“What a privilege it has been to have had Carmen as a mentor over the past few years, in particular on Presentation Skills through in depth content reading, delivery & techniques. Carmen’s enthusiasm is contagious, and with her guidance and creativity it has allowed me to not only build self confidence but also adapt to many audiences engagingly. Carmen has definitely made an impact on where I am today and the skills I carry with me.”

“My experience working with Carmen has always been one that is positive, motivating and filled with words of encouragement.

For someone like myself who had never created presentations and training programs let alone have the ability, confidence and skills to present them in front of an audience, her knowledge and coaching was invaluable.

Her coaching style come with a sense of calmness and she ensures that you are comfortable and confident every step of the way.

She sets realistic goals and is forthcoming in praise and encouragement when those goals are reached.

Through her coaching on both creating presentations and training programs she enabled me to identify areas that I needed to work on in not only the program itself but the delivery of the presentation. This ensured that the audience were captivated, inspired and enthused about the content and message.

Carmen is very organized and very professional.

I would highly recommend her.”

“I would highly recommend Carmen to anyone who wishes to conquer the challenge of public speaking or who wants to raise their presentation skills to the next level. I began learning from Carmen for just one presentation I had to do, though I find myself constantly drawing on the skills which have brought along more and more exciting career opportunities as my goals expand and change. Carmen taught me how to put together an informative presentation with structure and flow, and how to share it with people, delivering with confidence and clarity. I am now able to speak to groups large and small, keeping people engaged from start to finish. Carmen has the flair to push you beyond the ‘safe’ boundaries you set for yourself in a way that is reassuring and supportive. So grateful for having the opportunity to work with Carmen, such a brilliant coach and mentor.”

“I met Carmen about 5 years ago when I moved into a role at work that required me to not only deliver existing training programmes for the business but also create and deliver new training programmes as our business grew and changed.

Carmen worked with me on how to break down an existing programme, so I could learn the content and deliver it confidently with very minimal or no notes at all, making sure I knew my content and presentation from start to finish. She assisted me not only with content but also with my verbal presentation skills as well, learning how to properly project my voice up over a room of people so I could still be heard even by the person at the back of room while still engaging the whole room as well. This helped me identify nervous habits and things I did not realise I was doing while presenting like playing with pens or using UM in-between sections of my presentation. Once we identified these habits we were able to work on ways for me to overcome them, so I could be at my best while at the front of the room and hold the rooms attention without being distracting to my audience.

Over the course of my time with Carmen she has also coached me on how to create a training programme from scratch, how to look at a process or take a collective of information and break that down into the key elements that needed to be delivered or trained on. From there working on how to deliver the information, how to make the key messages clear to our audience and how to then put it all together so that not only I could deliver the training but so that others could also understand and deliver the training programme I had put together.

Carmen’s coaching and guidance has help me to increase my skill set and grow my confidence. She has not only been a great coach but a great mentor to me over the years as well, helping me to grow not only professionally in my role but personally as well.”

“Working with Carmen for over 15 years launching various projects has always been inspiring, professional and like a partnership. Carmen’s passion and energy for any project and her common sense approach always results in the best outcome for projects and for the business.

Carmen also has a natural ability to see people’s strengths and knows how to help them push the boundaries to achieve something they are passionate about.

I always look forward to working with Carmen.”

“Upon my advancement in my career I always thought I was confident and social individual who knew how to talk to a variety of people. I suppose the difference was that I was now appointed the co-ordinator of 67 stores in both Victoria and Tasmania and would need to employ, train and filter down new company objectives to these branches. This was a very difficult challenge as I wasn’t technically a manager and had to learn to influence a wide variety of people from Senior Executives, the Marketing Team, Region Leaders, Branch Managers, Branch Staff, Warehouse Staff and representatives from other companies.

