Pitching and Leadership Communication
Your work with our companies was awesome! There is nothing I would change! Fabulous! Thank you so much!
—Olha Sytnychenko, Head of International Relations, Ukrainian IT Association
Annette is a rock star. She taught our companies to present themselves as leaders in their fields - in two sessions. Annette’s work goes far beyond communication training. Although we hired Annette teach pitching — and the result was powerful and authentic to each individual -- our companies learned to use their communication outputs as assessment tools to test and iterate their pitches until they were perfect for any situation.
The process not only gives them the tools to for sustainable communication strategies throughout their careers but it also can be applied beyond pitching. As Annette says, the goal is to know how to start a conversation that (any) listeners want to continue. This is important in any context, and particularly for our female cohort. Annette also has a large network and is generous with introductions. I would recommend Annette without any reservation.
—Lana Hersak, Accelerator Lead, London Small Business Centre, NWES
I can recommend Annette without reservation — I have worked with Annette for over 4 years now, since launching my first accelerator programme. She has the expertise to prepare entrepreneurs deliver confidently and professionally and also the content investors need to hear. She helps them how to think, not just get an output – which lasts for the lifetime.
— Jon Bradford, Managing Director, TechStars London
I asked Annette to speak at the recent iCANny Entrepreneurs Breakfast Forum about developing one’s presentation skills. Annette spoke to an assembled group and those on our webcast via Skype from her London office – despite the distance, her charisma gave us a sense she was in the room with us.
As always Annette was energetic, informative, to the point and provided information that was very well delivered and received. We would not hesitate to ask Annette to appear again in the near future so that our audiences can benefit from her vast experience, knowledge and enthusiasm. Great job and thanks.
— Les Neumann, Managing Director, Hudson Valley Center for Innovation
Annette is the obvious choice for pitch training – her work at the Global Entrepreneur Festival gave entrepreneurs from around the world a great sense of what they need to do to make their pitches concise and persuasive. The feedback from them was 100% and I would recommend her without reservation.
— Andrew Humphries, Founder, The Bakery Accelerator and UK Government Tech City Consultant
Annette has the gift of synthesis — getting to the root of service value. She also has the keen strength of translating service value into bold, confident and differentiating statements that can often mean the difference between landing a piece of business or not. Equally important is Annette’s expertise in organizing key statements in a ‘story worth listening to’ presentation architecture — a significant ‘light bulb’ outcome.
Annette has a refreshing process that begins generating tangible results right at the start. Razor sharp listening, posing thought provoking questions, getting to the value root, guiding the crafting of differentiating value statements, architecting them into a persuasive story, and motivating accountability to follow-through in application are her process. Her process is simply smart! The bonus is that Annette is also a pure pleasure to work with. So, not only is she a fun, smart guide, she is also easy to engage across resource area leaders to assure a consistent persuasion standard and lexicon is reached and sustained
— Loreen Babcock, CEO, Idevoita, Omnicom Agency
Annette is a masterful pitch coach with young entrepreneurs, and we are lucky to have had her time at WAYRA. Her direct approach allowed her to collaborate with each company to find a shape and voice for each pitch to bring out unique strengths of each participant. This she did within a structure that was sure to grab the attention of investors.
Annette’s called the Rolls Royce of pitch coaches, and it’s absolutely true.
— Adah Parris, FRSA, WAYRA Tech Accelerator, Telefonika
Thank you for taking time to work with me and my team! Your (kind) reflection on (what I now see as as an) attitude problem was very perceptive and little bit shocking. I think that it developed my personality a lot.
The UK (Gov’t) has asked for a presentation on e-government in the end of July. I hope to get (my communication) more balanced and to develop some respect and compassion towards politicians. I (will remind myself of) talks with Sir Francis Maude — He is one politician I truly respect.
I will be very happy to see you again. What will be the next hard lesson? Thank you again for your intelligence and focus!
— Jaan Priisalu, Director General, Estonian Information Systems Authority
I have worked with Annette on numerous occasions in my role within Sun and now Oracle. I have found her coaching not only crucial for myself, but I have also seen the impact and difference it has made for C-level people within the business community within which we work.
