For L&D and HR professionals, developing presentation and communication capabilities often raises an important question: should we build these skills internally, or bring in external expertise?
In reality, it’s rarely a simple either/or decision.
Internal L&D teams and managers play an important role in developing communication skills. They understand the organisation, its culture and its people, and they can reinforce good communication habits through everyday feedback, coaching and development.
But there are also situations where specialist expertise can make a significant difference. A widespread capability gap may require a level of knowledge or coaching that doesn’t exist internally. Senior leaders may need highly personalised development training. Or an important pitch, Board presentation or organisational change may raise the stakes considerably, making the cost of getting the communication wrong far greater.
The question, then, isn’t simply “Should we outsource presentation training?” It’s “What are we trying to achieve, who needs to develop, and what level of support will give us the best outcome?”
In this blog, we’ll explore three areas that can help L&D professionals make that decision:
- When internal training and coaching are likely to be enough
- The signs that it’s time to bring in specialist external expertise
- How internal L&D and external providers can work together to create a shared language and lasting capability
External expertise works best when it strengthens internal capability, not replaces it. Because the most effective approach isn’t necessarily choosing one over the other. It’s knowing when to use each, and how to make them work together.
When Internal Training Teams Are the Right Fit
For many communication development needs, the internal L&D team is exactly the right place to start.
Foundational presentation skills, communication development for new starters and the reinforcement of company-specific messaging, frameworks and ways of working can all be delivered effectively in-house. Internal teams understand the organisation from the inside: its culture, language, expectations and the situations employees encounter every day.
There are also practical advantages to coaching your team to present with confidence. Internal training can be readily available, adapted as needs evolve and delivered cost-effectively across larger groups. Perhaps most importantly, internal L&D professionals are well placed to reinforce learning over time, helping new skills become part of everyday behaviour rather than something employees practise once and then forget.
Internal teams know the organisation. The question is whether they have the specialist expertise the situation demands.
Because there are also times when internal delivery reaches its natural limits.
Presentation and communication coaching is a specialist discipline. More complex development needs may require deep subject-matter expertise, advanced coaching techniques and the ability to diagnose subtle behaviours that a generalist trainer may not encounter frequently enough to recognise or address.
Capacity can also be an issue. L&D teams are often responsible for multiple development priorities, making it difficult to provide the intensive one-to-one attention some individuals require.
And sometimes the biggest challenge isn’t capability at all. It’s candour.
At SecondNature, we’re regularly approached by Talent Development Managers looking for additional support for one or more senior executives. One recent conversation illustrates exactly why.
The executive was completely open to professional one-to-one coaching. The difficulty was that the internal L&D team didn’t feel they were in the best position to give her the direct feedback she needed to recognise significant gaps in her communication skills. Nor did they have the specialist expertise required to provide the advanced coaching needed to change established, embedded behaviours.
Rather than trying to solve the problem internally, they recognised where external expertise could add value and brought SecondNature in to work alongside them.
Within just a few weeks of 1-to-1 coaching,, the combination of objective feedback, specialist coaching and advanced communication techniques was already making a noticeable difference, both to the executive’s ability to engage and influence the Board as well as with her everyday communication with peers and stakeholders across the organisation.
It’s an important distinction. The internal team hadn’t failed to develop the executive. They had successfully identified when the development need had moved beyond what they were best placed to provide.
Knowing when to bring in specialist support isn’t a weakness in your internal L&D capability. It’s part of using that capability well.
When External Presentation Coaches Deliver Greater Value
There comes a point when presentation development moves beyond building general capability to achieving a specific outcome.
Perhaps you are preparing a team for a high-stakes presentation. Or developing a presentation training program for senior leaders. Or perhaps a sales team is competing for a major piece of new business. Or, as in the above example, a senior executive needs to communicate with greater authority and influence. Or maybe your organisation has already invested in presentation training, but the behaviours it hoped to change simply haven’t shifted.
These are just some of the situations where specialist external coaching can deliver greater value.
The same can apply at the other end of the career journey. Graduate communication programs, for example, often bring together large groups of talented people who may have strong technical knowledge but limited experience communicating it clearly to different audiences. Specialist training at this stage can establish strong habits early, before less effective ones become embedded.
What Does an External Coach Bring?
One of the biggest advantages is objectivity.
An external coach isn’t influenced by organisational hierarchy, internal relationships or assumptions about how someone has always communicated. They can observe what’s actually happening, identify the behaviours that are getting in the way, and give clear, candid feedback on what needs to change.
Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes sees what familiarity has stopped you from noticing.
Specialist coaches also bring a depth of experience. Having worked with different organisations, industries, roles and communication challenges, they can draw on a much broader range of situations and solutions. Combined with a proven methodology, this allows the development to move beyond general presentation advice towards the specific behaviours that will make the greatest difference.
That becomes particularly valuable when previous training hasn’t worked. If people understand the theory but still revert to old habits when the pressure is on, another generic workshop is unlikely to solve the problem. They may need more individual diagnosis, deliberate practice, expert feedback and ongoing reinforcement to turn knowledge into lasting behaviour.
Consider the Cost of Getting It Wrong
External coaching inevitably requires investment. But the training fee isn’t the only number worth considering.