This is where Carmen comes in and was able to provide and give me the right amount of push, motivation and most importantly the tools I would need to succeed in my career and also advance myself further. Remembering that I mentioned I felt that I was a confident individual to begin with, the difference was that I needed to convey a message(s) to a diverse group.
Carmen taught me how to effectively communicate to that large audience, by understanding the different behavioural types knowing who it is your talking to, create and structure a training programme through a technique called an X-ray that could be used for short or long training programmes, how to present myself in a way that my message was clear, inspirational and something my audience would feel they walked away from having gained valuable information.

It’s not enough to just tell a story you need to tell it well enough that others want to hear you. Thank you Carmen for being a constant wealth of knowledge, I will and still use all the techniques and tools you have armed me with both professionally and personally.

Many thanks Katharina Karalis.”

“I worked with Carmen for many years and saw myself grow as a presenter each and every day. Carmen’s professionalism and expertise in this field is second to none. I have watched many people present, to small groups and very large and I understand all too well how difficult of a job it can be having been a key presenter in my role. I found Carmen’s continuous and constructive feedback enabled me to learn and grow quickly. I was able to not only improve my skills but grow in confidence too. Carmen’s Nature makes her very approachable, I found as a coach and mentor Carmen was always proactive in making suggestions and putting forward ideas for the content I was delivering, the tools I was or was not using, and of course my overall presentation style. I would highly recommend Illuminated Story for anyone looking to grow and improve themselves and their business.”

“I haven’t always been comfortable speaking in front of a group of people. In fact, I dreaded it. When I was promoted to a new position part of the role was public speaking. Thank goodness I had Carmen to coach me through this process. As well as helping me improve my verbal skills Carmen taught me how to improve the construction of my presentations. By implementing the use of a one page document that outlines an entire presentation it has given me structure that I could no longer do without. Carmen’s calm nature, professionalism and the ability to tailor her coaching to an individuals needs is something that anyone who is required to speak in public could benefit from. I now have confidence that I would not have had if I had not had Carmen’s expertise. I can not recommend Carmen more highly. Do yourself a favour and work with Carmen. It will be one of the best things you will do for your career.”

“The idea of standing in front of a group of people and training and presenting has always been quite daunting for me, but the job I wanted required me to put aside those fears. I honestly thought I never could. I looked at others and never understood how they were so calm and didn’t come across as nervous when they stood up in front of a group of people. Carmen really help me work through those fears and how I could control my nerves. But that’s not all she did.

From day one in my job role Carmen coached me on the background of training and presenting. And how to make an impact. Firstly it was about understanding your content and brainstorming your ideas on what you wanted to present and train on. And then prepare an X-ray to support what you would be presenting. This would be the key document I would use to keep things on track with topics, activities and tools used throughout. It was definitely a different way of thinking but made so much sense. Rather than reading off a powerpoint slide, X-rays allowed and encouraged a lot more conversation. Powerpoint was used as a tool for further impact.

But this was only part of preparing for a presentation or training session. The fear of standing up and actually doing it was still there and that was something I need to work through. That is where Carmen’s assistance really helped. I always remember her saying that only reading your content won’t help you stand up and present, the key is practising out loud because how it sounds in your head will be very different to how it comes out. Practicing could be in a room by yourself or with your team, either way you practise it, it has to be done out loud. And BREATHE, because this will help nerves. Carmen has helped me create really good habits that I have been using for over 7 years now. I look back and I know what she has taught me has made me a more successful trainer. Thanks you for you help Carmen ”

“From selling products in a showroom to becoming a trainer of all new and existing staff for SA and NT for the same company was a major stepping stone in my career. Major in so many ways but for me the biggest challenge was the public speaking in a classroom environment. I knew my product, selling techniques and the company profile but to stand up in front of a group and teach this way was out of my comfort zone. One on one session I had no problem with but the moment I had to stand up in front of people I would get so nervous, palms would get sweaty and I would talk a million miles an hour. Carmen was my mentor and she helped me grow and learn to be comfortable (as much as I could) in the classroom set up. Carmen created a safe, relaxed environment and her teaching techniques were comforting. I felt relaxed and after every session we would sit down and go through what went well and where I needed to focus. Still to this day public speaking is not one of my favourite things but before I present I still think back to the techniques Carmen taught me. Thank you Carmen.”

