LinkedIn Content Strategy for Executive Presence Coaches | Netwarm
LinkedIn playbook · Case study
LinkedIn content strategy for executive presence coaches: how a London speaking coach reached 274 founders
We read every reaction on 26 posts from a London speaking and brand coach. 1,998 people, 274 founders and CEOs. Here is what brings buyers, what brings peers, and the 5 posts we'd publish next.
Max Sawyer · Netwarm··9 min read
The creator in this case studyA London speaking and brand coach
Ideal client: founders, CEOs and C-suite leaders of scale-ups who need to speak with presence, on stage and in the boardroom.The challenge: after narrowing the focus to founders in October, reach dropped by half. Was the right audience lost?
Key takeaways
The pivot didn't lose the founders.274 founders and CEOs reacted between 24 September and 31 October, 13.7% of everyone, and 59 of them came back 3 times or more.
The post matters more than the topic.Every topic brought between 12% and 15% founders. The best single posts reached 20%: real moments, and the CEO's own visibility.
31 founders are Hot right now.They reacted to 5 posts or more in the window.
01
Who actually reads you, and what the LinkedIn algorithm changed
In October, the coach wrote that reach had been cut in half after narrowing the focus to founders and leaders. The worry was simple: was it the wrong audience that left, or the right one?
The LinkedIn algorithm shows your posts to the people who react to them, and to people like them. When you change who you write for, reach drops first and the audience follows later. Reach alone can't tell you if the change is working. Who reacted can. We looked at every person who reacted to the posts between 24 September and 31 October, and sorted them by role.
26own posts in 38 days
1,998people reacted
274founders & CEOs
59founders came back 3+ times
Audience by roleThe 1,998 people who reacted, by roleFree
This is the pattern we see with most coaches who write about LinkedIn and personal branding: other coaches react the most. Here, 601 people, 30% of everyone, are coaches, consultants, speakers and creators. They are generous, they engage early, and they push reach. But they rarely buy coaching.
The good news is in the second line. 274 founders and CEOs is a real pipeline for a speaking coach. The question is which of them are ready to talk.
SeniorityAll people who reactedFree
Founder, owner, C-level23.4%
Director, VP3.3%
Manager9.9%
Independent8.6%
Other54.9%
IndustriesFounders onlyNetwarm
Marketing, branding & media32%
Hidden in preview00%
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See all industries and company sizes in your free scan.
Most creators judge a post by its reactions. A coach should judge it by who reacted. A post with 900 reactions from peers can bring fewer buyers than a post with 200.
We tagged each of the 26 posts by topic, then measured the share of founders among the people who reacted to each one. The surprise: on this profile, founders show up whatever the topic. What changes the share is the post itself.
Your topicsWhat your 26 posts were aboutFree
26posts
Personal stories9
Brand & positioning7
Speaking & stage4
Client stories3
LinkedIn & content3
Topics that attract foundersShare of each topic’s reactions from foundersNetwarm
Personal stories14.5%
Client stories13.7%
Brand & positioning13.6%
Speaking & stage13.1%
LinkedIn & content11.8%
No topic brings 1.5x more founders than another. See how close they are.See which topics
Founders come whatever the topic: every topic brought between 12% and 15% founders. No topic is a clear winner.
Posts that brought the most foundersShare of founders in each post’s reactions1 of 5 open
#1Your “stood up at my own event” post (AI think tank)21.1%
#2Your Soul to Speak post20.7%
#3Your “CEO is your most underrated marketing asset” post20%
#4Your French accent post15.7%
#5Your “real friends” post15.7%
For comparison, the average post brought 13.7% founders, and the lowest brought 11.2%.
These rules come from two sources: what worked on the coach's own profile, and the best-performing posts from speaking and presence coaches on LinkedIn over the last 90 days.
1
Write about their stage, not your platform. Founders react to posts about their own visibility, their pitch, their board. Posts about LinkedIn headlines speak to other coaches.On this profile: “Your CEO might be your company’s most underrated marketing asset” brought 20% founders, the third-best post in the window.
