Dr. Paul Charlton – Coaching Skills & Success Habits in International Communication for S.T.E.M. Professionals

Speaking opportunities (online or face-to-face) for professionals working in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) offer a variety of outstanding platforms and audiences to deliver complex and technical content in a clear, compelling and persuasive manner.

I offer a highly-customised and specialised range of international communication coaching services for these elite STEM professionals who wish to develop, enhance and polish their international speaking, negotiating and teaming skills to the highest possible level.

With over 20 years of global experience, I regularly work with: executives and board members of some of the world’s largest I.T., pharma and biotech companies; analysts, engineers, doctors, surgeons and leading research scientists in the fields of e.g. infectious diseases, cancer, gene therapy and cardiology, and fellow keynote speakers who welcome a critical peer review.

Based from my alpine executive coaching facilities near Munich, Germany, I am available as a consulting resource to offer global clients customised “masterclass” level speaker support services and individual skill development solutions, integrated with in-house programmes or as “stand-alone” initiatives.

Engaging in my services consistently delivers a proven success track-record with coachees receiving e.g. best conference speaker/poster awards, successful business/project/grant funding applications and enhanced audience/panel qualitative feedback comments and quantitative score metrics.

Achieving 100% perfection in the journey of building the success habits for outstanding international communication may never be truly possible, but as a goal and with a trusted coach, one can find excellence on the way.


“It is possible to develop the skills you need to lead the life you want.” Professor Stew Friedman, Wharton School of Business

Sample Testimonials

It was a pleasure to work with Paul in preparing for my ERC Starting Grant interview (which was successfully awarded).
Paul first outlined important general aspects any good presentation needs to cover. We then meticulously worked on every detail, making sure the key points were easy to understand for a non-expert audience, yet without compromising scientific accuracy. I thought this external perspective was the most valuable part of our meetings. Paul is a quick thinker, objective, and does not beat about the bush.
Beyond the ERC specifics, working with Paul was fun and has significantly improved my presentation skills – I am sure this will serve me well in the future.

Dr. med & Principal Investigator, Technical University of Munich

I participated in Paul’s Excellence in Scientific Communication Masterclass programme within DZIF Academy. In preparation for an international scientific conference, I greatly benefited from his wisdom regarding communication with different audiences and in diverse settings, his understanding of science and his tips & strategies how to present detailed scientific results with great clarity. Paul made it easy to understand & embrace his spot-on feedback and through his coaching I felt empowered to manage even tricky Q&A situations. Paul is a brilliant coach & communicator and I highly recommend working with him!

Senior Post-Doctoral Research Scientist, University of Hamburg

I was recommended Paul as a Communication skills coach for the German “national” Heisenberg Professorship. At first, I thought that I could give decent talks and seminars, but Paul highlighted all the tiny (and the not so tiny) details that I was simply doing wrong without even noticing. The result of my training with him was not only that I successfully interviewed for the professorship but most importantly I now have acquired a very powerful skill and have a very different perspective on how to deliver a talk that will positively impact the audience. I fully recommend him, he will be tough with you and push you to the limit but this is definitively worth it. For me, this is the best “soft skill” training I ever had.

Group Leader, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany

I have had the great pleasure to work with Dr. Charlton on various presentations for a global audience in the past two years. Most recently we completed the work on my presentation for the Gartner CIO Summit in Munich. He has always provided open feedback, great comments and ideas on my talks – I would recommend Dr. Charlton to anyone who is thriving for excellence in this area.

Research Vice-President, Germany

Paul was fantastic in helping me prepare for a major presentation. After asking permission, he was willing to be direct and truthful about what I needed to focus on and improve. This included delivery style and content.

He was able to focus on achieving fast results in the limited time I could make available from a busy schedule. The feedback from the presentation was excellent.

I have no hesitation in recommending him. Many thanks Paul.

Director of Digital Services & Technology, UK.

Paul’s advice was invaluable to me on two very important occasions to me in my career. I was lucky to be invited to speak at the Gartner Symposium in Barcelona in 2015, Paul acted as a mentor to me in the run up to the event providing excellent advice and guidance on my style of delivery, my content and my confidence. I had never worked with a mentor/coach for a specific presentation before. Paul made me feel at ease with the advice he gave, his way of delivery is constructive, friendly and extremely well informed, Paul makes it fun to receive advice and helps you make sure the advice sticks.

