About Max

Lights - Gamble - Action

MTV Networks Europe provided my first proper job.
I worked across an incredibly exciting and diverse range of live and pre-recorded shows, as a producer and also a multi-camera director.
Refreshingly, MTV invested in people with potential.

I was trained by the BBC in Writing for Television and Multi-Camera Directing but the more ‘left field’ training opportunity came when someone obviously thought I had a voice that was relatively ok to listen to and I was put selected for a professional voice training course, of multiple days over a couple of months.

From there I became a regular voice-over artist (MTV liked multi-skilled staff!), hosted a live, daily request show and also began to help train new presenters.

After MTV I helped launch a new TV channel at Teddington Studios and to get both presenters and production teams to the required standard for
live broadcasting.

My journey then took me to The National Lottery. Running a video production team for both consumer content and internal communications meant I was able to help interviewees, members of staff and senior executives be more comfortable, confident and effective in front of the camera.

When I subsequently founded my own video production company, working largely with corporate teams, the ‘on-camera’ training I was able to provide quickly became a course that was in high demand.
After all, very rarely is someone hired in a senior business role because they are confident and effective in front of a camera.

But nowadays it is a regular part of many people’s jobs.

And that was the spark.
I had continued to do a wide range of voiceovers for video production as well as voicing two non-fiction audiobooks and I enjoyed helping people to become more confident and persuasive when they speak.
I enjoyed the lightbulb moments and the rapid growth in their confidence and capability.
So where could I take it to?

The answer was to business teams and individuals who wanted to excel in this area; through engaging and compelling training and in a format that best suited them.

What I haven’t mentioned yet is that crafting effective, functional stories to influence others and then standing up and delivering them confidently definitely didn’t come naturally to me. I had to work at it. You always do.

So how do you accelerate your journey to greater confidence and influence when you speak?
I always find that a chat over the phone or a coffee is the best start. So just use the contact form, email max@narrative-spark.com or connect with and message me on LinkedIn.

The End Beginning