Open with a real moment. “Someone stood me up at an event I organised” beats “5 tips for better talks.” The two best posts for founders in the window both open on a moment.On this profile: the two posts that brought the most founders open on a real moment (21.1% and 20.7% founders).
Use what only you have. Plenty of coaches teach speaking. Few bring breathwork into the room. The posts where the coach shows that side get the strongest reactions.On this profile: the breathwork story drew 207 comments.
When founders read: the best time to post on LinkedIn for executive presence coaches
We compared the founder share of posts by the day and the 2-hour slot they were published, London time. Slots with fewer than 3 posts are left out.
Share of founders by posting dayAmong the people who reacted to each postFree
13.9%
Mon
13.0%
Tue
13.3%
Wed
12.2%
Thu
13.2%
Fri
17.8%
Sat
15.8%
Sun
Best time to post, by hourShare of founders among people who reactedFree
13.3%
6:00
13.3%
8:00
15.6%
10:00
On this profile, the day matters less than the post: every weekday landed between 12% and 14% founders. Weekend posts did a little better (17.8% on 2 Saturday posts, 15.8% on 4 Sunday posts), and the two best posts for founders went out at 10:00 on a weekend. Worth testing, not a rule yet.
A rhythm of 5 posts a week is high for this niche. We'd keep 3 posts aimed at founders and use the other days for community and events, so the founder posts aren't buried.
05
5 posts ready to publish to target founders
Each post follows the rules above. Swap in your own details before posting: the personal detail is what makes a post feel real.
1Ready to postPersonal story
The room I lost in 90 secondsRule 2: a real moment, then one lesson. Same shape as your AI think tank post (21.1% founders, the best in the window).
Hook
I once lost a room of 40 founders in 90 seconds.Not because the talk was bad. Because the first sentence was about me.It was a founder breakfast in London. I opened with my background: the clients, the stages, the TEDx. By the third sentence, phones were out. The founder in the front row started typing. I knew exactly when I'd lost them.So I stopped. I put my notes down and asked: “What's the one conversation you're dreading this month?” Every hand went up.Founders don't give you their attention. They lend it. And they take it back fast.Since that day, I open every talk the same way: with their problem, not my story.What's the first sentence of your next talk?
Visual · Single imageA photo of you on stage, from the back of the room.Check before postingThe story must be yours. Link to your speaking offer in the first comment.
My reach dropped. My calls went up.Follows up on your 19 October post (“my reach was cut in half… losing the WRONG audience”). Rules 2 and 6.
Hook
My reach was cut in half last month. Best thing that happened to my business.I stopped writing for everyone. I started writing for the founders who have to stand on a stage and sound like themselves.The likes dropped. The comments changed. Fewer "great post!", more "this is exactly what happened to me at our last board meeting."Two of those comments turned into calls. One turned into a client.Fewer likes. Better conversations.If you've been afraid to niche down because of the numbers: the numbers lie a little. Look at who is reacting, not how many.
Visual · NoneText only. Let the first line work.Check before postingUse your real numbers and your real story: how many calls, how many clients. Keep names out.
The 4 seconds before you speakA breath and a first sentence. Rule 4. Offer the lead magnet in the first comment.
Hook
The 4 seconds before a CEO speaks decide the next 40 minutes.Most leaders walk on stage and start talking straight away. Breath high, voice fast, eyes on the slides.Try this instead:
1. Feet down. Feel the floor.
2. One slow breath out, longer than the breath in.
3. Look at one person in the room.
4. Then speak.I teach this to every founder before a pitch. The first sentence comes out lower, slower, and it sounds like they mean it.It's the cheapest presence trick I know. It costs 4 seconds.What do you do in the seconds before you speak?
Visual · Short videoYou doing the 4 seconds, 15 seconds max, no music.Check before postingMention Re:Sense and the 4-second reset PDF in the first comment, not in the post.
“Make me sound more like a CEO”The request coaches hear most, and what to do instead. Rule 3.
Hook
A founder asked me to make them sound more like a CEO.I asked what a CEO sounds like. Long pause."Confident. Clear. Not like me."That last part is the problem. Founders don't lose rooms because they're not CEO enough. They lose rooms because they're performing someone else.So we didn't work on a CEO voice. We worked on their own: the story only they can tell, the pause before the number, the one sentence they actually believe.Three sessions later, they didn't sound like a CEO. They sounded like themselves, on purpose. That's what people follow.What would you say if you stopped trying to sound like a CEO?