Annette has inspired business owners and managers to drive to increase sales. She’s also helped them become significant spokespeople for their organisations.
Without reservation, I would whole-heartedly recommend Annette to coach and train executives, managers, and companies.
— Stewart Townsend, Business Development, Enterprise 2.0 EMEA, Oracle Corporation
Indeed a pleasure to meet you and see you in action as the Pitch Doctor yesterday. It was an extremely positive, vibrant and useful session . . .We would love to have you back again in Chennai and often!
— Vimal Subramanian, British Deputy High Commission, Chennai, India
It was my pleasure to meet with Annette in her capacity as a business mentor when she recently gave me advice on developing my pitching skills. Annette is a highly focused and professional person with creative thought processes, a highly developed sense of purpose and tremendous focus. In my first afternoon with her, Annette helped me to hold a mirror up to myself and to externalise in order to hone my presentation skills further. I have no hesitation in recommending Annette to anyone in business who wishes to improve their presentation skills by seeing their pitch from the audiences point of view. Her succinct and incisive advice is like the distillation of 100 business books and she really knows how to get you on message.
— Matthew Brennan, Sales Manager, Qube Managed Services Limited
Annette was our secret weapon for our Demo Day at Springboard London. We needed to pitch in front of 130 investors in London, New York and in the Silicon Valley. She helped us to craft our message, to get it into our heads and to become so confident on stage we were really able to impress our audience. Annette is the Porsche of Pitch / Presentation / Storytelling coaches and a must investment for any startup.
— Marc Maleika, Founder, Blastboard
Annette put together a great rehearsal programme for our young social entrepreneurs who were pitching for a $100k prize in our 3d4d Challenge. In the space of one day she really got them to ‘up their game’ and they all delivered focused and sharp presentations on the day which helped them all to achieve a professional edge.
— William Hoyle, Director, TechForTrade
It was a pleasure to work with Annette at the Google Campus event, I found her comments and advice on pitching to be extremely useful, and it allowed me to rethink my marketing material as well. I hope to attend a much longer session in the future and think UKTI should provide Annette’s help on a regular basis. All small businesses could get great benefit.
— Ben McNeill, Director, NEXI Internet Television Ltd
Watching Annette at work with our Masters students in Enterprise Development was a real treat! She creates a challenging and stimulating atmosphere in which workshop participants thrive. She makes them learn amazing skills in an incredibly supportive manner and they progress really fast. She is a great success with our students, and staff, and we are planning for her to come a lot more next year!
— Dr Nathalie Mitev, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management, London School of Economics
Having seen the excellent quality pitches at Microsoft Bizspark and TheNextWomen events, it’s clear that Annette’s reputation as a presentation–guru is well founded.
— Gregory Kris, Investor
Annette’s coaching of this year’s Seedcamp finalists prior to the start of Seedcamp week proved invaluable in focusing the presenters on how to make the most of their pitch. With 22 companies from all over Europe presenting on the first day of Seedcamp the need to engage and communicate their business proposition effectively with the investor audience was absolutely key. Annette was extremely insightful in her comments and advice and with her very supportive style she succeeded in achieving excellent results for the participating companies.
— Rosemary Forsyth, investor in The London SeedCamp and Founder of The Forsyth Group, UK
Annette helped 7 start-ups and SMEs on UCL’s HELO business support programme create, edit or perfect their pitches for investment. With very little advanced knowledge of the companies, Annette gave insightful, targeted advice, and the beneficiaries have all raved about how great she was!
— Ruth Hou, SMILE Project Manager, UCL Advances at University College London
Annette is a fantastic pitch trainer. She has provided me with valuable insight and training through UKTI. Annette is a great judge of character and instantly tailors her training towards your style – she knows that some people thrive on jumping up and down and shouting words, and others (like me!) prefer a more one to one approach with measured constructive criticism. Even when making you try out new things in front of an audience you always feel at ease. The training that I received from Annette was highly valuable and I would recommend it to all entrepreneurs.
— Jenny Griffiths OBE, CEO Snap Fashion
I was lucky to work with Annette at UCL when she advised us on our investor pitch. Annette’s feedback was detailed and right on, and she was very creative in helping us tell our story effectively. A bonus – Annette was also generous with her wide range of contacts. Very valuable! I’d definitely work with her again.
