Biography

John Miers

Throughout a varied and challenging career in the Royal Navy, in which he rose to submarine command, John developed an incredible understanding of human communication.

Frequently a Royal Navy media spokesman and having been part of the production team during a major TV series, John founded Black Isle Consultants, in Edinburgh, in 1990, in order to share his experiences and understanding to develop effective communication within a business environment.

John’s approach disagrees with a great deal of conventional wisdom concerning presentation skills and personal impact. He builds on the uniqueness of personality and helps people perform at their natural best in any situation.

Leaders defy smooth and polished aspirations and, instead, learn how to gain admiration and trust by being authentically themselves, ‘warts and all’. From management meetings through to appearing on Television, presenting becomes fun for the speaker and the audience.

This highly individual and successful approach has allowed John to expand Black Isle Consultants across four continents and to seven offices around the world. As well as coaching numerous politicians in North America, Asia and Europe, John has helped many senior executives and public figures perform more effectively in high profile appointments.

His book: ‘Hit me Again! … I can still Hear him!’ has been acclaimed for its simple and refreshing approach to speaking in all situations, even to chatting to the opposite sex.

In 2012, John launched a pilot TV series, with Rogers TV, called ‘From the Top’ where he interviewed famous people in Canada. It can be seen on Youtube.

Now, during the Covid epidemic, he has produced the first e-learning programme on speaking skills.

Relevant Qualifications:

John passed the Submarine command qualification course (known as the ‘Perisher’) in 1979. He is qualified as coach for EQ-I analytical. He personally developed a media coaching programme that allows each participant to have at least seven mock interviews, many varied group workshops in presentation skills and sales skills. In 1999 and 2001, John and the Black Isle team won the Hong Kong trainer of the year award.