Taking the Stage: How Women Can Speak Up, Stand Out, and Succeed

Chapter FifteenBegin by Breathing

Voice is central to leadership. When a leader takes the stage, she puts out vocal energy that compels her audience to listen. She speaks loudly and distinctly. She knows that her leadership will be compromised if an audience has to struggle to hear or understand what she is saying. She also knows that boring her audience with a monotone voice will undermine her leadership. If she speaks with distracting vocal patterns—such as a little girl voice that's consistently too high, or a voice that rises at the end of thoughts, or if she speaks too softly—the people listening and watching won't see her as a leader. Leaders captivate their audience by using all their voice's natural talents. Part 3 of the book will ...