Lorraine Yates is an experienced marina and boatyard professional and the General Manager of multi award winning White Bay 6 Marine Park and Sydney Harbour Boat Storage.
With a strong focus on safety, operational excellence, and team development, she has led the site to industry recognition, including being named Marina Industries Association Asia-Pacific Boatyard of the Year in 2025.
Lorraine is known for her practical leadership style, commitment to continuous improvement, and passion for delivering high-quality outcomes for customers, staff, and stakeholders.
She also serves as a Director on the Board of the Marina Industries Association.
1️⃣ What kind of presenting do you do at work?
I present across a range of formats and audiences — external stakeholder meetings, internal team briefings, toolbox and safety sessions, site tours, and industry conferences where I both moderate panels and participate as a specialist speaker. In fact, every meeting and so many engagements during the day are really presentations.
2️⃣ Before working with Michelle, how did you feel about presenting?
I had strong industry knowledge but wanted greater confidence in how I packaged and delivered it — compiling content that flowed naturally and landed with impact, rather than just conveying information.
3️⃣ What made you decide to learn with Michelle?
First impressions matter enormously in my field, and I knew that having deep expertise wasn’t enough on its own. I needed to communicate it with clarity and authority – and I wanted the skills to do that consistently, not just aim at getting it right. I aimed at perfection.
4️⃣ How do you feel now, after working with Michelle?
Genuinely confident. I know I’m delivering relevant, well-structured content with clear messages my audience can actually take away and use. I’m not just presenting — I’m connecting and persuading.
5️⃣ What positive outcomes have you achieved?
I’ve received strong, unsolicited feedback from large expert audiences – and more importantly, invitations to continue contributing to significant industry forums. That kind of engagement speaks for itself.
6️⃣ What are 3 specific ways that your presentation skills changed or improved?
1. Audience first. I now start every presentation by truly understanding who I’m speaking to, so the content is relevant, meaningful, and lands well.
2. Stronger structure. My presentations have a clear arc – a beginning that hooks, a middle that builds, and an end that sticks.
3. Command of the room. I’ve developed the ability to maintain genuine connection with an audience – and the art of persuasion, that lifts the presentation to a new level.
7️⃣ What were your top 3 takeaways from Michelle’s masterclass?
1. Warm up – I’m always using Michelle’s warm ups. It makes an immediate difference to how you show up, and how you project.
2. Rehearse more than you think you need to. Then rehearse again.
3. Enjoy it. Presenting is a privilege and, when you’re prepared, it genuinely is fun.
Would you like to participate in our presentation skills training courses?
We have a 26-year proven track record in developing people’s business presentation, public speaking and pitching skills. We will help YOU stand out for all the right reasons!
Master the art of public speaking and persuasive presenting in business with our life-changing public speaking training in Sydney LIVE and ONLINE via Zoom or MS Teams.
One presentation skills training course once is all you need.
Become a more confident, engaging and persuasive business presenter & stay true to your natural style! We promise no hand holding and we will not video your presentation for feedback purposes because it’s not necessary for awesome improvement!
©2026 MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business. She’s run her Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass over 1040 times for more than 13,000 people over the past 26 years and her name is a synonym for ‘presentation skills’ in Australia.
Michelle Bowden is a multi-million-dollar pitch coach to her client list that reads like a who’s who of international business: banking and finance, IT, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications plus many more.
Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile®, a world-first psychological assessment tool that reports on your persuasive strengths and weaknesses at work, the best-selling internationally published author of How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting live and online (Wiley) and her new best-selling book is called How to Persuade: the skills you need to get what you want (Wiley).