[NEW INSIGHT] 6 ways to build executive visibility without burning out
Building an executive presence that truly counts isn’t as simple as landing one standout piece of coverage and calling it a day. In today’s world, it’s a 360-degree effort.
It's how you present yourself, refine your message, nurture relationships with stakeholders, and lead with consistency across every channel.
Mastering these skills doesn’t happen overnight. But there are a number of habits you can adopt today that will set you on the right path.
In this article, we’ll explore what these habits are and how you can apply them to strengthen your presence and impact.
When you launch a campaign, you want audiences to genuinely embrace your voice, not question your leadership.
Want to build an executive presence that helps you and your business achieve its goals? You need to understand one key truth: visibility alone is never enough.
If it were, anyone who appears in the media would automatically be trusted and influential. But they aren’t. True impact has to be earned. And earning it often takes time.
On one hand, you need a carefully coordinated strategy to ensure every campaign genuinely strengthens your executive presence with authentic, expert content.
And on the other hand, you need to prioritise internal responsibilities, whether building proof points like customer traction or product-market fit to appear credible.
After all, while building your executive presence, you want audiences to genuinely embrace your voice, not question your leadership.
Our executive presence tip: Don't rush the process.
If you're very eager to get started, refresh your online bios, images, and video content.
This simple but often overlooked first step is essential to lay the foundations for your content and make a strong first impression.
Any conflicts will confuse your audience and weaken the authority you’re trying to build.
If you truly want to be influential, not just visible, you need to take advantage of every channel available.
Company blogs offer a controlled platform for insights.
LinkedIn gives you direct access to key decision-makers.
Bylined articles showcase expertise.
Media interviews give you third-party validation.
Podcasts humanise your leadership.
Multimedia increases engagement.
Leave one of these channels out, and your voice may get lost amid the noise. But use all, and you create a consistent, multi-layered presence that builds genuine authority.
Our executive presence tip: Ensure that all messaging is aligned.
Any conflicts across your channels will confuse your audience and weaken the authority you’re trying to build.
You’ll have the confidence and control to take your communication to the next level.
Executives with real presence nearly always command the room. They choose their moments, let their words land, and resist the urge to fill every sentence.
But above all, they’re not afraid of silence.
Whether it’s before answering a tough question or making a key point, they use pauses to draw attention to what they’re saying and leave audiences wanting more.
Take the former CEO of Meta, Sheryl Sandberg, for example. The way she speaks has helped her command attention in high-stakes meetings, interviews, direct-to-camera videos, and even TED Talks, making her messages more memorable, persuasive, and visible to her audience.
Her speaking style is so engaging that she has not only become a prominent voice on workplace equality but also on leadership development and the evolving role of technology in society.
Of course, strong communication skills don’t come naturally.
At Profile, it takes a few media briefs before our clients are confident speakers. But once they are, the difference in their in-person engagements can be night and day.
Instead of mumbling in a way that skews a productive debate, they use pauses to spark life into conversations. And rather than rush into inflammatory responses, they take their time to hit their key messages and protect their brand.
This is often the difference between a media interview leading to coverage or an opportunity being missed.
Our executive presence tip: Practice speaking internally.
Use pauses and other verbal devices in board meetings or even in candidate interviews to see what effect they have.
Then, by the time you’re speaking with journalists, you’ll have the confidence and control to take your communication to the next level and lead the room.
As we’ve already implied, executive communications is a two-way street.
It’s not just about you, but the person on the receiving end who wants to know they are respected and appreciated rather than a means to an end.
So, as soon as you enter a room, a conference, or start rolling on camera, make eye contact with those you’re speaking with. Don’t gaze around or nod at random.
Once you get into the habit of making eye contact, you’ll become far better at reading body language, which can help you judge when meetings are going well.
It’s very easy for audiences to tell whether you are present in the conversation. If you're not making a genuine effort, you're not going to be very likeable, which is just as vital to your executive presence as your work or thought leadership.
So, have some awareness, stay engaged, and be humble.
Our executive presence tip: Read others' body language.
Noticing eye contact and other subtle cues can help you gauge how a meeting is going. You can then adjust your tone or messaging in real time to enhance your persuasiveness, and, importantly, protect your relationships.
Research shows that people judge your character in 0.1 seconds. But that doesn’t mean initial perceptions can’t be changed.
While there is a certain freedom to what you can speak about, you should only ever comment on issues you fully understand.
