“No one is boring, but many forget to be interesting.”
Penny is a professional question-asker and storyteller.
Penny loves both sides of a conversation equally. She knows powerful questions leverage powerful stories.
She is an engagement specialist helping leaders, teams, and organisations be more curious so they don’t miss those things crucial to success. In doing so, her clients learn to see and then share their value and impact, through powerful conversations.
Penny delivers keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching services across the globe. Plus, she continues to share stories weekly producing and hosting multiple (award-winning) podcasts.
She spent 10 years as an ABC radio presenter and has now helped more than 20,000 people ask the right questions, and then share the right messages in the media, on stage, and during important conversations.
Penny’s developed a purpose-built process to help build the skills and confidence her clients need to leverage their knowledge and create better outcomes for their communities and organisations.
Throughout her career, she’s had the opportunity to ask the most important questions, of the most interesting people, in both public and private spaces, right around the globe. She’s learned that no one is boring but many people and organisations have forgotten what makes them interesting and valuable to others - it’s her job to remind them.
Penny had the incredible experience of being a Telstra Business Woman of the Year national finalist and you'll never find her far from a microphone, whether in the studio, on the stage, or with a guitar in hand!
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 their 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 about her life in Chudleigh.
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.
It can be really hard for us to understand what others find interesting about what we do, who we are, and why it matters because what’s interesting about us, is also just our every day.
Like Enid, most people and organisations need some outside help before they can see what makes them interesting and understand the true value they provide.
I love being that outside help.
So I’ve decoded and honed my skills and turned them into simple (yet genuis) communications frameworks that anyone can master. Including you.