Pressure Labs

For those critical times when everything depends on how you handle yourself, you’re worried about what happens next and much of it is out of your hands.

Four short courses built on the methods I used as a police firearms commander at hostage and siege incidents, my work as a mind coach in elite sport, and what I learn from studying the world’s most successful people for Pressure Reveals; all focused on performing at your best when the pressure is on.

• Perform Under Pressure
• Bulletproof Confidence
• Personal Magnetism
• The Art of Persuasion

I’m Mark Sapsford. My methods have been used hundreds of times in sieges, suicide interventions and elite sport. Read where they come from.

The more you have riding on a moment, the more pressure you feel. When you can’t control what happens next or see how it will end, that pressure can turn into anxiety.

That is when clear thinking slips and confidence drains away, and your words come out all wrong. You sound angry when you’re worried, stay quiet when you need to speak, or say something you wish you could take back.

These courses give you practical ways to stay confident, calm and composed in those moments, win people’s trust and bring them round to your point of view, so you handle what’s in front of you as well as you know you can.

If you’ve ever come away from one of those moments knowing you hadn’t done yourself justice, you’ll know how it makes you hold back next time. You keep your thoughts to yourself, put off the conversation or let the chance go, and people never see what you can offer.

Every lesson gives you something to try that week, a practical exercise you can put to work straight away and see and feel the difference in the moments that matter.

Each course £7.99 · All four £23.97 (tax included) · Instant access, yours to keep · Learn at your own pace

I finally understand why I freeze under pressure and how to stop it. The Outcome + Manage Your State combination is something I use every week now.

Kathy H., Sales director, financial services

What would you like to do better?

Perform Under Pressure

Think clearly and be at your best when a lot is riding on it and the outcome isn’t in your hands.

When the stakes are high and you can’t be sure what’s coming, your mind can race, go blank or fix on everything that might go wrong. This course shows you how to spot the first signs that pressure is getting to you and bring yourself back to calm, focused thinking. You’ll then use it to prepare for something real you have coming up, so you go in ready and stay steady whatever happens on the day.

Eight lessons · £7.99 (tax included) · Worksheets, mental rehearsal (HPI), selected book chapters and Members’ Questions included

See the eight lessons

1. Start here
2. Understand what happens when you feel under pressure
3. Release your Capabilities with an Outcome
4. Find your Stops and Shots
5. Manage Your State
6. Rehearse the performance
7. Perform, recover and learn
8. Your performance plan and next steps

Thinking of taking more than one? All four courses are £23.97, the price of three.

Bulletproof Confidence

Keep backing yourself when things are uncertain, go wrong or drag on.

Confidence is easy when things are going well. It is much harder when you don’t know how something will turn out, when you’ve made a mistake or when the pressure goes on for weeks. You’ll build a clear picture of your strengths from things in your own life you’ve probably overlooked, and learn to draw on it whenever doubt creeps in. Then you can trust yourself and keep going, even when you can’t see the end.

Eight lessons · £7.99 (tax included) · Worksheets, mental rehearsal (HPI), selected book chapters and Members’ Questions included

See the eight lessons

1. Start here
2. What are you making it mean?
3. Understand the belief behind your reaction
4. Use the difficulty
5. Recognise the qualities within you
6. Build your Review practice with CLARITY
7. Preview the person you are becoming
8. Your practice plan and next steps

Thinking of taking more than one? All four courses are £23.97, the price of three.

Personal Magnetism

Build trust quickly, even with people who are wary, defensive or against you.

When you can’t control what someone else will do, the relationship is often the one thing you can influence. This course shows you how to create a climate of trust where people feel safe with you, open up and become willing to work with you. That includes people who disagree with you or openly resist. I relied on these methods at hostage and siege incidents, where trust had to be built fast with people who didn’t want to talk, and later taught them to police negotiators.

Eight lessons · £7.99 (tax included) · Worksheets, mental rehearsal (HPI), selected book chapters and Members’ Questions included

See the eight lessons

1. Start here
2. Listen and let them do the talking
3. Begin with small talk
4. Understand what the experience was like for them
5. Hear the Persuasion Pathways
6. Discover what is personally important
7. Help someone feel understood in a difficult conversation
8. Your practice plan and next steps

Thinking of taking more than one? All four courses are £23.97, the price of three.

The Art of Persuasion

Bring people round to your point of view when they start out sceptical and the decision is theirs.

However strong your case, the decision often rests with someone else. This course uses Speechcraft to help you shape your message so people can take it in, picture what you’re proposing and want to act on it. You’ll see how I built a speech for a sceptical rugby squad, one credible step at a time. Then you’ll build a message of your own for the people you need to persuade.