“Before working with Carmen, the only public speaking experience I had was doing school presentations. I am naturally a shy person and public speaking was definitely not one of my strengths. Carmen not only gave me the confidence to speak in front of my peers, managers, 2ics and senior leaders, she gave me the tools to help me project my normally quiet voice, engage with my audience and ensure the content was delivered in a captivating way.
When Carmen pitched the idea of doing a whole day presentation from 1 A4 page with key words and pictures I thought 1. She was nuts, and 2. I’m never going to be able to do this. Not only did I surprise myself that I could do it, I actually really enjoyed planning training sessions in this format.
I truly value the experience I gained from working with Carmen, her support, encouragement and knowledge is invaluable. Without it I would not have been able to grow in my role the way I did.”

“Presenting and running training sessions is part of my job role and over the years Carmen has helped me develop and refine these skills. She has helped build my confidence and offered coaching and many tips to assist me in overcoming and improving in those areas so that I can be better at what I do. I have learnt how to prepare myself and manage myself with structure, focus and practice. She has helped me create different training modules and presentations to help me train others. Carmen has then taught me how to prepare for either one on one or to group audiences.

I have always admired the way that she presents and can adapt herself to different audiences and situations and is someone I have been lucky to learn from. Carmen is an amazing teacher and I can’t recommend her coaching highly enough.”

“Carmen has been a huge influence on me both professionally and personally with delivering presentations. Presenting is a huge part of what I do for work, so having the right coaching skills from the beginning was crucial to succeed. Carmen’s coaching approach is influential; always seeing the positives of your work and turning it into greatness.

I never once felt nervous as I’d always receive constructive feedback, which will continually help me throughout my career. When Carmen presents, you instantly feel drawn into what she’s delivering, she’s calm, engaging and most importantly has fantastic energy. I have learnt a lot from this and have been very fortunate to have been mentored by Carmen. Can’t speak highly enough!”

“Dear Carmen, What can I say, you are amazing!!!! Prior to being mentored by you I would never have seen myself standing up in front of a crowd presenting. I could talk all day one on one with someone, but put me in front of a crowd and I will freeze. Loose track of what I was saying and fumble my words. Now I get excited about presenting to a room full of people. I can now engage with the room, but most importantly keep people interested due to the way you have shown me how to create and structure a presentation. Because of you I have now found something I am passionate about, and enjoy every minute of it. Thank you.Tammy”

“Carmen was one of the first people professionally to be able to communicate what she saw in my ability and create the environment where I could have experiences to also see for myself.

In a matter of days, with her ability to break down training content and coach the team on presentation, voice projection, prompters and material retention techniques, the team I was training with went from having no presentation skills combined with immense fear of presenting to delivering two week training programs. Literally within a matter of days.

It’s not often you connect with coaches that are non- threatening, supportive and humble; whilst maintaining a high level credibility and respect. Carmen has a unique ability to see things in others that they can’t see or yet exert in themselves. As well as a high level of genuine investment in those she works with.”

“I completed a session with Executive Speaking Coach, Carmen Sederino. The purpose of the session was for Carmen to assist me with a presentation I had put together.

Carmen was professional in her approach. She had me complete homework before our meeting, to help her to get an understanding of what impact I wanted to have on my audience. This meant that we could get maximum benefit from our session.

Her expertise is with advising around the content of the presentation, but more importantly the delivery. Carmen made a few changes to the content, which encouraged me to engage and involve my audience.

She also gave me valuable pointers around the physical delivery and how to deal with the inevitable nerves in the lead up to the event.

Carmen is very knowledgeable when it comes to public speaking. She has an ability to communicate and share her knowledge with you, in an easy to understand manner.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Carmen to anyone who wishes to improve and enhance their ability to stand up and speak in front of a crowd.”