Jeremy Connell-Waite, Master of communications at IBM and all round inspiring bloke

When I joined IBM in 2018, it wasn’t long before I started hearing the name ‘Jeremy Connell-Waite’. I was trying to find my own feet in a huge organisation and working with teams to inject storytelling and communication techniques into their pitches – and every time I met someone new, they’d ask me, “do you know Jeremy?”

I needed to meet this guy. I’d been pitching for several years at various digital agencies, and I was curious to meet the man whose name echoed down the corridors of IBM Southbank. I thought I was good, but here was a man who had captured the hearts and minds of anyone who had come into his path. I don’t mind telling you that when I did meet him in person, I was quickly humbled by his vast knowledge and passion for the art of powerful communications. Every framework and speaker that I knew, he’d studied and learned more. For every topic about pitching I had studied, he could expand on ten-fold. This is a guy who lives, breathes and s**** communication. 

Over the last few years, I’ve learned an immeasurable amount from Jeremy. He introduced me to Brené Brown and Nancy Duarte, taught me the art of ikigai and visual storytelling, and opened up a Pandora’s box of research into the great speeches of all time and the analysis surrounding them. 

I still get asked daily if I know Jeremy Connell-Waite, and I beam with pride when he tells me that he’s started to get asked, “do you know Danny Fontaine?”

This podcast episode of Pitch Masters is a little longer than the rest, purely because when we get together, we end up in full ‘geek mode’. Our podcast session was over 2 hours originally, but I’ve edited it down to a solid 1hr 19minutes, packed full of practical advice that will help anyone in their journey to becoming a master communicator. Jeremy was also kind enough to tell me his moving story about how the trauma of having premature twins led him to seek a career at IBM – you don’t want to miss this.

If you don’t already, I highly recommend you follow Jeremy on Linkedin and watch his regular and insightful videos into the art of storytelling, presenting, speeches, and being a master communicator.