— Michael Amadé Langguth, Poq Studios, UCL Advances at University College London
I was getting ready to pitch for investment for my startup and attended a workshop run by Annette Kramer. I was impressed with her energy and the content provided was perfect. Annette will show you how to make your pitch stand out to investors, no matter where you are in your pitch development.
— Joe Senoga, Founder, Fumbe Media
Annette is an expert at what she does, particularly in a workshop situation. She knows how to make a room of learners feel comfortable developing long-held ideas and gets to the point without wasting time. In a morning, Annette’s direct, energetic style and focus on involved learning enabled me to walk away feeling much better equipped to handle investor pitches.
— Nassar Hayat, Co-Founder, Driive
Annette Kramer ran a ‘Presentation Masterclass’ at our recent workshop on entrepreneurship for technology researchers. It was the most popular event of the day, with participants writing to say how valuable they found Annette’s step-by-step guidance based on ‘learning by doing’.
Annette is an engaging, expert and charismatic facilitator who knows how to bring the best out of even the most reticent individuals. I highly recommend her.
— Dr George Whale, European Centre of Excellence in Media Computing & Communication, Queen Mary, University of London
I worked with Annette on a techfortrade competition in social enterprise. Annette was very effective at collaborating with participants to re-frame their business propositions and pitches. I’d recommend her without reservation.
— Rosie Wilson, Project Manager, techfortrade
I was fortunate to work with Annette who helped me and 6 other teams form a pitch for an international competition. In just one day Annette was able to understand each of our complex cases and tune them into focused and concise presentations. Annette’s straight forward, energetic approach was refreshing and there is no doubt in my mind that if the pitch really matters then Annette’s mastery of communication is a must, even if you are already experienced in presenting.
— Tom Fripp, CEO Fripp Design, techfortrade contestant
Annette is a true expert in her field, and I recommend her if you are considering entering the UK or US markets. Thanks to the work with Annette, the panel at our conference delivered something that was thought to be impossible to make clear for a mixed audience in 45 minutes.
Seeing the difference between the original presentations and their final talks was truly amazing. Annette is very good at seeing information and the way it’s delivered from the audience’s perspective. She helped our panel coordinate three separate messages into a single engaging story with effective body language and storytelling style. The audience listened intently.
Annette is also excellent at correcting presenters in their English to get the message across in a brief but clear way. She tells it like it is, and she’s fun to work with.
— Annely Lautre, Head of Inward Investment (Baltics), United Kingdom Trade and Investment
I had the pleasure to work with Annette for a session of pitch coaching. Without reservation I recommend Annette to coach and train executives, managers, and companies!!
— Oded Volovitz, CEO and Founder, CallApp, Tel Aviv, Israel
Annette is tremendously talented at what she does – you couldn’t find anyone better. She worked with Teddle only three times, and I highly doubt we would have achieved the same results without Annette’s help. Annette has high energy and passion for what she does whih helped the team to present a killer pitch to an audience of over 200 investors. Highly recommended!
— Alexandra Depledge, Co-Founder, Teddle
It was such a lovely experience of meeting you on the entrepreneur festival. Your training was truly inspiring. Thanks for the advice in helping me finding a mentor. It worked!
— Becky Yuanzheng Cai, Participant at UKTI International Entrepreneur Festival, Manchester
I recently had the opportunity to attend a business pitching masterclass which Annette ran for TechCity, and found it hugely rewarding and enjoyable.
Annette is particularly talented at providing clear, constructive advice in an uplifting and encouraging way. Her style is energetic and positive, so that although my pitch was thoroughly dissected, I came away feeling even more charged up and confident than I’d gone in. I know my pitch has been greatly improved by her feedback and a lot of the advice will also be helpful for other projects in future.
— Christopher Sutton, Director, Easy Ear Training
After Annette helped us work on our presentations directed at advertising executives, our pitch ended up 10 times better than when we started. We learned a great deal from Annette and are looking forward to another training session. If anyone is considering hiring Anette for presentation help and engaging people through conversation… do it!