Two years later at the same event I had the opportunity to deliver a closing key note that covered the Irish journey through the WannaCry attack and Ireland’s preparedness for digital healthcare. This presentation was to be the last presentation I would deliver as CIO of the Irish health care system and meant a great deal to me personally, again Paul’s advice, guidance and some of the changes he persuaded me to make to the presentation enabled me to score one of the highest presentations of the day and to really leave a role I had loved on a high.

I can’t recommend the services of Paul enough, I hope to be lucky enough to work with Paul again in the future as I think he is one of the best in his area of expertise, I would look to send my team on training and sessions delivered by Paul in the future.

Chief Digital & Information Officer, UK.

It was a great pleasure and extremely successful to work with Dr. Charlton in the last year on my ERC consolidator proposal presentation.

I was impressed by his focus, his knowledge and most importantly the amazing capacity to look at things with an external perspective in a very objective manner.

His expertise in scientifc presentations, how to simplify things without losing critical elements and also his scientific background helped greatly.

Finally, it was big fun to work with Paul and it was amazing to see the momentum we could create within our work.

I thus can strongly recommend to work with Dr. Charlton – and the best recommendation of all should be the fact that my staff and myself will continue to work with Paul in the future.

Univ. Prof. Dr. bei Deutsches Krebsforschungs Zentrum

I recently worked with Paul at a Gartner event in Barcelona. He was there to coach me in the skills of public speaking for such prestigious executive IT industry events. From the moment we first shook hands, Paul was easy to work with, showed a passion for what he does, and took great care to put me at ease throughout the whole preparation and rehearsal process. I can honestly say the work he did with me was a major factor for me to successfully deliver my speech. I can highly recommend him.

Head of IT, Rail Transportation Industry, UK

I was seeking an expert that can help improve my professional international presentation skills. Paul was recommended to me by a presentation-coaching company in the US (I did not want to travel there). He is not only flexible in the commercial aspects based on available budgets – he also proved to be the perfect match for my needs. We intensely covered the presentation coaching – but once we started working – we widened the context of our sessions to broader communication skills. I got a lot of value out of the sessions (personally and professionally) and I am looking very much forward to our next session in April. Paul’s knowledge, experience and the way he facilitates me in achieving my goals is really unique: fun, spot-on and effective. I can recommend Paul to anyone that really desires to improve their professional presentation and communication skills. Not only that – his location in the Alps and his executive facilities are also very impressive.

Managing Vice President at Gartner

Ich arbeite nun seit fast einem Jahr mit Paul zusammen. Anfangs dachte ich, das Coaching wäre nur dazu da, um meine Kompetenz in der Präsentation wissenschaftlicher Daten auf internationalen Kongressen zu verbessern. Überraschenderweise veränderten sich jedoch auch meine Kompetenzen zur Analyse der Zielgruppen unter Berücksichtigung menschlicher und kultureller Verschiedenheiten, da Paul mich an seinen unschätzbaren beruflichen sowie persönlichen Erfahrungen seines Lebens in Asien, Amerika und Europa teilhaben lies.
In weiteren Fortbildungen verfeinerten wir meine Kompetenzen in Verhandlungen, welche für vielfältigste Situationen geeignet sind. Alle diese Coaching-Sessions waren wirklich harte Arbeit, jedoch sehr zielorientiert und auf die Bedürfnisse des Kunden zugeschnitten. Auch wenn es sich hierbei um eine berufliche Fortbildung handelt, entwickelten wir eine sehr freundschaftliche Art zu Arbeiten. Jedem, der seine beruflichen Fähigkeiten effizient weiterentwickeln möchte, kann ich eine Zusammenarbeit mit Paul Charlton nur sehr ans Herz legen.

Forschungsgruppenleiter bei Technische Universität München

Decidí apuntarme a las sesiones que Paul ofrecía para mejorar mis habilidades para presentar resultados cientifícos. Con su ayuda aprendí diferentes técnicas que he puesto en práctica con muy buenos resultados. Durante mis presentaciones me siento más segura y el año pasado gané un premio a la mejor presentación de un póster científico en un congreso internacional (EHSG-Roma 2014). Lo que más me ha gustado de trabajar con Paul es su entusiasmo y la energía que transmite en cada momento. Paul sabe captar tus necesidades y es capaz de sacar lo mejor de uno. Realmente recomendaría sus sesiones a todos los que buscan mejorar sus aptitudes a la hora de expresar y presentar resultados a una audiencia internacional.

