Something I’ll always stand by is this:
“You don’t have to figure it out on your own and you don’t have to do it alone!”
And it’s true. It’s why we have The Live Love Laugh Lounge – a safe space for women who are either living their WHY, or are still on their journey to finding their WHY.
Why women only, you ask?
Women thrive when in a community. It’s in our DNA! We tend to feel more authentic, have a sense of belonging, and everything feels better when shared – whether it’s a problem, an achievement, any activity really.
Most importantly of all, we’re able to empower each other.
You don’t have to just take my word for it! The electricity and positive energy that comes from some of the female exclusive events we’ve held can be off the charts! And because of this, it got me thinking…
Why do we need more women speaking on stage?
Women need representation in all work fields. Young girls need to grow up knowing that they can truly be anything they want to be, rather than just a ‘housewife’ who looks after everyone. And that might include being a coach, or a TEDx speaker.
But whether they choose to grow up and become a speaker or not, great speeches are inspirational, and they can really change you. Take me for example – my life changed completely when I watched Andy Harrington up on stage. He asked me (and the rest of the audience): “If you were to die tomorrow, who would mourn your loss?” It hit me like a truck, and gave me the motivation I needed to get my a** into gear!
It just goes to show that anyone, at any age, can be impacted by a great speech – not just children.
‘But Cheryl, why women in particular?’, I hear you ask. Everyone has the potential to be a great speaker of course. After all, it was a man who inspired me all those years ago!
However, statistically speaking, you’re much more likely to find a man speaking up on stage than a woman.
This alone, is a big enough problem, since it only adds to the confidence gap (read here!). The less women you see up on stage, the more you question your potential, and fear that you may be judged if you were to go up on stage ourselves.
Now, going back to that young girl – imagine she only ever saw male speakers. Then, one day, she met a female speaker for the first time. Do you think that would make a different impact on her?
How women influence
Women have certain skills that help them excel in public speaking, some skills that can be more effective than most men’s. For example, women are more empathetic.
Having more understanding over someone’s emotions makes you appear as more trustworthy and relatable – which is a key thing for audiences to feel.
Knowing that the woman up on stage understands how you feel makes the speech so much more impactful!
And women also come with another superpower – feminine influence. To put it simply, feminine influence helps female speakers inspire and build relationships within their audience.
Now I’m not saying that people are born as naturally great public speakers – no matter who you are, it takes time, practice, and pushing through a lot of fears.
But women DO prefer a win-win approach, which I believe is what helps motivate them enough to become some of the best coaches, speakers and therapists. They don’t want to give up too easily, they want to push through, and try and try again.
As someone who used to coach both men and women, I often found that the women had many more fears than the men did. Fears make you vulnerable, and whilst they can hold you back, I also believe that they can be strength, something that can encourage you to keep going and overcome.
Now, in a world where there are currently way less female speakers, wouldn’t it be great to see more people inspired by more powerful women?
So – woman or not – what’s stopping YOU from stepping in?
Because you don’t feel confident enough? Because you don’t know what you’re doing? Or maybe because you don’t think you have a story to share?
You could have an identical twin, who has gone through the exact same life experiences as you – and even they would deliver a different speech to you. It’s how we work – no human mind is the same, and we all view and react to things differently.
So, with that in mind, no one can tell your story but you. Even if you wrote your story down on a piece of paper and gave it to someone to read aloud, they wouldn’t be able to share the emotions that came from you. Only YOU can do that.
My mission is to help more and more women build bridges across the confidence gap, to help them not only feel inspired, but to be able to inspire others too. And I believe that the best way to do this is through teamwork.
How you can get involved!
This is why we hold our Strictly Come Speaking events – exclusive women-only events where Jane Leonard and I encourage and train new speakers, as well as helping our fellow women live and share their WHY. We also help them harness their feminine influence that I mentioned earlier!
On 26th November, we’ll be hosting our next event – and I encourage you to come join us if you can make it, as I guarantee you’ll be inspired by some of the amazing women we’ll be having up on stage! And who knows, maybe you might become the next one!
Click here to get your FREE ticket, and I hope to see you there!
Cheryl xx
PS – The genetic blueprint really helps with understanding who you are and what you are here to do – fill in this 2-minute questionnaire and I will send you your own ‘genetic blueprint’ which will help you understand yourself so you can begin to find your why! You will find it here.
PPS – If the link doesn’t work for any reason (sometimes technology has a bad day) then email me on cheryl@cheryl-chapman.com and I will sort it out for you!
PPS – If you liked this blog and want to read more blogs surrounding female empowerment, you can find last week’s here: ‘The Season of The Witch‘
“I’m on a global mission to help 10 million disheartened souls, who are at a crossroads, to STOP asking why me? And START saying why not me!”