Meet the Team
Peak Presenting is a communication skills training and coaching service founded and run by experienced media and communication consultants Melinda Smith and Craig Eardley.
Melinda Smith
Director
Melinda Smith spent 25 years working as a television journalist, news presenter, and radio broadcaster. After undertaking a Master of Business, she applied her expertise and media experience to corporate communications and public relations. Melinda then established her own consultancy where she delivers strategic communication guidance, training and coaching services.
Melinda's broad experience means she understands the importance of presenting yourself in the best and most authentic way, whether that is during a meeting with colleagues or clients, delivering a presentation, or being interviewed by the media.
Advocating effective communication means that “…both sender and receiver understand with clarity and purpose”, Melinda shares her knowledge and expertise to help people develop their individual presentation style. Having the right skills, technique and approach are essential to being an effective communicator.
Melinda is:
a Member of Professional Speakers Australia (PSA)
a Level 2 Breathwork Practitioner after studying with Breathwork Trainings
an endorsed member of the Australian Breathwork Association (ABA).
Craig Eardley
Director
Craig Eardley brings decades of real-world communication and public relations experience to our workshops, coaching sessions, and consultancy services.
He worked in media, community consultation, public relations and corporate communication roles before starting his own public relations and communication consultancy more than 20 years on.
Craig wishes he had a dollar for every presentation he has written - for himself and others - and delivered. He loves sharing practical tips and tools on how to structure presentations or facilitation sessions to be effective.
Throughout his career, Craig has helped organisations, large and small, to successfully generate positive media coverage. Sometimes the goal is to stay out of the media too. He shares his extensive experience and knowledge of the media so you can work more effectively with media outlets and prepare for media interviews.
Craig’s understanding of communication strategy and planning, is second to none. He brings his significant experience in developing and implementing communication, issues management and crisis communication plans to our media skills and presentation skills workshops and coaching sessions and communication strategy and planning consultancy service.
Peak presenters and communicators know how to manage relationships and keep messages and content clear, concise and compelling. In our Writing for Impact, Profile Raising and other training, Craig will get on his soapbox about making written and verbal communication about your audience, not you. He may froth as he counsels you to avoid jargon and buzzwords, babble speak and exclamation marks.
Craig’s top tip for presenting at your peak
“Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.
Don’t wing it. There’s a correlation between preparation and performance. Preparation saves time and money in the long run.
Whether you have five minutes, five hours or five days, our proven and practical formula, frameworks, tips and tools will help you efficiently prepare and deliver more effective written and verbal communication.”
Martin Coates
Associate
Martin is an experienced senior business leader who now works as an accredited Life Coach and business consultant.
He uses the Enneagram framework to uncover what subconsciously drives and motivates behaviours, including communication styles. He has facilitated Enneagram personality profiling workshops and coaching for hundreds of private sector and public sector employees.
Martin’s career includes leadership roles within Telstra Country Wide, where he consulted with rural communities to extend mobile phone network coverage. That included facilitating positive relationships with many stakeholder groups, including NSW Members of Parliament.
Martin was an active member of Telstra’s National Communicators Team, delivering presentations to a range of community groups in metro and regional locations.
As Director, City Engagement at the City of Newcastle, Martin’s portfolio included managing Council’s Human Resources, Legal, Governance, Communication, and Public Consultation teams.
He moved to leadership roles in the Federal Government business enterprise, Defence Housing Australia (DHA). His roles as Regional Director Northern NSW, then National Service Delivery Operations Manager, required high-level presentation, communication and facilitation skills.
Martin understands the training and skills development environment. He was a Board Member of Atwea College for 14 years, including four years as Chairman. Atwea is one of the largest providers of community-based adult learning in NSW.
Martin has a Master of Business Administration and qualifications in project management and public participation.