Women’s Presentation Skills

As Women’s History month approaches in March, we are often asked by companies for a program to support their female co-workers. I am so thrilled that this is happening more and more now.

Five years ago, I helped develop a Women’s Presentation Skills Training for GrahamComm. It came about because during our co-ed courses, I had to hold myself back from doing deeper dives with women on that intersection between women’s leadership and presenting.

No longer must I hold back! Our Women’s Presentation Training has quickly become one of our most popular courses. Already hundreds of women have benefitted from it.

When people ask what women learn from this course, I tell them we focus on three main things: 

1. Normalizing our fears

One signature of this course is how we create psychological safety right away. This allows us to really dig into what gets in the way for each presenter. Participants feel safe to be vulnerable and share their fears and stories. We support it with data around women and presenting to normalize what they are feeling or experiencing.

2. Getting out of our way

We all have the power to show up from a place of confidence. To do this, we have participants practice getting out of their own way around these fears. One example is an exercise on confident introductions. Another is focused on skillfully interrupting. It’s incredible to see the energy in the room (or the Zoom) during these exercises! 

3. Tapping into our unique brilliance as women

Powerful presenting comes in many forms, and it may not look like what your male counterparts do. This course intentionally widens the aperture, focuses on showing examples of powerful female presenters, and helps each woman bring her brilliance to the forefront. That’s the magic of this course, which we now do in person and on Zoom.

I can’t help but think of Madeline Albright’s quote that sums it up perfectly: “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent."

By Sarita Vasa, Head Presentation Coach at GrahamComm

"Sarita was superb. She was great at making us interact, a huge part of the learning. She also has a knack for demonstrating in a fashion that creates an instant 'get it,' which is awesome and unusual. I would absolutely use her again.”

— Ken Hahn, CFO of Collective Health