Claim The Stage: A Public Speaking Podcast For Women

I had two frustrating conversations with two female friends last week that stuck with me. Feeling annoyed when I woke up Saturday morning, I decided to write this essay to get my feelings out on paper. Five pages later, I felt better, but also felt I needed to do more. How lucky am I that I have a podcast to share these ideas? In today's episode, I share Saturday's writing session entitled, "Stop Trying to Smash Fear. An Essay." In it, I share my anger towards the way women have to be in the world just to feel normal and fit in. I also share my solution for this and drop several F bombs on the way. If you're offended by cursing, you may not like this episode. This is definitely a big moment for me as I typically set a different tone for my show. I'm noticing a fire in my belly that I can't ignore and wanted to share what's on my mind with you on today's episode. I'd love your feedback if you care to share. Email me at angela@speakersisterhood.com  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/po

Crafting a great story, persuading your audience to action, and bringing a crowd to tears are all signs of a great speaker. But in order to achieve these feats, the fundamentals of speaking must be mastered. In today's episode, you'll hear five questions that bring us back to basics. These questions were asked during recent presentations I gave and reminded me that before we're great, we must be good. We go into the following: -How to avoid being a swaying palm tree on stage and having a stronger presence -How to not be mechanical and boring on stage -How to control the tendency to speak quickly -How to ask good questions at the beginning of a speech to engage the audience -How to determine if you should use slides or not Watch Simon Sinek's talk to get a good sense of how to give a strong presentation without slides here. Read Seth Godin's post, "Really Bad Powerpoints" here.  If you're doing the Tiny Summer Challenge, send me your success stories! I'm going until September and would love to read and/or sh

The Inner Critic: friend or foe? What is it there for and how do we work with it to stay sane and enjoy our public speaking experience? In today's episode, I interview Pam Erb-Melville, the President of PEM Communications, a highly sought-after international speaker, Executive Coach, and Master Instructor in business communication skills. Pam has a lot of experience working with the Inner Critic to not only help her clients and audiences, but also herself! She shares how her work has changed over the years and what she has learned about the Inner Critic so she can connect and communicate from her heart. You'll learn how women are different than men in the way we “protect” ourselves when in reaction to our Inner Critic, how to prepare for a high stakes speaking situation when the Inner Critic is present, the short-term and long-term effects of this kind of negative self talk, how to attain and maintain a strong presence, and much more. You'll love Pam's story and her perspective - it's wise, clear, and easy to

I often hear speakers assign harsh and brutal judgments about their own behavior, thoughts, and feelings before, during, and after a speech. I'm guilty of doing it too - so I know a lot about it. Ever stood in front of an audience and said to yourself, "They look bored. They don't like me. This isn't going well." Or, after a talk, said, "That was awful. I bombed. Worse presentation I ever gave?" What if, instead of judging, criticizing, and mentally shaming yourself for everything you do, you approached each moment from a place of curiosity? In today's episode, I discuss the mistakes I've made and how curiosity could have saved the situation. I also read an awesome excerpt from the book, The Conscious Heart, Seven Soul-Choices That Inspire Creative Partnership by Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks, two Ph.Ds. They have a whole chapter dedicated to cultivating curiosity in relationships, but as I read it, I thought, this is also about public speaking! I also share a few simple action steps to live a life through the l

This year has been all about monumental growth for me. In today's bonus episode, I share all the ways I'm growing and reveal something that has been going on in my personal life that I haven't talked about at all until now. (Eek!) I just took on a personal challenge that goes along with that monumental growth and I think you might be into it as well. I had an eye-opening realization this week that led to taking on this challenge and committing to it. This bonus episode is a shorty - just 15 minutes - and also introduces you to our our newest offering: a Speaker Sisterhood virtual club! If you're as growth-focused as me this summer, I think you'll like this challenge and this new opportunity. But make sure to listen before Monday, July 17th so you can get in on it! PS: If you do take the challenge with me, email me your updates! I'd love to share them and/or just read them to myself so I know I'm not alone. Email me at angela@speakersisterhood.com.    PPS: If you want to talk to Kara, my amazing coach, find he

Do you feel awkward when it comes to promoting yourself? What about when you have to put together a professional bio? What are you telling yourself about what to say and not to say? If you are in a constant battle with sounding credible but not audacious, or experienced but not gloating, you will love this episode. Today's guest is Karen Catlin, an advocate for women in the tech industry. She’s a leadership coach, TEDx speaker, and co-author of Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking. Formerly, Karen was a VP at Adobe Systems. Today's show is all about how to own your background and use it to your advantage to grow your speaking business. There was a time when Karen felt uncomfortable touting her 25 years of experience in the tech industry, but now she has figured out how to use it to her advantage as an independent coach and professional speaker. Get tangible tips and a new outlook on how to talk about yourself on today's show and find more information about Karen at www.karencatlin.com or on Twitter:

Is your creative soul dying in corporate America? Or, are you afraid of showing your creativity in your own business or on stage? If you answered yes to either of those questions, this episode is for you. On today's show, I interview Colleen Hindsley, a woman who spent more than 20 years as an advertising executive and recently left the corporate world behind to focus on her creative life. We discuss the pivotal moment in her life that occurred when she talked to Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic. And we talked about how your creativity can be used to your advantage and what Colleen learned about her weirdness in the workplace. She drops the quote "What makes you strange is also what makes you powerful" and then I swooned for the rest of the interview. Even though this was not her quote, the fact that our conversation went in this direction was more than exciting. She also gives tips for women interested in taking the leap from the full-time corporate life to a self-employed creative life that includes s

Compelling stories are all around us, but how do you find them? When you need to put together a speech or presentation that sells, negotiates, or persuades, telling stories will make a deep impact on your audience. In today's episode, you'll not only learn how to find topics and stories in your everyday life, but how to attach meaning and make an emotional connection through them. My guest, Karen Friedman, is an executive communication coach, syndicated columnist, speaker, and author of best-seller Shut Up and Say Something and newly released Ordinary People: Extraordinary Lessons. Following two decades as a major market television news reporter, she founded Karen Friedman Enterprises to help professionals become more compelling communicators. Karen shares the process she uses to find stories, gives helpful tips to be more observant, and goes over the elements all good stories have. She even tells us about some of her own mistakes and how she was able to recover. If you think you don't have good stories to te

In last week's episode, we celebrated a year of podcasting by going behind the scenes of the Speaker Sisterhood, a network of public speaking clubs for women that I founded last year. Today we're going to continue that adventure by listening to speeches given by three members of the Northampton, Massachusetts club. You'll hear about zen and tango from Laura Brooks, osteoporosis and climate change from Carla Becker, and creativity from Lynn Simonds. These speeches were recorded on Monday, June 5th, 2017 in one of our regular meetings. The interviews you'll hear after each speech were recorded later that week and I'm excited to share each woman's reflections, growth areas, and words of wisdom. If you'd like to comment on this episode, feel free to email me! Angela@speakersisterhood.com Also! If you're ready to start your public speaking journey, check out a Speaker Sisterhood club. We have in-person clubs and a brand new virtual club launching in July. You can learn more at www.speakersisterhood.com  Enjoy! --

In my special 50th episode and 1 year anniversary of the podcast, I'm taking you on a magical tour of the Speaker Sisterhood. The Speaker Sisterhood is a network of public speaking clubs for women and a company I founded last year. Until now, what happened in the sisterhood stayed in the sisterhood. On today's episode, you'll get a rare peek into one of our meetings and hear speeches from Amber Ladley and Sandra Costello, both members of the Speaker Sisterhood of Northampton, MA. If you have an interest in becoming a better public speaker, you'll get advice from two women who are in the trenches of learning this skill right now! You'll also hear more about their journey and what they are learning about themselves through this process. As a bonus, I also describe more of what it's been like for me to start this business and why it's so important. If you're ready for an exclusive look behind the scenes of the Speaker Sisterhood, hit play and let's go!  If you're ready to get your public speaking journey started

Do you use the words "like," "so," and "um" more than you'd like? If so, this episode will teach you how to avoid using these words so you can speak with more confidence and impact. Whether you're preparing for an upcoming presentation, interview, or speech, you'll learn strategies to avoid the use of filler words and create a better experience for you and your audience. Today's guest is Audrey Mann Cronin, an acknowledged communications expert in the tech industry, a women’s advocate, writer, creator of community, Our Digital Daughters, and CEO/founder of Say It Media, Inc.  Now that soft skills like oral communication accounts for the single greatest skill gap, she was motivated to create mobile app LikeSo: Your Personal Speech Coach to empower all of us to be better speakers. This app not only tracks your use of filler words, but helps you improve how you speak! Follow her on Twitter @MannCronin and for LikeSo, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @LikeSoApp. LikeSo in the App Store: http://apple.co/1QBuByY

Who are you when you're on stage? Who are you when meeting someone new? What about when you're alone? If you ever feel like you might be wearing a "personality mask" to get through certain situations, you will love today's episode. My guest, Alex Bynum, is the founder of Empowher You: A Healing Center for Women located in Boston, Massachusetts. She is is also a certified spiritual guide, professional healer, and meditation instructor. We discuss what the personality mask is, why it exists, and what removing it can do for you. Through our conversation, she shares five strategies to help you abandon this mask and connect with the real you. We dig into how these strategies work and what they might look like if you were to apply them in your own life, key questions to ask yourself, and how to get started. If you are having trouble locating the real you and would like to build a stronger connection with your audience, your friends, and yourself, this episode will show you how. You can learn more about Alex Bynum a

Women are good negotiators. We advocate for our friends, our children, and our loved ones. But, often, when it comes to negotiating on our own behalf, especially when it comes to salary and speaking fees, we struggle. We are not as confident talking about ourselves. Dorrie Sieburg is Program Manager for AAUW’s salary negotiation workshops, AAUW Work Smart and AAUW Start Smart. Using the lens of the gender pay gap, their workshops empower women with the skills and confidence they need to successfully negotiate their salary and benefits. Dorrie has trained thousands of women over 9 years on college campuses, and in cities and communities across the country to ask for and receive the salary they deserve. In today's episode, Dorrie shares some of her negotiation tips, where women often go wrong in negotiating, and how to be effective at advocating for yourself. If you're looking for more confidence when asking for money to speak, setting consulting fees, or for your next salary, you won't want to miss this episod

