What is Make Your Mark?
Toolkit for confident, authentic communication
Designed and led by Susan, Make Your Mark is a series of four 90-minute workshops designed to help you communicate confidently and authentically at work and in life.
Each workshop focuses on one of Susan’s four pillars of great communication: mindset, body language, speech, and voice. Tailored for HR leaders, this series will help you define who you are, what you want from your career, and how you’re making your mark in the HR world.
Whether you’re in a role, exploring new opportunities, or between jobs, you’ll leave with practical tools to build resilience and create a strong go-to-market strategy. Plus, you’ll connect with other HR leaders, share ideas, and grow your network along the way.
Interactive, interconnected sessions
These four hands-on workshops build on each other, so plan to attend them all. Each includes evidence-based topics, practical activities, and thought-provoking discussions. With only 25 spots, the small group setting ensures a safe, supportive space to learn and connect with peers.
Make Your Mark across the globe
You’ll be in good company. Susan has run Make Your Mark workshops for thousands of professionals in over 40 countries. During COVID, she ran free sessions for under-25s worldwide. And since 2024, she’s partnered with Elliott Scott to offer the series free to HR leaders, recognizing their limited time and resources for personal growth.
Summary
Over four transformational sessions, Susan Room, The Business Voice Coach, led a bespoke Make Your Mark with Susan Room® series designed to support senior HR professionals in building confidence, clarity, and presence both internally and externally.
Session 1: Find Your Inner Coach
The series starts with a deep dive into mindset and the power of self-talk. HR leaders who often feel that they predominantly focus on others were invited to reflect on their own careers and internal narratives. Susan introduces the concept of the inner critic, the voice of doubt and pressure, and its antidote: the inner coach. Through practical techniques, participants began to reframe self-sabotaging thoughts and understand how early experiences shape our internal dialogue. The session offered space for powerful personal reflection, grounding participants in the belief that self-compassion is a foundation for professional strength.
Session 2: Build Physical Presence
The second session focuses on how mindset shapes physical presence. Drawing on her training in voice and presence, Susan demonstrates how leaders can show up with credibility and approachability. Using Rodenburg’s “Three Circles of Presence” model, participants will explore how to move from withdrawn or overcompensating states into grounded, authentic presence. Practical tools like breathing techniques, posture, hand gestures and voice control will help HR professionals reclaim their space and influence the room with intention.
Session 3: Speak About Yourself With Confidence
In the penultimate session, Susan tackles one of the most common challenges among senior professionals: talking about oneself. Participants are encouraged to shift from self-doubt to self-value, reframing personal narratives from “selling” to “sharing value.” The session covers how language, tone, and mindset impact perception and includes reflective exercises to uncover the unspoken parts of one’s story. By becoming more aware of speech habits (like over-apologising or downplaying success), attendees gain practical tools to present themselves with more confidence and authenticity.
Session 4: Develop Your Vocal Brand
In the final session, Susan introduced the concept of vocal branding, the unique, identifiable sound of your voice that communicates who you are. Leaders will explore the science and emotion behind voice, including the impact of the vagus nerve, breath, pitch, and intonation. Susan emphasises that voice is an underused leadership asset and encourages participants to embrace vocal diversity, challenge internal blockers, and speak with greater calm, control, and care. The session highlights how intentional vocal choices can build trust, clarity, and influence.
Across the four sessions, Susan Room aims to remind HR professionals that their voice, presence, and mindset are tools of leadership. When used with awareness and intention, they not only shape personal confidence but also make a lasting mark on the people and organisations they serve.
What participants say
“Susan’s Make Your Mark series is absolutely phenomenal. I found the sessions incredibly useful both in my personal and professional life. Susan leaves you feeling warm but also makes you think every single time. I can’t recommend these sessions or spending time with Susan more.”
Louise Brown, Global Head of HR, Board Chair, City HR Association Chair.
“Make Your Mark with Susan Room® teaches you how to use your voice, your body language, your gestures, everything to create leadership presence and that’s something that’s not really taught in leadership programmes but is absolutely beneficial to everybody.”
Louisa Gregory, HR Director/Chief People Officer, Non-Executive Director.
“I rely on Susan’s four-step Make Your Mark framework to prepare my mindset, body language, words and voice before important events. It consistently leaves me feeling confident and fully prepared.”
Ben Redshaw, HR Consultant, HR Lead in Fortune 100 companies, and member of CIPD AI Advisory Panel.
“Susan delivers with impact in a very practical manner and takes you through exercises that are incredibly memorable – that really stands out to me”.
Debbie Dalzell, Chief People Officer, Chief HR Officer.