Available to book
Maria Papacosta
Marketing
Communication
Influence
Maria Papacosta helps executives and senior leaders build authentic leadership presence and powerful personal brands. A personal branding speaker and leadership coach, she ranks among Thinkers360's Top 10 Global Thought Leaders and has coached TED and TEDx speakers worldwide.
Public Relations
Presentation
Professional Development
Personal Development
Coach
Business Consulting
TEDx
Thought Leader
Academic
Influencer
Maria Papacosta is a Leadership Presence coach, researcher, and personal branding strategist who helps professionals design a stronger, more authentic version of themselves at work and in life.
As co-founder of MSC Marketing Bureau, she has shaped the branding strategies of leading thinkers worldwide and coached executives, CEOs, Prime Ministers, and Nobel laureates, while serving as a TEDx speaker curator and coach and sitting on the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council. Her personal branding workshop has been ranked among the world's leading brand development programmes by Global Gurus for five consecutive years, and Thinkers360 named her a Top 10 Global Thought Leader on Personal Branding.
Combining line management and consulting experience, Maria designs practical frameworks that help clients build presence, trust, and communication within their organisations, translating her research into leadership and influence strategies that turn a personal brand into a genuine competitive advantage rather than a marketing exercise. She has published academic papers on marketing and consumer behaviour and is featured regularly in Forbes, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur.
Audiences leave with tools to identify their authentic style, communicate with greater confidence, and build the self-awareness needed to lead and influence others. Maria's own path, from a shy introvert to a globally recognised branding strategist, makes the message as credible as it is practical.
Book Maria to give leaders and speakers a personal brand and presence that genuinely sets them apart.
Topics, sessions and talks
Maria Papacosta explores why self-awareness has become one of the most critical skills for today's executives, arguing that knowing one's strengths, blind spots, values, and limiting beliefs underpins effective leadership and personal growth. Drawing on current research and real-world examples from her coaching practice, she offers practical strategies for building this capacity at any career stage. Executives and rising leaders alike come away with concrete tools for leading with greater clarity, confidence, and impact within their organisations.
Maria Papacosta shows leaders why a compelling story and strong delivery must work together, since either skill alone produces a mediocre result. Drawing on years spent teaching senior executives and coaching TED speakers, she shares a proven approach to crafting narratives and presenting them with confidence and clarity. Whether preparing for a boardroom pitch, a conference stage, or everyday communication, attendees leave with a practical framework for making their message land and inspiring the action they set out to achieve.
Maria Papacosta unpacks the difference between having presence and simply being present, and how the two connect. She explains why most people are disconnected from the primal state of full attention and shows how gravitas, communication, and self-awareness combine to build genuine presence. Drawing on her coaching work with executives and TED speakers, Maria offers practical guidance on controlling voice, emotion, and word choice, leaving audiences with tools to project influence and impress with authenticity rather than performance.
Maria Papacosta challenges the idea that personal branding is about self-promotion or social media presence, arguing instead that it starts with discovering one's true values and qualities and living by them consistently. She frames a personal brand as a trademark that requires ongoing protection and development, built to serve others rather than oneself. Maria guides audiences towards becoming a trusted, recognisable voice within their field, leaving them with a clear framework for defining what their own brand truly represents.
Maria Papacosta opens with Max Weber's idea that people grow within an iron cage of others' expectations, often losing sight of their own purpose. She argues that knowing who you are, what you need, and where you want to go is essential to building genuine presence, and that opportunity favours those who act rather than wait. Through this keynote journey, Maria helps audiences strengthen their core sense of self, adopt a growth mindset, and actively pursue the opportunities available to them.
Maria has coached Prime Ministers, Nobel laureates, NASA scientists, and CEOs worldwide, and her personal branding workshop has ranked among the world's best by Global Gurus for five consecutive years. As co-founder of MSC Marketing Bureau and a TEDx speaker curator, she pairs academic research with hands-on coaching experience.
Testimonials
frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email maria.papacosta@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Maria's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Maria Papacosta draws on case studies from her executive coaching practice and a framework developed through years of coaching TED speakers, structuring sessions around a step-by-step method that connects self-awareness, narrative craft, and physical presence into a single, practical toolkit.
Maria Papacosta speaks on self-awareness in leadership, storytelling and presentation skills, and executive presence. She has coached TED speakers and executives including CEOs, Prime Ministers, and Nobel laureates, and her personal branding workshop has been ranked among the world's leading brand development programmes by Global Gurus for five consecutive years.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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