— Olly Wood, Art Director, School of Communication Arts 2.0
Annette is the only help you’ll ever need to reframe your message to persuade clients, investors, new markets – anyone – to engage with your business. She helped us craft and deliver our pitch perfectly as a result we developed huge interest in our product!
— Richard Waldron, Co-Founder / CEO, Tray.io
Just a quick note to say thanks so much for your support in helping the start-ups hone and perfect their pitches during the BizSpark Summit last week. Look forward to working together with you again!
— Bindi Karia, VC/Emerging Business Lead, Microsoft
Thank you so much for your help this week.
It is so helpful to practice a pitch to someone who is not focusing on the content but rather on the overall quality of the presentation and the presenter. After all, winning presentations are all about self-marketing. It’s why my pitch went so smoothly – it will be even better next time.
— Microsoft BizSpark Winner, Christian Steiner, Siondo
Thank you, Annette. You encouraged me to do a pitch when I felt that I wasn’t up for the task. During the training session you were enthusiastic and made alterations that gave me confidence and made me better able engage with the audience.
— Microsoft BizSpark Contestant, Tom Kinniburgh, Pock.it Ltd
Annette gave me fantastic coaching advice and support when I had to give the graduation speech at my old school’s speech day. As a result, I ended up with compliments from both pupils and parents.
— Robert Sansom, Founder, Cambridge Angels
As a mentor on The Difference Engine’s start up programme I met and assessed all the ventures soon after they had arrived in the North East to work with Jon Bradford and his team. Twelve weeks later I was able to see them again at the completion of their accelerator programme at the demo day in London to potential investors.
The progress the entrepreneurs made during that short time impressed me. One thing that was evident was the clarity and focus of the communication of their proposition, and without exception for both the UK and also foreign companies (from Lithuania and Estonia) I witnessed dramatic improvement.
I spoke with several of these companies and they explained that their coaching with Annette Kramer had been a great asset to them and had helped them craft their message and give them positivity and confidence in presenting their ventures to investors.
Based on these tangible results Annette is clearly someone who can add tremendous value to early stage ventures and entrepreneurs both UK and especially cross-culturally.
— Tony Kypreos, UK Digital & Mobile Entrepreneur
I will not forget Annette’s training for companies at The Estonian Development Fund earlier this year. In particular, I was amazed at the way she helped executives understand how to engage and persuade business listeners with just the right story. The companies will also remember Annette as being very helpful in the fundraising effort that came directly after.
— Andrus Oks, Arengufond Estonian Development Fund
I delivered a Springboard 2011 tech demo and pitch to ovations. Many people congratulated me on a great presentation, and some even compared me to Steve Jobs.
I was smiling through it all, knowing that 4 weeks earlier, my presentation was a total mess.
Annette was critical in turning my pitch around into a publicly digestible, succinct, impactful presentation. She found great punch lines, changed the structure, and helped me view my presentation with the eyes of my audience.
Whenever I can, I will try to work with Annette again. So should you!
— Springboard (Cambridge Angels Incubator at Cambridge University) Participant, Jakub Nesetril, Founder, apiary.io
I worked with Annette while at Springboard, where she was brought in as a fabulous pitching coach for our startup companies. Annette has a terrific ability to explain complex concepts in plain English, an invaluable skill for our tech companies struggling to be understood. She transforms facts into stories, nervous energy into enthusiasm, and has a magical way of making things more interesting/compelling.
Annette is great at working with a variety of individuals to draw out their own personal strengths, not expecting anyone to fit a template, and bringing their presentations to life with the right mix of confidence and story-teling. I was actually so impressed with her I wrote a blog all about our first day with Annette and would absolutely recommend her for key presentations. Looking forward to working together again!
— Jessica Williamson, Manager, Springboard/TechStars Incubator
Great results, personable, high integrity – what else can I say? I had the pleasure of dealing with Annette as my presentation coach during the Springboard Accelerator programme. With just a few sessions she completely transformed my presentation style and instilled me with confidence leading to a successful presentation in front of 100+ people. Thanks Annette!
