“No one is boring,
but many forget to be interesting.”
I’m a professional question-asker
with a thing for
stories, microphones, and conversations.
Penny Terry
For ten years, I worked as an ABC radio presenter*.
My job was to sit down with a stranger and make something meaningful out of a short moment. Usually less than five minutes. Nearly always live. No second takes.
That’s where I became obsessed with a question that still drives my work now.
Why do some conversations shift how people think and act, while others are simply heard and forgotten?
It’s easy to assume the answer is about wisdom, PR, or charisma.
We’ve all tried it. Written words that sound wiser than the ones we use, worn clothes that don’t feel like us, or…
…used a photo that makes us look
a bit cooler than we are…
But after broadcasting more than 20,000 interviews - with everyone from politicians to prisoners, TED Talkers to talkback callers - a different pattern kept showing up.
The gap is rarely about any of that.
It’s almost always about translation.
Because what’s clear, compelling, or urgent to people who know something so well, often doesn’t land that way for people who don’t.
That’s the space I work in.
We don’t fix it with spin, scripts or buzzwords.
We use questions, stories, and language that help close the gap between knowing the right move and getting others to move with you.
What people leave with is a practical process for translating who they are, what they know, and why it matters, again and again, for different audiences and different moments, without needing a PR machine… or a photo of you playing the guitar.
*I did not play the guitar on the ABC. This photo does not match the explanation above. This mismatch is awkward and kinda the point.
I help people see their value so clearly that they can share it in a way that makes sense to anyone.
For individuals, that means learning how to say ‘the thing’ without over-explaining or oversimplifying, drowning it in data or fluff, or sounding like someone you’ve never met.
For teams, it’s about finding shared language that aligns people around an idea, makes collaboration easier, without removing individuals’ experience, expertise or personality.
For organisations, it means capturing personal stories that are universally understood and create a sense of belonging through purpose and values.
My work is practical and built for real life: you’ll use it in meetings, presentations, panels, podcasts, media interviews, difficult conversations, leadership moments where the stakes are high and the people and problems are complicated.
I’ve turned what I learned through tens of thousands of interviews into a set of simple frameworks and tools, including Frequency Thinking™, the Question Compass™, and the Message Map™. They’re designed to help people:
Translate complex expertise into usable language
Connect with different audiences quickly and authentically
Build trust; personally as a leader, and in an idea as a solution
Feel confident to handle curly questions and tricky conversations
Remember who they are, what they know and why it matters.
Your Ideas
are only as good as
your ability to communicate them.
I help people get clear enough
to be understood.
My 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, foggy Tasmanian morning when my producer, Andrea and I drove into the small town of Chudleigh. We were out collecting stories for an outside broadcast later that day. We made a quick stop at the local butcher or post office (it was always one or the other), and someone pointed 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 did 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 that line plenty of times before, so I didn’t argue. I suggested we have a cup of tea and find out whether it was true. Enid invited me in. We sat at the kitchen table. As you’ve guessed, she shared some of the most incredible stories I’ve ever heard. When we finished, I did the usual wrap-up: when it would air, tell your friends, I’ll send a copy. As I turned to leave, Enid looked up at me and said:.
“I am pretty interesting, aren’t I?”
“Yes, Enid. Yes, you are.”
And in that moment, I realised it had been
My job to remind her.
This is Enid’s story, but I’ve heard versions of it from hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
People who’ve forgotten what makes their work valuable.
Teams that can’t hear their own through-line anymore.
Organisations who’ve lost the human story underneath the strategy.
My job is to help people and organisations see their value, and share it in a way others can understand, remember, and act on.
That’s what I love most.
And if you’re here because something in your work isn’t landing the way it should, I’d love to help.