“Anyone who claims to be a leader must speak like a leader. That means speaking with integrity and truth.”
– Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign highlighted that even accomplished women with proven track records face greater challenges than men in being seen as credible leaders. I’ve examined Harris’ former performance during her Presidential campaign from a rhetorical perspective and saw that she had criticisms coming at her from all sides — ranging from her tone of voice and use of “word salads” to her style of dress. While Hillary Clinton was criticized as “not likable enough” during her campaign, Harris’ quick laugh and seemingly easy grin were criticized as frivolous. At the same time, her intellect and prosecutorial directness was also criticized. These superficial judgements demonstrate America’s continued skepticism about women’s ability to lead.
What can we learn from Harris’ loss? If you ask me, Harris’ predicament was an example of the double bind women speakers face when they seek to advance in a male-dominated culture. A recent article in Harvard Business Review defines this double bind as the fine line between toughness and niceness that women are forced to navigate. Women are criticized for being too feminine or too masculine, not assertive enough or too assertive, too friendly or not friendly enough. One lesson for women is to avoid internalizing negative feedback. Be prepared for the possibility of skepticism about your abilities and even pushback during the Q & A. Accept that not everyone will like you or your remarks the first time around. See your first pitch as a “pilot” to learn from. Critiques can fuel your fire to remain tenacious or to simply find a new audience.
OVERCOMING THE DOUBLE BIND PHENOMENON
Before organizing and outlining their presentation, women speakers must first consider how they will establish their credibility and demonstrate their expertise and past successes to convince the audience they have a valid and valuable point to share. Why? Men start their presentations with credibility, but women speakers must earn it, and they can gain credibility as leaders if they understand the listeners’ attitudes and the reality of the double standard. Then women speakers will be tough minded in the way they open and close their remarks.
To begin with, women speakers need to immediately present themselves as thought leaders, people who know more than their listeners do about their subject. For too long, solutions to complex problems have been offered by older white men. Women need to convince listeners that what they have to say is a fresh take on old and emerging issues, and their solutions will be useful to listeners.
When I speak at conferences and sense that an audience of strangers is curious about my background, I’ve been known to start by saying, “What I’m about to say will change your life.” Call it chutzpah, but nevertheless, people do sit up and pay attention. Of course, by doing so, I’ve raised their expectations, so I’d better deliver the goods!
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
To feel confident, don’t leave anything to chance. Play detective and know who you’re speaking to. Talk to board leaders, managers, investors, or even the press to understand what’s on people’s minds. Figure out:
- What’s worrying them?
- What are their values?
- How do people describe the organizational culture?
- How are shifts in the outside environment forcing the organization to change?
Given your background, skills, and prior successes, imagine how you might meet their needs. Offer them a few different solutions for meeting those needs. The best feedback I can receive after my remarks is hearing, “I never would have thought of that!”
OPEN STRONG, CLOSE STRONG
Start your presentation with a quote from someone the audience already respects, such as a recognized expert, scholar, or innovator that relates to your key message. Rif off that quote with a personal story that connects to it, or highlight its relevance with a current example of something occurring in society, the environment, government, or something shocking. You could even emphasize the quote’s significance by referencing a timely headline to give your opening an added layer of immediacy and impact.
To help my readers, I’ve prepared 25 great quotes by civil rights leaders, celebrities, political leaders, and those with extraordinary accomplishments. Your closing is a time to summarize your key points but also a moment to inspire the listeners to act. For instance, as Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when we came up with them.”
FIND THE “WE”
Finally, highlight what you share in common with your listeners. It could be your background, education, training, travel, lifestyle, age, etc. Call it a #WETOO mentality. For example, when I spoke to college executives, I shared my own experiences as the founder of a college campus. When speaking to young women lawyers, I shared my articles on the stress of juggling diverse and competing roles. Additionally, I presented research on “the mommy trap” and the underlying reasons why many women don’t advance to partner. It’s not easy to sort out the many groups that form the collective “we” in an organization much less in the country, but the successful speaker can relate to diverse groups she faces. People want reassurance that it’s not a “canned presentation.” You want your audience to walk away thinking, “Oh, she gets it.”
WHEN WOMEN SUCCEED, EVERYONE SUCCEEDS (INCLUDING THE SPEAKER)
Stanford research confirms that women entrepreneurs must be twice as good as any man to convince listeners that their pitch is worthy of funding and they often face longer timelines to secure investment. Women deserve a chance to be successful because CEO magazine reports that women in business outperform their male peers and set their organizations up for future growth and success. Research at Harvard confirms that certain traits and abilities more common to women make them more successful as leaders than men. For example, women can build strong rapport and trust with their teams and within departments. Starting a company is one thing but sustaining it by retaining talent demands strong communication skills. How much more research do we need for competent women to seamlessly advance into top jobs or gain investment capital in equal numbers with men?
If your presentation is successful, there are at least three positive benefits:
- You’ll become a role model for other women who might have been reticent to speak up. They’ll learn from the way you presented yourself, developed your key points, and related to your audience.
- You’ll increase your visibility to those in the C-Suite who are seeking fresh talent by your poise, presence, ability to present an argument and debate issues.
- You achieve your goal! That might mean a leadership role, funding, a promotion to the C-Suite, or making partner.
And one bonus benefit is feeling that adrenalin high that comes when you know you’ve done your best!
MOTIVATE YOUR LISTENERS TO “DO SOMETHING”
In these dynamic times when change is the only constant, psychologists confirm that people still resist change, preferring to do business in the same old ways. But “you can’t drive a car looking out the rearview mirror,” as the saying goes.
Society faces an array of complex challenges never seen before or imagined. Former First Lady Michelle Obama encouraged us to attack them, not by wringing our hands and waiting for the perfect moment to act, but by doing something. And when you know what that “something” is, step up. Don’t pass up a chance to bring people together around a common goal. It might be funding a start-up, rebranding, reorganizing, improving cybersecurity, or the hybrid workplace. As Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”