From easyJet to Speak Like a CEO: Oliver Aust on the Art of Persuasive Communication

When Oliver Aust joined EasyJet in the early 2000s, the company was a challenger brand shaking up European aviation. “The challenge was to convince people that this is a new, better way of flying,” he tells me. Competing with giants like Lufthansa and Air France meant not just selling cheaper tickets, but changing how people thought about air travel.

“It was rough and tumble,” Oliver recalls. “I got so much responsibility in my twenties, it was crazy. But I thrived on that.” On day one his boss gave him a lesson he still uses: “You work for a low-cost airline. That means you have to say no to pretty much everything.” It forced clarity and focus, the ability to communicate a simple message across 30 countries.

Fighting the incumbent

EasyJet’s success was not built on blending in. “We borrowed from the Richard Branson playbook,” Oliver says. “You tackle the incumbent, you make it clear to the customer that you are on their side.” That mindset fuelled some dramatic moments.

He tells the story of trying to open the Milan to Sardinia route, only for the Italian government to block it using an exemption intended for remote islands. EasyJet pushed back in public, offered free flights, and held impromptu press conferences in Olbia and Milan. The EU later stepped in. “It was nerve-racking, but it showed how creativity and communication can win public support.” 

Pitching as a conversation

“A pitch is a conversation between two people on a mission. The question is: do our missions align?” 

For Oliver, great pitching is rarely about slick decks or memorised scripts. “Most of the time, it is human to human,” he says. That mindset underpinned one of his favourite easyJet moments during the 2010 volcanic ash crisis, when flights were grounded across Europe and summer bookings froze. 

The team created the “ash radar” concept and brought a jar of volcanic ash to the press conference so journalists could see and touch it. “We showed why ash was dangerous and how we could avoid it. It was reported everywhere and got people flying again.” The lesson: even in boardrooms, props and creativity cut through. “People are sick of death by PowerPoint. They want rock stars, not robots.” 

From PowerPoint to purpose

Today, through Speak Like a CEO, Oliver teaches leaders to prioritise story and structure over jargon. “The industrial-age idea that being robotic and jargon-laden makes you convincing might have worked in the 20th century. With modern audiences, good luck.” He suggests choosing between a “Sledgehammer” opening for urgency and an “Ice Cream Cone” opening for warmth, then building with a clear, audience-appropriate structure. 

Struggling to find stories? Become a story collector. “It is difficult to come up with stories on the spot,” he admits. “Collect them from books, clients, everyday life. Keep a list. Then, when you need one, it is there.” Sports, history, Aesop’s fables, and Greek myth all work, provided the moral aligns with your message. 

The compass: be cool, be helpful, be flexible

At the heart of Oliver’s philosophy is a simple compass: be cool, be helpful, be flexible. “Neediness is off-putting,” he says. Be calmly confident, not desperate. Then help. “Everyone wants to be helped. No one wants to be sold to.” In sales calls he avoids scripts, fixes real problems in real time, and lets prospects experience his value. Finally, be flexible. Expect things to go wrong and let that pressure make you stronger. :

The 10 percent rule

Studies show that most of what we say will be forgotten within a week. Oliver’s remedy is to “control the ten percent.” Decide, in advance, the one thing you want remembered, then design everything to support it. Build talks that can flex from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. If your slot is cut, you already know what matters. “Your headline is your message. Not ‘Q3 Update’, but ‘Q3 on Track’.” 

Dealing with nerves

Public speaking fear is almost universal. Oliver’s method is BMW: Body, Mind, Words. Start with the body. Breathe properly, sigh, move, and reset your nervous system. Then address the mind by reframing nervousness as excitement. Finally, focus on the words. Prepare, practise, and know what you want to say. The sequence matters. Breathing influences heart rate, which calms the body before the mind catches up.

Owning the moment

When things do go wrong, recovery is what counts. Oliver laughs about fumbling cue cards during a crisis talk while holding a handheld mic. “It felt like a car crash.” He ditched cue cards and doubled down on structure. Simplicity creates confidence.

In the end, this episode reinforces a clear message. Pitching is not about selling, it is about connecting. As Oliver puts it: “Be cool, be helpful, be flexible. If you use that as your compass, you are already ahead of 99.9% of people.”

To find out more about the Speak Like A CEO Academy, podcast or books, visit Oliver’s website and become a top 1% communicator. 

You can also find Oliver on Linkedin here.