As speakers, we are also content creators. But are we doing it effectively? Writing a speech, putting together a blog or social media post, assembling a book, creating a course, and recording a podcast all fall under the umbrella of content creation. If you're speaking, you're likely thinking about content constantly and wondering how to repurpose it, how to create it faster, and most importantly, if it's what your customers actually care about. In today's episode, learn 5 tricks to easily build and repurpose content your customers love and you love to deliver. Some of this advice I learned the hard way and some of it changed my life overnight. I hope you find something in this episode that not only helps with the creation process, but also transforms the way you approach speaking. Enjoy! *Note: I am putting together another Q&A episode. Have a question about public speaking? Email me at angela@speakersisterhood.com and I may feature it on the show.** --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotif

Public speaking isn't just about what you say, it's also about what you think. In today's episode, I interview Linda Ugelow, a public speaking and performing coach who helps entrepreneurs and professionals overcome their self-consciousness and nerves so they can be freely expressive in meetings, on video or on stage. She has a Master's in Expressive Therapy and has taught improvisation forms of movement for over 25 years. We discuss her methods for helping new speakers get over their fear of speaking and how to create new neural pathways to create a better experience on stage. Linda has built her own signature program that helps speakers of all levels gain more confidence, feel more connected to themselves, and build better presentations. You'll hear how she discovered the need for this work through her own experiences and the type of people who have benefited from what she does. If you deal with negative self-talk when thinking about or performing a speech, this episode is for you! Learn more about linda at

Do you wish you could decode people? Do you want a formula for charisma? Do you want to know exactly what to say to your boss, your date or your networking partner? You need to know how people work. My guest today is Vanessa Van Edwards, a human behavior investigator. She studies the hidden forces that drive our behavior patterns in her lab—and she’s cracked the code. In her new book, Captivate, she shares a wealth of valuable shortcuts, systems and behavior hacks for taking charge of interactions at work, at home, and in any social situation. These aren’t the people skills you learned in school. This is the first comprehensive, science backed, real life manual on human behavior and a completely new approach to building connections. We discuss Vanessa's new book and how public speakers can use her research and findings to be better on stage. Her advice is insightful, easy to try, and game changing. Check out more of her resources at www.scienceofpeople.com/podcast. Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://

Chris Landry has been telling stories professionally for 15+ years. When he worked as a fundraiser in non-profits, he found out that if he told a story about who the money was helping, it increased the amount donors gave. He took his knack for storytelling and started Landry Communications, a firm that helps mission-driven organizations tell their stories with more impact. In today's episode, Chris shares the mistakes people make when telling a story, the steps to craft an interesting story from your own life, how to use slides effectively to add to your story, how to infuse stories when your presentations are data-driven, and much more. If you think your stories are boring or lacking an edge, this episode will help you discover what makes your experiences worth talking about. You can learn more about Chris' work at www.christopherlandry.com.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/claim-the-stage-podcast/support

Howdy, friends! I'm back this week with another installment of Q&A. This is my third episode like this (see episode 10 + 25 for the others) and I'm answering YOUR questions! Today I answer a question about how to deal with negative feedback and go deep into all types of feedback and what to do with it. (Where was this advice when I really needed it?!) I also cover a lighter topic, like what to wear on stage so you add to your presentation rather than take away from it. I even address a question about how to raise your hand for the first time and I tell you about a huge milestone that happened in my own life this morning! Talk about timely. Lastly, I take a question about how to build leadership and communication skills if you're in a job that doesn't offer that type of training. Get ready for lots of stories, slightly zany ideas, and lots of public speaking advice on today's episode of Claim the Stage. If you want to submit a question for a future Q&A episode, email me at angela@speakersisterhood.com.

In today's episode, you'll get to hear a unique approach to interviewing - the double interview! You'll hear from Pam Victor, professional improviser and founder of Happier Valley Comedy School in western Massachusetts, as she interviews me for her podcast, Conversations with Funny Feminists, and I interview her for this podcast. It's a 2-for-1 special and you're invited. We talk all things public speaking, how improv can help you manage your fear, one easy strategy to go from stressed out to easeful, how to bring your unique voice to your presentations, and so much more. If you want to laugh alongside two women who are helping others find their voice through their work on stage, you will love this episode! Find out more about Pam Victor at www.happiervalley.com and be sure to check out her podcast for more conversations with funny feminists. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/claim-the-stage-podcast/support

Kit Pang says if he wrote a book, it would be called From Introvert to Extrovert. He generously shares his story of going from shy teenager to curious and determined entrepreneur in the field of public speaking. Just last year, he decided to refocus his career to help public speakers build their skills on stage and market themselves so they stand out. He shares how he is building his brand and gives helpful tips for building yours. Kit’s hustle is inspiring and his stories are both informative and transformational. If you’re a new speaker starting out and looking for some ideas to get your name out there, this episode is sure to help! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/claim-the-stage-podcast/support