— Springboard (Cambridge Angels Incubator at Cambridge University) Participant, Julian Keenaghan, Co-Founder, Tastebuds.fm
Annette worked with the ten startup companies on our Springboard venture accelerator program to prepare us for the final Pitch Day: a session in front of well over 100 investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs. Although I wasn’t the member of our team who actually gave the pitch, I had a unique vantage point from which to watch her transform our wobbly, wandering, waffling presentations into the final result: pitches that were powerful, clear, concise, and to the point. Many of the attendees of the day said it was the best collection of start-up pitches they had ever heard, and I know this was in no small measure due to Annette’s superb coaching of the presenters.
— Springboard (Cambridge Angels Incubator at Cambridge University) Participant, Kaila Colbin, Co-Founder at Falcon Training and Chief Marketing Officer at MiniMonos.com
Annette worked with me to shape up my presenting skills for an investor/demo day as part of Springboard. She managed to completely turn my presenting around in 4 weeks and not only for the day, but helped me realise how I could make a bigger impact and do a stronger presentation, which I will use every time I need to prep for a presentation again. I cannot recommend Annette more and would definitely work with her again in the future!
— Springboard (Cambridge Angels Incubator at Cambridge University) Participant, Jude Ower, CEO, The Play Mob
It was a tremendous pleasure working with Annette and the benefits will extend into future work I do in pitching.
— Springboard (Cambridge Angels Incubator at Cambridge University) Participant, Egidijus Jarašūnas, Co-founder & COO, Adwings
Annette’s pitch advice worked wonders – I got through to the final of the Young Entrepreneur’s Festival and got lots of compliments on my pitch. Thanks for your help!
— Young Entrepreneur Festival 2012 Finalist, Kieran Dowling, Founder, The Contract Hub
Wow, wow, wow – Can’t say thank you enough to Annette. I worked with Annette as part of the start-up accelerator programme The Difference Engine where she helped me prepare our pitches to the Venture Capitalists.
Annette’s assistance and style was completely different to the other coaches and mentors who helped us on the programme. Rather than focusing on the technical details of our product or the actual content within our pitch, she focused on HOW were engaging with the audience and HOW we could emotionally connect with them. When written down it sounds so simple (tell a story, plant feet the floor, give eye contact etc…) but for a techie start-up founder these are the very points that you forget in the haste to talk about your “cool technology”.
I’d have no hesitation in recommending Annette and I know that my company (CANDDi) wouldn’t be where it is today without her help and assistance. Thank you!
— Tim Langley, CEO, CANDDi
Annette was coaching us for presentations at the Difference Engine and her help and direction was very valuable to us. She helped to focus on telling a compelling and engaging story (instead of giving a set of facts and industry buzzwords), communicating with the audience, and noting all non-verbal aspects of the delivery, which was extremely helpful in preparing for the final presentation. I would definitely recommend Annette for anyone planning to deliver a presentation – thank you!
— Dalia Lašaitė, Co-founder at Geogoer Ltd, UK
Annette is a presentation coach par excellence. As simply as that. I feel that thanks to her contribution we won the PitchSlam in Tallinn, Estonia and made it to the Innovate!100’s list of 100 World’s Most Promising Tech Startups. Highly recommended!
— Kalju Rüütli, Now Innovations
Annette provided clear, incisive commentary on pitching and company presentation. Great feedback for startups looking to improve their pitches (and pitching skills).
— Adam Martin, Founder, Red Glasses
Annette can help you turn your current presentation (from simply narrating your Powerpoint slides) into engaging and unforgettable performance. Highly recommend.
— Raoul Jarvis, Founder and CEO of TaxiPal, Founder and CEO of T+1 Solutions, Tallin, Estonia
Annette is an excellent teacher on how to perform in public. She is also great and working with her is a lot of fun.
— Tõnis Saag, CEO, OÜ Sportlyzer, Tallin, Estonia
Annette, it was my honor to meet you and to enjoy you training. It was very important for the Estonian entrepreneurs to participate as well, and they gained much valuable knowledge that will benefit them in the future.
There is no one like you in Estonia who can rock people into shape with their positive and enthusiastic attitude and know-how. I want to encourage you to keep coming back. You are so great at what you do!
