Years before she built a presentation coaching business, Patti Schutte was sitting quietly in the back of a college lecture hall, silently counting how many times her professor said “um.”
The content was solid. The delivery was distracting.
“That was the first time I realized intelligence doesn’t guarantee clarity,” she says.
It was a forgettable class in many ways, but that moment stayed with her. It was a catalyst to shape the career that followed.
From Teacher to Communicator
Schutte started her career in education, not in corporate communication training or keynote speaker circuits. With a background in mathematics, she naturally sees the world in sequences and formulas. Communication, to her, is something to map, refine, and test.
As a teacher, she learned quickly students don’t need to memorize. They need space to process. To internalize and make the learning their own. “When I slowed down and gave them time to think and actively participate, they stayed with me,” she says. “And I stayed with them.”
It wasn’t about simplifying ideas. It was about tuning in to how people engage, actively listen, and process information.
Helping Others Find Their Voice
Over time, cries for presentation help began. At first, it was informal: a nervous manager before a big meeting, an executive preparing for a town hall. Colleagues were seeking her out, not because she had a title but because she had a gift. Patti wasn’t trying to build a business. She’s just skilled at identifying exactly when and why a message misses the mark.
As requests for help kept pouring in, a pattern emerged. People weren’t struggling with content. They were struggling with human connection.
“The issue wasn’t what they were saying,” she says. “It was how.”