Banking management and rhetoric: Matthieu Wildhaber's approach to the ISFB certificate course

October 3, 2025

With his experience as a consultant, trainer and columnist specializing in rhetoric, Matthieu Wildhaber joins ISFB as a lecturer in the Banking Management and Adaptability certificate program. His credo: clarity, concision and precision. In this interview, he shares his vision of banking management, its main challenges and the added value brought by this new program.

Matthieu Wildhaber, you recently joined ISFB as a lecturer in the ISFB Banking Management and Adaptability certificate program. What are your expectations and what approach will you adopt as a lecturer?

My aim is simple: to inject clarity, concision and precision into a world that loves jargon. Too often, managerial communication in banking is an exercise in form. My approach will be practical, rooted in the real-life situations encountered by managers. Through rhetoric and the art of discourse, I aim to provide participants with techniques for better thinking, better structuring and better disseminating their ideas.

Can you tell us about your academic and professional background?

I'm a graduate of the University of Neuchâtel Law School, where I had the chance to delve into the world of rhetoric as early as my Master's degree. Then, caught up in my passion and seizing the opportunity to fill a gap, I immediately set up my own consultancy firm.

Specializing in business rhetoric, I now train and advise my customers throughout the French-speaking world with a single goal in mind: to achieve clear, concise and precise communication.

In addition to my practice, I decipher and analyze public and political communication in the media as a radio and TV columnist on Radio Télévision Suisse's La Matinale, and on the program 52 Minutes on the two Vincents.

I've also had the good fortune to write a book, published by Eyrolles in Paris, in which I pass on a practical look at rhetoric in business.

Finally, I teach rhetoric at the Haute École, in a semester-long course dedicated to the precision of words.

What do you see as the main challenges facing bank management today?

The first challenge is the dilution of the message. We talk too much, say too much, with mediocre results. There's a real need for clarity and conciseness in business, especially in a context where there are ever more regulations, stakeholders and, therefore, communication.

My second point is that banking is often perceived as cold, rational and sometimes disconnected. And yet, without emotion, there is no adhesion in the discourse.

Finally, the third challenge: managerial reputation. Every manager, in every company, must take care of his or her reputation strategy. In an age when everyone is talking about everything, all the time, it's a key element in inspiring and uniting people.

A new session of the ISFB Banking Management and Adaptability certificate has recently begun. How can this program offer concrete solutions? What, in your opinion, are the strengths and specific features that make this program so rich and valuable?

The program brings together brains from a wide range of backgrounds, from finance to leadership to communications, which is an essential part of the learning process. This diversity enables us to approach managerial issues from a number of complementary angles and to decompartmentalize approaches, reflecting the complex reality of today's banking environments.

This certificate doesn't train doers, but thinkers and decision-makers. Participants are placed in situations of critical reflection and decision-making, through practical case studies, peer exchanges and input from experts in the field. This enables them not only to acquire technical skills, but also to develop the strategic vision, interpersonal agility and adaptability that are essential in a constantly evolving sector.

Matthieu Wildhaber

Rhetoric consultant and sparring partner | Radio and TV columnist | Author

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