Stop Telling People to "Have More Gravitas": How to Make Executive Presence Visible, Coachable, and Repeatable
Speakers
Schedule
Thursday, October 29, 2026
About This Session
Executive presence decides about a quarter of who gets promoted. Yet most leaders still describe it with words like "gravitas" and "charisma," traits no one can see, measure or teach. The result is predictable: in one landmark study, 81% of people who received feedback on their presence said they didn't know how to act on it. Promising people stall, the loudest voices rise, and teams go quiet, all while poor communication costs U.S. businesses up to $1.2 trillion a year.
Join Recognize CEO, Alex Grande, and former Head of HR and communication expert Karen Laos, who has trained teams at Starbucks, Pfizer and Charles Schwab, for a practical session on turning executive presence into behaviors you can see, name, and reinforce.
You'll leave with:
⭐️ A clear way to describe presence as specific behaviors, so feedback is clear and fair
⭐️ Swaps that turn "be more confident" into feedback people can copy
⭐️ A sharper way to judge "leadership material" when hiring and promoting
⭐️ A simple system to make good behaviors visible across the team so they spread
Sources: Center for Talent Innovation (now Coqual) executive presence study; Grammarly / The Harris Poll, State of Business Communication.
Speakers & Hosts
Meet the people leading this session. Full bios and titles are shown below.
CEO and Co-Founder, Recognize
Alex Grande is a web developer with a passion for motivation and human behavior. Alex has spent over a decade engineering the "Human API", using technology to scale the fundamental psychological need for appreciation.
Executive Communication Advisor, karenlaos.com
Karen Laos is a keynote speaker and high-stakes communication specialist who equips leaders to speak with clarity, authority, and confidence when it matters most. With 25+ years of experience working with leaders at NASA, Google, Netflix, Facebook, and Hilton, Karen closes The Credibility Gap™, the distance between how capable you are and how capable you come across. A 3x bestselling author, host of the Ignite Your Confidence podcast, and creator of Powerhouse Presence™ and The Confidence Cocktail™, Karen brings practical strategies, bold energy, and a refreshingly direct approach to every stage.