— Pille Lodi, JCI ECM 2011, Director, Board Assistant at the Estonian Development Fund, Tallin, Estonia
I would like to thoroughly recommend Annette. She has real integrity and honesty that is rare in the market place. There is a strong dynamism, creativity and determination to succeed. Annette has a quality ethic and hence will actively wish to seek continual improvement in what she does. She also displays strong leadership and inspires those around her. I have joined Linkedin, as recommended by a number of colleagues, most notably Annette Kramer, who is a model for us all!
— Peter Frost, Educational Consultant, Frost Ed, UK
Annette is a person to whom I owe Fits.me’s winning the recent Hottest European Web Technology Award, in Brussels, at Plugg.eu, and frankly, the person to whom I owe our two successful rounds of funding. Our background is biorobotics, but being hot is not enough for success – we needed great advice on how to engage client interest and investment. Annette is also why we won a spot to launch at The Next Web in Amsterdam. The Next Web and Plugg are both among the three largest web tech events. Last year we raised EUR 1.3M, and this year another 1.3M, and we couldn’t have done it without Annette.
Annette also trained Fits.me people to do sales calls, how to handle those stonewalling front desks, how to get the message through. The calls after she had finished were amazing – instant success!
— Heikki Haldre, Fits.me
Annette is an excellent presentation coach. She is able to successfully engage you to bring out the best in you, whilst teaching you those vital tricks to stop those often unconscious and unhelpful habits we all possess that can have a negative affect on a pitch.
With her drama background, Annette is able to bring out the best in your personality to put ‘on show’.
I met Annette as she coached a group of ‘pitching entrepreneurs’ at TheNextWomen Pitching & Funding event, and without her help, I don’t think any of us would have done so well.
Annette is such a pleasure to spend time with.
I highly recommend that you hire Annette. Should you be a ‘large corporation’ needing to take your key employees to the next level of presentation skills. Or be a ‘recruitment agency’ looking to give your candidates the edge in landing a role in these competitive times. Or be an ‘individual’ who wants to learn how to better improve your success rate with pitching tactics…Annette Kramer is your woman!
— TheNextWoman.com Pitching Contest Runner Up, Raquel Dobson, Digital and Broadcast Media Executive (Advisory Capacity) and Founder of iCreate–Style
Thank you very much again for your help during Seedcamp. Having never given a presentation like that it was great to have such sage feedback!
With your help, I changed the presentation again from Monday and I think it was more expressive, had to wait for the audience to stop laughing (!) and the end was more in line with my dramatic side!
Undoubtedly your feedback and encouragement helped me personally and I am very grateful for that.
— London SeedCamp Winner of trip to NY and Silicon Valley, Jonathan Shrago, Advertag
Annette is perceptive and fast both at media training and coaching for investors: she quickly pointed out improvements I needed to make and then patiently taught me how to make these improvements.
I could tell that she does this all the time with lots of professionals, but that she also gives tailored advice for each person. Winning teaching time with her was a brilliant part of the Seedcamp prize.
— London SeedCamp Contestant, Dr Mohammad Al–Ubaydli, CEO, Patients Know Best; Honorary Senior Research Associate, UCL Medical School
Wanted to give you a special “Thank you!” for your help on my presentation skills last week. You truly helped me and elevated my level!
— London SeedCamp Contestant, Dirk Stevens, Wondergraphs
The training sessions with Annette helped us a lot to improve our pitches and make them more professional. She furthermore gave brilliant advice with regards to content and strategy of our presentations. Annette, thank you for the brilliant help and support.
— London SeedCamp Contestant, Christoph Leva, Petsicon
I want to thank you for the coaching and your help during Seedcamp week. It was a great, insightful and fun.
— London SeedCamp Contestant, Itamar Lesuisse, Kukunu.com
Just wanted to personally thank you for the feedback you gave on my presentation the other day. It was very helpful and I’ve become much more aware of my presence on stage now!
— London SeedCamp Contestant, Ari Helgeson, World on a Hanger
Dealing with Annette was a refreshing change! She pushed, shaped and created in the most practical fashion; helping us to get right to the point of what was important and helping us translate that into a clear objectives that really can be achieved.
— Astia London Contestant, Fiona Hills, Head of Sales and Marketing, ItsACareerThing.com
Maelo has an interview this Friday. What you did with her raised her self-esteem and seemed to open a floodgate within her. Thank you so much.