What’s the value of the pitch your team is preparing for, and how can you measure the presentation skills training ROI? What happens if a strategically important proposal fails to win support? What is the cost of a senior leader being unable to engage the Board behind a major change initiative?
The higher the stakes, the greater the cost of getting it wrong.
Viewed in that context, the question changes from “How much will specialist coaching cost?” to “What is the value of getting this communication right?”
That doesn’t mean every important presentation requires an external coach. It means the level of investment should reflect the importance of the outcome and the capability required to achieve it.
Selecting the right presentation skills training provider
Bringing in external expertise only adds value if you choose the right expertise.
Look beyond an impressive client list or an off-the-shelf training agenda. A strong external partner should take time to understand your organisation, audience and capability gaps before recommending a solution. Programs should be tailored to the people taking part, with enough coached practice and individual feedback to translate learning into behaviour.
Experience matters too, particularly when you’re developing senior leaders. Coaching an executive preparing for a Board presentation requires a very different level of credibility, judgement and challenge from delivering foundational presentation skills.
For larger organisations, it’s also worth looking for evidence that a provider can deliver consistently across teams, functions, and locations without losing the quality or personalisation that led you to choose specialist support in the first place.
Ultimately, you’re not simply buying a training program. You’re choosing a partner you trust to change how your people communicate when it matters most.
Building a Blended Training Strategy
The most effective approach to presentation and communication development is often not exclusively internal or external. It’s a combination of both.
External specialists can bring deep expertise, proven methodologies, objective feedback and intensive coaching. Internal L&D teams bring something equally valuable: an understanding of the organisation and the ability to reinforce and extend newly developed skills long after the formal training has finished.
The strongest training strategy doesn’t choose between internal and external expertise. It connects them.
At SecondNature, one of the first things we ask when working with a new client is what learning and development is already happening internally. We want to understand the frameworks, language and development programs people are already familiar with, not because we’re looking to replace them, but because wherever possible, we want to reinforce them.
If an organisation has already invested in developing its people, adding another completely separate methodology can create confusion rather than build capability. When external training complements existing development, however, each can make the other more effective.
The goal isn’t to add more training. It’s to make the training you already provide work harder. Make the Whole Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
There are several practical ways to connect internal and external development.
Shared language and frameworks are a good starting point. External specialists can align their approach with existing leadership, communication, or performance frameworks so that employees see connections across different areas of their development rather than a series of unrelated training programs.
Internal teams can then reinforce the learning through follow-up sessions, manager conversations, peer practice and creating opportunities to apply new skills in real situations. For individuals with more complex development needs, particularly senior leaders or those preparing for high-stakes settings, targeted one-to-one external coaching can complement that broader internal support.
This creates a useful division of strengths: external specialists can accelerate capability; internal teams can help make it stick.
Which Approach Does This Training Need?
Rather than making a single decision about how your organisation delivers presentation training, it may be more useful to decide on a need-by-need basis.
Four questions provide a simple starting point:
1. What business outcome are we trying to achieve?
Are you building general communication capability, or preparing people for an outcome where the quality of their communication could materially affect the result?
2. Who is the audience for the development?
A large group learning foundational skills may require a very different approach than one for a senior executive who needs highly individualised feedback and coaching.
3. How quickly does capability need to improve?
If there’s an important pitch, Board meeting, leadership event or change program approaching, you may not have the luxury of developing expertise gradually.
4. Do we have the capacity and specialist expertise internally?
Consider both. Your team may have the expertise but not the time to deliver the training, or they may have the time but lack the specialist knowledge the situation requires. The answers don’t necessarily lead to a choice between internal and external provision. In many cases, they’ll point towards a combination of the two.
Because ultimately, the best training strategy isn’t determined by who delivers the learning. It’s determined by what gives people the best chance of changing their behaviour and sustaining that change when they’re back at work.
The Right Expertise, at the Right Time
Choosing between internal training and external presentation coaching doesn’t need to be an either/or decision.
Internal L&D teams bring invaluable knowledge of your organisation, its people and its culture.
External specialists bring deep subject-matter expertise, an objective perspective, and the ability to provide candid, highly targeted coaching that can be particularly valuable when the audience is senior, the challenge is complex, or the outcome really matters to the bottom line.
So before deciding whether to keep development in-house or bring in specialist support, consider the outcome you’re trying to achieve, the people you’re developing, the level of expertise required and the resources you already have available.
Sometimes your internal team will be exactly what you need. Sometimes an external specialist will add greater value. And sometimes the smartest answer will be both.
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If you’re considering where external presentation coaching could strengthen your existing L&D strategy, why not speak with one of our consultants? We can help you identify where specialist support will add the most value and develop a tailored program that reinforces your corporate strategy and goals, while complementing what you’re already doing internally.
At SecondNature Australia, we specialise in developing tailored programs that help professionals of all levels become engaging, compelling, authentic communicators; whether they’re pitching to clients, presenting to stakeholders, leading hybrid teams, or just starting out in their careers. Our tailored training programs are practical, proven, and designed to suit your people, your industry, and your specific goals.
So, if you need to compare presentation skills training providers, get in touch. Our team can walk you through program options, customisation pathways and real case results from Australian organisations.
For nearly 20 years, we’ve been known as Australia’s Business Presentation Skills Training Experts, transforming the communication and presentation success of thousands of people in an A-Z of global and local organisations – check out what they say about our programs.