Twelve lessons · £7.99 (tax included) · Worksheets, mental rehearsal (HPI), selected book chapters and Members’ Questions included

See the twelve lessons

1. Start here
2. Set your Outcomes
3. Build Rapport before the prepared message
4. Step 1, take them from Current State to Desired State
5. Step 2, Pace the Current State
6. Step 3, use Resistance Breakers, Embedded Commands and Cause and Effect
7. Step 4, add Tag Questions
8. Step 5, give the speech its flow
9. Step 6, use the Elevate Formula
10. Step 7, use a story or metaphor
11. Step 8, end with an Assumption they can act on
12. Your practice plan and next steps

Thinking of taking more than one? All four courses are £23.97, the price of three.

What people say about the 7 Skills

I’ve worked with elite athletes for years and still found new language here. The Identity Matrix and IDQ framework helped me see why certain players collapse under pressure while others stay themselves. The drills in Manage Your State and the way Mark links them to Outcomes are simple enough to use in a five-minute pre-match conversation and powerful enough to stick. Several players have told me it feels like ‘someone finally explained what’s happening in my head.’

David M., Performance coach, professional rugby

Practical without being fluffy. Mark shows the psychology, then gives the exact language drills. I used Stay in Accord and Speechcraft in a difficult board meeting the same week I finished the chapter.

Brian R., Operations director

I bought this because I needed to improve my relationships with colleagues. Practice Rapport and Stay in Accord changed the texture of my conversations, people stay more open instead of defending. Speechcraft tools (especially Resistance Breakers and embedded language) let me move ideas forward without forcing them. I’ve recommended it to several colleagues because if we all use these skills life gets easier.

Priya S., Teacher

As a parent and a coach, this changed how I speak to my kids and my players when things go wrong. High-IDQ language is now part of how we talk at home.

Steven B., Youth sports coach and parent

Best practical psychology book I’ve read in years. The 7 Skills give you a coherent system rather than a grab-bag of techniques. Highly recommended for anyone who has to stay clear-headed and influential when it matters.

James T., Executive coach

Take all four

The courses complement one another. Perform Under Pressure helps you stay calm, focused and at your best when it matters most. Bulletproof Confidence helps you discover your strengths and build the self-belief to back yourself under pressure. Personal Magnetism helps you build deep connections that draw people to you and make them want to be around you. The Art of Persuasion helps you put your ideas across in ways that win agreement and inspire. You can take any course on its own, in any order. For the best results, I recommend following that sequence.

The four-course collection costs £23.97 (tax included), saving £7.99 against buying them separately. It includes all four online courses with their worksheets, the shared High Performance Imprinting module, Members’ Questions and the complete ebook of The 7 Skills to impress™, which you can also read online here. Each individual course includes the book chapters relevant to its lessons.

Rehearse being at your best

It is much harder to do what you know you should when a lot is at stake and you can’t be sure how it will go. High Performance Imprinting, or HPI, helps you mentally rehearse whatever you have coming up. You practise how you want to think, feel and act, so you go in feeling prepared and confident. The full HPI module is included with every course, with guidance on using it for the situation you are working on.

Learn at your own pace and put it into practice

Allow about 10–15 minutes to read and begin each lesson, then look for chances to practise during the week. There is no fixed timetable. Each lesson gives you something specific to try, so whatever is putting you under pressure, at work, at home or anywhere else, can become part of your learning. As you practise, you’ll discover what works for you and what you want to improve.

The courses work on their own. You can complete the exercises without reading the book first. When you want a fuller explanation, the relevant companion chapters are available online with your purchase. And if a question comes up as you practise, you can send it to me through Members’ Questions. I read every one and answer some each week.

Where these methods come from

I’m Mark Sapsford, author of The 7 Skills to impress™. I grew up in a violent home, where I learned early to read people and keep calm when things were tense. Later, as a police firearms commander at hostage and siege incidents, I needed ways to think clearly, connect with people and help bring dangerous situations to a safe resolution, even when people were unwilling to cooperate. I developed and refined the 7 Skills through that work, then used them while coaching elite athletes and helping people face challenges at work and at home.

The courses draw on those experiences. You will see what people did, what changed and how the Skills helped. Then you can try the methods in a situation of your own and judge the results for yourself.

Prefer to start with the book? The 7 Skills to impress™ sets out the whole method in one place. The ebook is £7.99, and it’s included free when you take all four courses.

Ready to start?

Get all four courses for £23.97, saving £7.99 against buying them separately, or choose a single course for £7.99. Prices include tax. Instant access, yours to keep.

Single courses: Perform Under Pressure · Bulletproof Confidence · Personal Magnetism · The Art of Persuasion