How Small Habits Can Undermine Your Confidence and Influence Without You Realizing It
As I’ve reflected on this year, one theme keeps surfacing: our work goes far beyond public speaking, messaging, or media training.
At JPG, we transform experts into magnetic, inspirational leaders.
We work with highly technical people — engineers, scientists, and executives — who are becoming the faces and voices of their organizations. Our goal is to help them be seen, heard, and trusted.
The Leadership Lesson Hidden in a Soda Can
Have you ever watched a speaker close their eyes too much when presenting? Or someone whose voice shakes when they address a team? What about constantly clearing their throat? These are coachable behaviors — and we fix them.
In over a decade of coaching high-performing individuals, I see a lot of patterns. Easy changes that could elevate someone’s career quickly. There’s one that I haven’t addressed here – and it’s important. Don’t come for me… I know how many people love their Diet Coke!
This is something that keeps coming up, and the transformation blows me away. I’ve had a few presidents of organizations who constantly cleared their throats when they spoke.
The transformation always starts the same way: I’m prepping them for a big speech, town hall, any high-stakes meeting – and they can’t get through the talk without constantly clearing their throat.
After the first run through, I’ll ask, “What do you drink all day?” And it keeps coming up. They’ll say, Diet Coke all day, no water.”
First Case Study: Company President
I’ve even had the heads of Comms or Marketing at organizations ask me not to bring up the Diet Coke issue.
“He’ll never give it up.”
And then, 30 minutes into the speech, the team is shrugging their shoulders because they know how distracting the throat clearing is.
They’re so afraid of telling the guy not to drink Diet Coke anymore.
So I do. I gently bring up the issue. In this case, I explained what it was doing to him and suggested he just try to do 50/50 Diet Coke and water for a few weeks to see what happens.
Six months later, when he gave his speech, he didn’t clear his throat. He thanked me privately on LinkedIn.
“Thank you. Nobody told me this.”
Second Case Study: Three-Day Intensive
This just happened again a few weeks ago. A guy got up in Day #1 in our three-day intensive communications training we do for larger companies and cleared his throat the entire time.
Day #2, I called it out.
“Tell me, what do you drink? What do you like to drink all day?”
He had his can right there.
“Diet Coke.”
I asked him to see what would happen if he didn’t drink it. I wasn’t forceful; it was just a suggestion.
Day #3, he got up, delivered his speech, and there was a big applause at the end. He SOUNDED like THE EXPERT. He was confident. He evoked confidence from the audience.
I asked him, “What happened? What changed? You didn’t clear your throat. There were no distractions.”
And he looked down sheepishly and said, “I haven’t had a Diet Coke in 24 hours since yesterday morning. I heard you, and I wanted to try it. I didn’t believe it, but I wanted to try it.”
He was not clearing his throat. He wasn’t dehydrated. He, he wasn’t looking for that fluid. His throat was great. He drank water, green tea, and whatever else.
Why This Matters for Every Leader
This isn’t about Diet Coke — it’s about awareness.
These kinds of transformations occur when we tweak someone’s food, liquids, sleep, movement, or supplements.
Leadership isn’t only about what you say; it’s about how you show up. The smallest daily habits can impact how your team perceives your confidence, energy, and authenticity.
When you optimize your body and voice, you amplify your influence.
When you eliminate distractions — physical, vocal, or emotional — you create space for your message to land.
That’s why our approach at JPG is holistic. We don’t just refine speeches; we strengthen the entire communicator. From hydration to posture to mindset, everything affects how powerfully you connect with an audience.
Ready to Optimize Your Leadership Presence?
Take a moment today to look at what’s not optimizing you as a leader.
It might not be soda — it could be a habit, a mindset, or a blind spot that’s holding you back from being fully magnetic.
At JPG, we help leaders transform these subtle patterns into strengths that elevate every room they walk into.
Because the most influential leaders aren’t just polished — they’re fully present.