Your team doesn't need another all-hands4 slides: the slide deck, crossed out, then one sentence. Rules 1 and 6.
Hook
Your team doesn't need another all-hands. They need one true story from you.Founders explain the strategy. Then they wonder why nobody remembers it.People don't remember plans. They remember the moment you said "I was wrong about this." The customer you lost and why. The night you nearly gave up.A story gives the strategy a reason. Without it, it's a list.Next all-hands, try this: cut 10 slides. Open with one moment you've never told the team. Then show the plan.Watch the room.What story have you never told your team?
Visual · Carousel4 slides: the slide deck, crossed out, then one sentence.Check before postingKeep it under 1,300 characters. Slide 4 is the one sentence: "Tell one story."
Free forever: unlimited scheduling through LinkedIn’s official API, with images, video and PDF carousels.
06
LinkedIn lead generation: lead magnets that work to target founders
Reactions show interest. A download shows intent. The fastest way to find out which founders are serious is to give them something useful and see who takes it.
Founders don't download ebooks. They download things they can use before their next meeting. In the speaking and presence niche, these formats get the most requests:
Format 1The free guideEverything you've learned about one moment (a pitch, a keynote, a board meeting), in one place.
Format 2The self-audit templateA page people fill in themselves: they rate their own talk or presence, section by section.
Format 3The 1-minute resetA short audio or PDF: breath and posture before a hard conversation.
Our pick for you: “The 4-second reset before you speak”Format 3, built from post 3 and the breathwork practice (the most commented side of this profile): the breath, the first sentence, the one-person look. Offer it in the comments of that post.With a Reveal link, every person who downloads it is shown by name, with their role and how warm they are. Your first Reveal link is free.Create your free Reveal link
07
From reactions to clients
Content brings founders to your profile. It doesn't tell you when to reach out. Most of them never comment, so they stay invisible, and a founder who reads you every week in October may have moved on by December.
On LinkedIn, the right moment to start a conversation is when someone keeps coming back. We call that Hot: 5 or more points over 90 days, where a reaction counts 1, a repost 2, a download or a reply 4.
Hot right now31 founders · not contacted yetNetwarm
31 founders are Hot. See who to message first.See who’s Hot
First messageAn opener for each Hot person, based on the posts they readNetwarm
Hi Alex, I saw you've been reading my posts on founder visibility. Are you speaking anywhere soon?Hi Sam, you reacted to my post on the CEO as a company's best marketing asset. Is that something you're weighing up?
A first line for each of them, ready to send.See the openers
Netwarm sends nothing for you. It tells you who and when, and you write the message. It also works inside Claude and ChatGPT: ask “Who's Hot today?” and get the list.
08
FAQ
Real moments from your work, one lesson each, aimed at a fear your buyers have: sounding junior, losing the room, facing the board. Keep platform tips and promos for the first comment.
It depends on who you want to reach. For this coach, the share of founders was close on every weekday (12% to 14%), and weekend posts did slightly better, on few posts. Measure the share of your buyers by posting day on your own profile before you change your schedule.
Reach usually drops for a few weeks, because the algorithm first shows your posts to the people who reacted before. What matters is whether your buyers stay. Here, 274 founders and CEOs reacted in the 5 weeks we measured after the change.
Look at who reacts, not how many. Group reactions by role, measure the share of your ideal clients per post, and follow the people who keep coming back. A free Netwarm scan does this for you.
Yes. Netwarm only reads public reactions to your own posts. It never logs in as you, never asks for your password, and never messages anyone for you.
How we made this playbook
We read the public reactions on 26 of the coach's own posts published between 24 September and 31 October 2026 (posts by other people that mention the coach were left out), and sorted the 1,998 people by role. Comments were not counted, so engagement figures are a floor.
Niche rules come from top posts by speaking and presence coaches over the last 90 days. Role groups are approximate; a Netwarm scan matches people to your own ideal client.