— Jane Chelliah-Manning, Mother of an interviewing student
I have worked with Annette for several years in a variety of roles. I’ve never met anyone who so consistently strikes the right note in her business dealings. A natural communicator, she cuts through the waffle and presents important points clearly and accurately, and in a truly engaging way. When faced with difficult situations, she finds creative solutions with ease and enthusiasm.
Annette is an amazing business consultant, mentor and advisor, enabling colleagues to make the most of their own talents, as well as instilling confidence in potential clients. Personally, Annette is a pleasure to work with and an invaluable member of any team. I would be delighted to work with her whenever possible. I recommend Annette wholeheartedly and know she will excel at any project she’s given, regardless of the industry or challenge.
— Pippa Salmon, Consultant at Fits.me
Consulting for Business Growth
Annette has talent and style. We combined in providing advice to a leading consultancy firm on how to build performance management systems which properly engage staff and stakeholders.
I used my recent data experience at the heart of government, but Annette made the project come alive by giving the work a strong people dimension too. Not many people can combine the two realms, but that’s just one of Annette’s strengths. She’s up-to-date, she’s smart as hell and she works hard to get things right.
Add to that, the fact that she’s honest and straight-talking, but diplomatic when she needs to be, and you’ve just about got her.
What surprised me was that she was also, quietly but very effectively, coaching me so that we got more out of the consultancy, both for our customer and for ourselves. I have never met a coach who could touch her for her insights into people and situations. And work was fun, which matters a lot more than people ever think.
— Ralph Tabberer CBE, former Head of Schools, UK Department of Children, Families and Education
Annette is a very creative and hard working professional. Her intelligence, combined with her drive, often enable her to approach issues in a non-conventional, yet highly effective manner. Intellectually, Annette is a highly versatile thinker which serves her clients well in a diverse array on consulting settings.
— Steven Einstein, Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Greater New York City Area Industry, Investment Banking
Annette Kramer is a versatile and skilled, whip-smart professional. She can do marketing and any kind of writing at all, including specialized or genre writing. She is great at formulating the template or style guide, as well as composing it or collaborating to make it happen. Annette also excels at relationship development, and performance coaching; ie, when clients show Annette their planned presentations, she either fixes or enhances them beyond their original expectations.
With her “Big 6” experience as well as her academic and performance training, Annette brings to clients a keen mind that sees the core issues immediately and then can translate them for any audience. When I get stumped on how to express or relate an issue, I turn to Annette. There are few people more qualified than Annette Kramer to grasp the concept and turn it into an actionable document, presentation, or project.
— Dean Landsman, Owner, Landsman Communications Group. USA
Performance is not all about the dramatics of the liberal arts. It is the very heart and soul of designing business communications to win the game. Thanks to Annette Kramer, business and performance advisor.
— Emma Gilding, President, In:site DAS Omnicom, USA
Annette advised our management team for two years. She was the key person responsible for keeping us on track with strategy regarding hiring, with approaching new clients, and with communications. It’s a pleasure to work with Annette – she has an amazing ability to engage people across cultures, and she has a unrivaled touch of understanding people and organisations and tailoring to their needs. Annette has a tremendously diverse and high-level network that has benefited the company enormously.
— Diana Saarva, COO, Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room (Exited to Rakuten, with Annette as the CEO’s consigliere)
Annette's gift is that she helps companies effectively sharpen their business thinking by teaching skills they use for the life of their businesses. She asks tough questions, and with equally "tough love", collaborates with each company until they've together discovered the best, true story with which to approach investors and clients.
The results are not just cosmetic - Annette gets consistently top reviews because companies come out of workshops understanding where to focus and how to communicate.
I can recommend Annette personally as well because she has worked with our team on branding strategy. She's got an efficient, honest way of helping clients see new perspectives which is difficult when you're working day-to-day. I recommend Annette without reservation. Additionally Anette has proved to be very good at advising on how to prepare a go-to-market strategy particularly at a brand and communication level.
—Carly Newman, IDEALondon, UCL marketing manager
Annette is a powerhouse and an inspiration. We at Via Facillis are eternally grateful for the work she did in in establishing, building and leading the business in its first two years. Our programme, which continues to run, is possible because Annette found the opportunity from America, took an innovative concept, using Latin to improve literacy in state primary schools, developed the idea and sold it tens of London primary schools (thirteen within the first four months of operation).
