has sat on both sides of the table when the question is hard and the room is watching. Her work focuses on the moments leaders are rarely trained for: the high-stakes conversation, the public stumble, the room you need to win before you're given it.

• 15+ years leading people functions in venture-backed, private and public companies
• Trusted advisor to founders, CEOs, and executive teams across North America
• Passionate about building communities that are inclusive, where senior leaders can feel safe