C-suite executives have such a wealth of experience that we firmly believe their insights should always be shared to benefit their entire sector and beyond through innovation, policy change, and much else.
But while there is a certain freedom to what you can speak about, you should only ever comment on issues you fully understand.
Unfortunately, not all leaders do. And rather than better their reputation, their comments damage it by seeming out of touch, ignorant, or dismissive of facts. At the very least, they appear desperate for the spotlight.
There are countless recent examples of this, from business leaders misreading geopolitical events to tech founders overstating product capabilities.
Don't let this be you. Choose your arguments carefully.
Our executive presence tip: Prove your due diligence.
Doing so across your channels builds credibility and sets the stage perfectly for your argument.
On platforms like LinkedIn, this approach earns more engagement, even from those who disagree, and sparks productive debates that could go viral and eventually drive change.
Use stories and examples sparingly to better illustrate and humanise your points.
Executives who want to resonate with their audiences can sometimes do too much when, in the grand scheme of things, little is often better.
As soon as you overload audiences with information, key messages get lost in translation, your ideas fail to stick, your influence diminishes, and your most important insights can be overlooked.
Since this article is about boosting your executive presence rather than diminishing it, here’s what you need to do:
Make sure your content is valuable, timely, and worthwhile.
Stick to one-liners that capture what you want your audience to remember.
Choose clarity over jargon intended to demonstrate your expertise.
Use stories and examples sparingly to better illustrate and humanise your points.
Our executive presence tip: Don't be afraid of repetition.
It helps you build familiarity, keeps your content focused, and ensures your executive presence stands the test of time.
No matter what you do or say, your employees are often the stakeholders you need to care for most.
The very best leaders always look out for their team, and they show it in almost every piece of content they produce.
This might mean name-dropping a peer on a podcast, mentioning a successful project in an interview, or spotlighting a new hire with a social post.
Why is this important? No matter what you do or say, your employees are often the stakeholders you need to care for most.
If you show that you value them, there's a good chance they will reciprocate by promoting your leadership, championing your initiatives, and driving results on your behalf. But fail to deliver and they might resign, or worse, discredit your leadership.
Our executive presence tip: Recognise both wins and failures.
Doing so eases pressure and builds goodwill among your team. It also shows resilience, which reassures crucial stakeholders like investors.
How you react will not only shape your company's reputation but also your own image going forward.
Visible leaders say many different things. But what separates the best from the worst, time and time again, is whether they support their statements with action.
There are numerous circumstances where you might do this:
Call for companies to become more sustainable? Invest in sustainable solutions yourself.
Criticise poor work-life balance? Review your culture and implement improvements.
Advocate for diversity and inclusion? Ensure your hiring and promotion practices reflect that commitment.
Promote innovation and agility? Lead pilot projects, reward experimentation, and publicly share lessons learned.
Fail to do this, and audiences will stop taking your insights seriously. Your traction on social media will slow and journalists will no longer be interested in featuring you. In the worst case, you could unintentionally land yourself in a crisis.
Our executive presence tip: Capture and showcase data.
Specifically, use case studies, metrics, or stories to show that your leadership is backed by real results.
This way, whenever you or your business makes a corporate announcement, people will take your word for it and you won't be challenged.
How you react will not only shape your company's reputation but also your own image going forward.
Ever heard of the saying "the truth hurts"?
For the most part, it's true.
But do you know what's worse? Hiding the truth, particularly when speculation is rife and you face a crisis.
Yet, many leaders do. They make all the wrong mistakes, often out of desperation, when they should just be honest, especially if they're directly responsible for any harm to their product or service, the environment, or their stakeholders.
Even if the crisis is minor, an immediate response is crucial to control the narrative, especially considering how frantic the media and social media have become.
When all is said and done, as a company leader, any blame lands on your shoulders. How you react will not only shape your company's reputation but also your own image going forward.
Our executive presence tip: Don't neglect video content.
Video content is one of the quickest and most authentic ways to respond to a crisis, whereas template, corporate statements alone no longer cut it.
Use it to humanise yourself and stand out where others don't.
With these tried and tested habits, you'll be able to build an executive presence that's not fake, desperate, or forced, but authentic, credible, and influential. The kind of presence that earns trust, attracts opportunities, and positions you and your business as a leader worth listening to.
This isn't easy, and many of the habits mentioned take time to implement, but the additional effort is certainly worthwhile as you reach your goals and drive lasting influence.