Missed the keynote, or want a recap? This blog rounds up the key moments from Wella 2026 & Keynote Speaker Michelle Bowden, with the main ideas and takeaways from the session.
Wella legends! Didn't we have so much laughter and learning?!!
Hello Wella legend! 👋
Wasn’t that so fun! We explored what it really means to have presence, connection, and impact – whether you’re influencing internal or external stakeholders.
We laughed as we learnt powerful strategies to communicate with clarity and confidence, negotiate more effectively, and truly be heard in every conversation.
Persuasive techniques help you communicate in a way that makes people want to say yes – to your ideas, your requests, your leadership.
Persuasion is how you turn good intentions into real influence and better results.
Here's the reel from our session together!
What did we cover?
The Four Persuasive Types
Wise Owl needs logic & structure
Commanding Eagle is awesome at managing conflict
POO: Pacing Out Objections (5 Steps)
Here are the 5 steps!
1. State the objection
2. Say “and,” “so,” or pause not “but” or “however”!
3. Use “actually” or “in fact”
4. Solve the objection
Address it clearly with logic, reassurance, or evidence.
5. Close with “because”
Friendly Budgie is excellent at remembering your name!
The sweetest sound to the human ear is the sound of your own name!
- Pay attention when you hear the name
- Repeat the name immediately
- Write it down
- Use the name again in conversation
- Make an association with something familiar
- Visualise the name as a mental picture
- Ask how it’s spelled or where it comes from
- Connect the name with a feature or context
- Write the name in the air with your finger as you hear it
- Create a tiny story using the name
Friendly Budgies are also the heavy hitters of rapport building
Captivating Peacock is fabulous at showing charisma and creating emotion
And here you are! Awesome right?
©2026 MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business.
She’s run her Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass over 1070 times for more than 13,500 people over the past 27 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.
She’s also 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).