Building communication skills across an entire organization

Client story

A global open-source technology company (hereafter referred to as “the organization”) employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide. Within the company, there is a robust learning and development function spanning sales, skills, and development. Supporting employees across regions and business functions, the organization had already invested significantly in building internal learning paths focused on strategic thinking, business acumen, and leadership development.

Yet despite the maturity of its learning ecosystem, one critical capability remained underdeveloped: presentation and communication skills.

Client challenge

The absence of formal communication training had become increasingly visible across the organization. Leaders, sales professionals, and individual contributors were regularly expected to present in client engagements, leadership discussions, and cross-functional settings without a structured framework for developing those skills. As communication became more central to collaboration and influence across the business, the need for a scalable learning solution became impossible to ignore.

At the same time, the organization required more than a traditional training vendor. Any partner would need the ability to deliver consistently across global teams while adapting effectively to regional and cultural nuances, particularly in areas such as storytelling and executive presence, where trust, confidence, and vulnerability play a critical role in the learning experience.

Why Ariel

Ariel’s ability to adapt content and facilitation styles across regions quickly distinguished the partnership. Approaches that resonate with teams in the Americas don’t always translate to audiences in Europe or Japan, particularly in areas such as storytelling and executive presence, where participants are expected to engage with a level of vulnerability. Ariel’s facilitators navigated those differences with cultural awareness and sensitivity, creating learning environments where participants across geographies felt equally included, supported, and engaged.

“The Learning and Development Program Manager shares: The facilitators and production team are world-class. We always get rave reviews about the delivery, the relatability, and the ability to make content digestible. The content Ariel is creating is helping us address the skills gaps we have.”

The strength of the working relationship itself also became a defining factor. The organization valued Ariel’s collaborative and transparent approach, particularly in an environment where managing external vendors can bring its own complexities.

Ariel Solution

Ariel’s work with the organization now spans multiple programs, audiences, and delivery formats across the business. The partnership began by helping the organization translate learning development programs from in-person to virtual, and continued with programs on communication and presenting, as well as other customized skill-building programs.

Today, Ariel delivers programs on Storytelling in a Business Context, Creating Powerful Presentations, and Delivering Engaging Presentations through both open-enrollment workshops and private team engagements, providing teams with targeted feedback on message development and delivery.

Ariel also supports advanced leadership initiatives where senior sales and services leaders participate in customized storytelling and executive presence workshops led by experienced facilitators.

Outcome

Ariel’s programs have fundamentally elevated how communication skills are developed across the organization. What was once a capability gap has evolved into a formalized and highly visible component of the organization’s broader learning strategy, with teams actively participating in both open-enrollment and private delivery formats.

By creating a shared framework for communication, the programs have helped teams collaborate more effectively and align more consistently across functions and initiatives.

“We move forward more effectively when we share the same language and align around the same priorities and initiatives.”

Participant feedback has remained consistently strong across cohorts, with facilitators frequently recognized for their delivery style, relevance, and actionable coaching. In fact, when the initial presentation skills session was introduced at the internal sales summit, the participant response immediately reinforced the scale of the unmet need within the organization.

“This is not only great content, but something we have been sorely missing.”

The partnership continues to expand as the organization explores new opportunities to integrate Ariel into additional leadership development initiatives.