“No one is boring, but many forget to be interesting.”
I’m a professional question asker with a thing for stories, microphones, and conversations that make people think.
I first became obsessed with why some conversations work and others don’t during my 10 years as an ABC radio presenter. That curiosity turned into a career helping people see and share their value - from CEOs to community advocates, TED Talkers to talkback callers.
I’ve learned that having something important to say isn’t enough. Being right isn’t enough either. We need to resonate.
Resonance is the missing ingredient in modern communication. We feel it instantly - in a conversation that clicks, a meeting that flows, a message that moves us - yet we rarely create it on purpose. My work is about changing that.
Through my frameworks - Frequency Thinking™, The Question Compass™ and The Message Map™ - I teach people the literacy of resonance. Most communication misses because people are operating on different frequencies - they have different assumptions, pressures, priorities. I show leaders how to tune those frequencies so everyone’s on the same wavelength. When that happens, the noise drops, bandwidth frees up, energy returns, and the real work can finally happen.
To me, communication isn’t a soft skill; it’s the system that drives leadership.
It’s how we align, engage and build workplaces where people feel heard, respected and part of something that matters.
So, I’m not one of those people who is into spin, scripts or buzzwords. I’m into resonance - communication people can feel.
Because when something resonates, it changes more than the message; it changes the moment, and often, what happens next.
These days I design and deliver keynotes, workshops and mentoring programs that help experts become confident, credible communicators. My tools are research-backed, tested in real conversations, and built for wherever people gather to think, talk or decide.
And it all started with a conversation - one I’ll never forget - with a woman named Enid.
Penny’s Origin Story
I’ll never forget the day I met Enid. It was Enid who taught me what my job is really about.
It was a cold and foggy Tasmanian morning when we drove into the small town of Chudliegh. I was an ABC radio presenter at the time and I was out on the road with my producer Andrea, collecting stories for an outside broadcast that afternoon. We made a quick stop at either the local butcher or post office (it was always one or the other), and this local intel directed us to a house on the main street.
I grabbed my mic, walked up to the front door, and knocked. When Enid opened the door, I reeled off my usual line, “Hi Enid, I’m Penny Terry from the ABC. We’re broadcasting from just down the road later today, and I’m wondering if I could interview you about your life in Chudleigh.”
Quick as a flash Enid said “Why would you want to interview me? I don’t have anything interesting to say.” I’d heard this line many times before, so I paid little attention and suggested that we have a quick cup of tea and find out whether or not it was true. Enid invited me in, and we sat down in the kitchen and shared a cup of tea. As you’ve guessed, Enid then shared some of the most incredible stories I’ve ever heard.
After the interview had finished, we wandered back down the hallway and I did the usual spiel, letting Enid know when the interview would be broadcast, asking her to tell her friends and that I’d send her the interview on a CD in the mail. As I turned around to thank her, Enid looked up and said:
“I am pretty interesting aren’t I?”
Yes, Enid. Yes, you are.
It was at that moment that I realised it had been my job to remind her.
This is Enid’s story, but I’ve heard it from hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
My job is to help people and organisations see their value, and share it in a way that others understand. I’ve built my whole practice around that idea - decoding the invisible stuff and helping people make it visible, memorable, and impossible to ignore.
So I’ve decoded and honed my skills and turned them into simple (yet genuis) communications frameworks that anyone can master. Including you.
That’s what I love most.
And what I’d love to help you do, too.