Unleash Your Presence: Stepping into the Power of Your Voice

“Great speaking is an intimate conversation. You can't be intimate without being seen, and in order to have that great speaking, intimate conversation, you need to let the crowd see you,” explains Lauri Smith, CEO of Voice Matters and author of Your Voice Matters, A Guide to Speaking Soulfully When It Counts. Today, Lauri shares how to unleash your presence by stepping into the power of your voice.

Lauri started off her life very involved in theater. She went on to teach theater, but still felt uncomfortable speaking in front of a crowd or being on camera. When she learned to embrace her voice and be vulnerable, that is when she really stepped into her power. In order to lead and use your voice with authenticity, you have to be willing to be vulnerable and allow others to really see and understand you. When you open your heart to others, people will respond with more open-heartedness in return. It can be scary at first to show your authentic self in this way, but practicing in small safe environments like coaching groups can help you build up the confidence you need to be more open and vocal in the real world.

In order to be a great leader and inspire authentic change, you must learn to speak from a place of authenticity and openness that allows others to really see you. Take down your emotional mask and be willing to have intimate conversations that increase your connectivity with those around you.

• “In order to be understood, we have to let others see us and understand us.” (25:37-25:42 | Lauri)
• “That fight, flight, or freeze thing gets rewritten to, there's something important I have to contribute here and it matters, and I'm not going to die or explode, or they're not going to explode from this potentially intimate connection with many people.” (27:41-28:02 | Lauri)
• “We can call forth more open-heartedness by leading with open-heartedness.” (29:09-29:13 | Lauri)
• “Great speaking is an intimate conversation. You can't be intimate without being seen. And in order to have that great speaking, intimate conversation, you need to let the crowd see you.” (31:16-31:36 | Lauri)