Despite not being familiar with the school system in the UK — and knowing nothing about Latin when she began — Annette found the right people with experience of the system, recruited a crew of elite teachers and a management team that has helped the organisation to deliver our programme to tens of thousands of children over the years. Annette is also significant in my journey, as she first encouraged me to bring my experience as a musician and rapper into the programme which has proved successful and inspired my start up (Rapteach). She is somebody whose business development skills, analysis and strategic thinking, I wholeheartedly endorse. She is super easy to work, brings people together and is someone I would recommend to anyone trying to launch or develop a business.
—Jonathan Goddard, Director of Teacher and Learning, Via Facillis; Rapper and Writer, London.
Annette is a very creative thinker, talented writer and a pleasure to collaborate with. We have enjoyed great results from Annette’s work and look forward to our next project together.
— David Gibson, Warren Evans Beds
Life is too short not to spend as much of it as possible with people who add to your energy, increase your sense of possibility and make the world a better place. Annette Kramer is one of those people and I choose to spend time with her.
— Euan Semple, Director, euansemple.com
Annette was born to coach performance in business. I’ve never met anybody before who has the ability to break down personal barriers and then build them into strengths in the space of an afternoon. She’s a delight, a joy to watch and an absolute pro in what she does – it comes so naturally to her. I’d certainly love to work with her again!
— Angelica Robinson, Founder and Director, Jobs4Creatives
I have had the distinct pleasure of knowing Annette and her work for several years, and I am pleased to recommend her without hesitation. She is a truly creative thinker, and problem solver, and someone who will always make time for others when they need a good listener. Her counsel helped me on more occasions than I can possibly remember, and for that I will always be grateful. She is the genuine article – the sort of person we should all be so lucky to know during our lives.
— Jason Black, Manager, Content Editorial Operations, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Annette is one of those rare people who can not only envision a new way to work (and teach) in terms of process and practices, but she can actually show you how to make it a reality, and you’ll actually enjoy the ride. Her visionary ideas on how to improve business through Thought Leadership (building brand and strategy though interaction and conversation) and education through a new approach to learning and acting will one day change how we all do our work.
— David HM Spector, Technology Consultant / Developer / Technology Due Diligence Expert, Self-employed
Annette was invaluable in getting Affect Labs’ pilot project, FestBuzz, off the ground. By liaising with customers in London and further afield she quickly helped us establish a strong brand presence, make vital connections and present ourselves in a professional context within the theatrical sector. Annette’s great communication and organisation really helped FestBuzz become a success.
— Colleague, Jennie Lees, Founder, Affect Labs
When you think about the ideal colleague and mentor, Annette is it.
Proactive as she is productive, Annette finds solutions before you’ve fully understood the problem. Annette is creative, in her sales approach, in her problem solving and most refreshingly, in her ability to actually get things done.
Annette has been able to candidly and constructively guide Fits.Me to a far evolved model in both technical features and design by always holding our company to the highest standard, and doing everything within her power to get us there, and she does.
Annette’s network is also very large and cross-industry, and those who have worked with her are happy to do so again. She is a big asset to Fits.me in this regard.
It is for all these reasons, when you work with someone like Annette, if you’re lucky they become far more than co-worker, as not taking advantage of learning everything you can from her would be a waste.
I could not be more grateful to have such a mentor. Annette is never selfish and has helped me to grow, and ultimately be a higher functioning employee, and a more professional person.
Annette is a team member who heads the team while still allowing others to be meaningfully involved; a dynamic no one minds when behind a driven, positive, solutions-oriented leader, such as Annette.
— Erika Wasser, Business Development, US, Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room
I had an opportunity to pitch Annette while she was at PWC, and also to attend several conferences in which we participated in sessions and panels. She has always struck me as both highly intelligent and as a person who can really implement projects in unique ways. She takes her approach from both the arts and the business sides of the world, and molds them into unique offerings. Unexpected but unique things occur when Annette is around. I hope for another opportunity to work together in the near future.
— Howard Greenstein, President, The Harbrooke Group, Inc