Peter Kingston

Peter Kingston specialises in executive presence coaching, influence and self-awareness, working with senior leaders navigating high-stakes leadership moments where clarity, credibility and impact are critical. He works with clients across the private, government and not-for-profit sectors. His industry experience spans financial services, IT, engineering, tertiary education, human services, property management, retail services, mining and energy.

His executive coaching is grounded in a deep professional foundation in performance, leadership and communication. This was developed through a career in the performing arts. Trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) as an actor, Peter went on to build a highly successful career as a theatre director and educator, working at senior levels across Australia.

Throughout this career, Peter led organisations, directed productions, and worked closely with senior performers under pressure, environments that demanded clarity, authority, emotional regulation and the ability to influence outcomes in real time. These experiences now directly inform his work with executives. Similar dynamics are at play: visibility, scrutiny, competing agendas and high-stakes decision-making.

Peter has also held senior leadership roles, including Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company, Head of Directing at NIDA, and Head of Theatre at the Western Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).  He has served on the Board of Black Swan Theatre Company and was appointed Interim Artistic Director. These have given him first-hand experience of governance, stakeholder management and organisational leadership.

Returning to the east coast he became a Director of the Sydney-based consultancy In Corporate, specialising in organisational review and change management, and continued to work as a tutor with NIDA’s Corporate Performance program, refining a coaching practice focused on executive presence, influence and leadership impact in complex, high-pressure environments.

Peter works with leaders who often come to coaching focused on improving their performance in meetings, interactions with senior management, or how they represent their organisation to key stakeholders. His approach is to identify the leadership situations that matter most — board discussions, executive forums, high-pressure conversations or moments of visibility and examine how leaders operate in those contexts.

From there, Peter pinpoints practical strategies and adjustments that increase leadership impact and influence. His philosophy is that presence is situational, observable, and coachable.

Clients value Peter’s outside-in approach, which focuses on how presence is communicated in the moment through language, breath, pace, voice, physical stillness, and emotional regulation. His coaching helps leaders sharpen clarity, hold attention, regulate pressure and project authority in a way that feels authentic and grounded.

“Presence is about confidence but also comfort for the leader and those around them. It’s energy, clarity and emotional regulation, but also language. Presence lives in how you frame your message, so it resonates with your audience.”

Peter enjoys reading (widely in History, Culture & Poetry), Fitness & Health, and is a passionate Cynophilist.