Postdoctoral Researcher at Technische Universität München

I participated in the EISC coaching programme (and other programmes from Paul) at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. The scientific & technical background of Paul as well as his extensive experiences in Asia, the Americas and Europe greatly enhances his inter-competency / inter-cultural knowledge and he was able to enhance my presentation and negotiation skills to another level. An important element of his successful programmes is also his enthusiastic, focused and entertaining style of coaching. The days are long and challenging but always full of value and fun. I can recommend Paul’s coaching courses for anybody who wants to improve their skills from their existing level to excellent!

Postdoctoral Scientist at Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

If you are looking for someone who shares priceless international business and work/life experiences with you, for someone who guides by giving his opinion in a frank yet polite way, for someone you can really learn from even if you are expert, ask for Paul! Paul is an open-minded, fast thinking person. He presents profound knowledge in an entertaining yet very efficient way – brilliant!

Post-Doctoral Scientist (Infection Research)

Dr. Paul Charlton is one of the best trainers and consultants that I have ever worked with. He is the consummate professional. He knows his subject. He goes deep into every topic he presents. He is straightforward and extremely honest with his clients. We have worked together on several projects. I admire his skills and expertise. Most of all, I consider him a valuable friend. Go to Paul if you want to work hard and get results.

President & Founder, Lydia Ramsey Inc.

Paul has worked closely with me and a number of my staff to develop their sales and negotiation skills. The training provided was of high value. Paul demonstrated a deep knowledge of his subject, and his training methods were consistenty stimulating and successful. I have no hesitation in recommending his work.

VP and Managing Director Wipro Solutions Canada at Wipro

Wir arbeiten regelmäßig mit Dr. Charlton zusammen und haben sehr gute Erfahrungen mit seinen Workshops gemacht. Seine professionell vorbereiteten und durchgeführten Schulungen in den Bereichen Präsentations-Vorbereitung und Umsetzung (mit Video-Kontrolle) sowie Business English sind sehr effektiv und auch unterhaltsam. Ich selbst konnte bereits vieles in meinem Alltag umsetzen. Insgesamt kann ich die Coachings nur wärmstens empfehlen.

Geschäftsführer und Senior Coach bei GO Beratung Oberland GmbH

The 3-week technology transfer course under the guidance of Dr. Paul Charlton was an excellent balance of theory, case studies, and interactive exercises. In this short amount of time, I acquired skills in business planning, negotiation tactics, cultural competence, and behavior management; skills that I otherwise would not obtain in a purely scientific / academic setting.

I consider Dr. Paul Charlton a mentor and I appreciate deeply his consistent active involvement in the ASAG Biotech Network as it ensures the continuous education of the Biotech programme alumni.

Mass Spectrometry Specialist at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology

Dr. Paul Charlton is an outstanding and inspiring Professional. As alumni of his Technology Transfer training programme, I gained substantial knowledge regarding negotiation, presentation, cross cultural competence and also technology transfer. The knowledge I gained and also the practical experience we had was very important for my personal and professional growth and for my career.

Technical Advisor on the UNEP TEEB Project at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Dr. Paul Charlton zu treffen und von seinen profunden Kenntnissen zu partizipieren hat mich professionell und persönlich in vielerlei Hinsicht weiter gebracht. Er hat die Fähigkeit nicht nur Informationen zu vermitteln, sondern seine Konzepte können unmittelbar angewendet werden und sich in der Folge im Alltag immer weiter festigen. Ich kann die integre und jederzeit professionelle Coachingarbeit mit Dr. Paul Charlton uneingeschränkt empfehlen, wenn man bereit ist den nächsten Schritt zu machen.

DZHK Standortmanager Göttingen, Geschäftführer SFB 1002 bei Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

Dr. Paul Charlton has greatly helped me to improve my international presentation skills and also has been a good advisor on how to manage and lead research teams with awareness of the diversity of cultural backgrounds and the behavioural dynamics of modern global scientific work groups and collaboration partners.

Post-doctoral Researcher at University Medical Center Göttingen