SHOW NOTES

Amplify with Jess is produced by Earfluence and brought to you by Mic Drop Workshop.

TRANSCRIPT

Jess Ekstrom – 00:00:02:

Welcome to Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, a show designed to help women get out of their head and into their zone of influence. Happy Monday, everyone. Here’s some food for thought to start your week. The first speech that I ever delivered was for my fifth grade graduation at Cornelius Elementary. I specifically remember my mom taking me to Kohl’s before so I could pick out a fancy graduation speaker outfit. And it was when she let my dreams come true and I got to wear my first training bra, which any girl listening knows when she was allowed to wear her first training bra, even though there was nothing there. I remember I wore these like black capris with white flowers on them and platform shoes and this white top with these like lace cap sleeves. And I thought I was… The moment. And other than that, I don’t remember what I said in my fifth grade graduation speech. I don’t know whether I bombed or had a Reese Witherspoon legally blonde, we did it moment. I don’t remember if people laughed or cried or neither. I don’t remember how long I spoke for or if I looked up once from like the shaking piece of paper in my hands. I don’t remember anything else about that day except the overwhelming feeling of this is where I’m supposed to be. I don’t know. Maybe it is how Kelly Slater felt when he caught his first wave or Serena Williams felt the first time she swung a tennis racket. It wasn’t, if I can go back and think about it, it wasn’t that I like loved or craved attention or had all eyes on me. I just remember being really validated when someone was like, well, what do you have to say? Giving a speech, whether it’s formal or informal, gives you the opportunity to answer that question. What do you have to say? And believe it or not, we all have something to say. We all have lived experiences that, when shared, we can help other people navigate through their own lived experiences. It really doesn’t matter your age, your level of success, your education, what your LinkedIn profile says, or whether you can pronounce Worcestershire, Worcestershire sauce, or whatever you say that. We all have something to say, and we all have something that we can learn from others, which is why I so deeply love the art of public speaking and sharing what we know to be true is so important. And as a kid, we know this. Kids typically don’t fear public speaking or sharing what’s on their mind because they haven’t been taught to think about what others are thinking of them. They haven’t been taught that maybe limits exist or maybe I’ll fail. And so you can tell that when you walk into a room of first graders versus a room of CEOs, I mean, hands just shoot up in the room of first graders because they all have something to say. But we recently made a super interesting discovery at Mic Drop Workshop. We realized that when we use words like storytelling or presenting, we get more women signing up for our resources. But when we use words or phrases like speaking or command the room or powerful communicator, we get less interest, which is fascinating to me because we only exist at Mic Drop Workshop to help women become great speakers and valuable thought leaders. So women are 100% our audience. And the fact that they resonate more with like storytelling and presenting versus speaking is interesting to me. What is it that is in our brains about speaking that we feel is scarier than storytelling? I want women to know that they can speak, they can command a room, and they can be a powerful communicator while storytelling, presenting, and leaning into the things that make us women and make us who we are. It’s not an either or. It’s a both and. And if you type into Google women’s voices, one of the first autofills is are annoying. For centuries, women have been told to talk less, be less, and take up less space. And it is time to change that. I’m going to leave you with this quote. Do you actually fear public speaking or do you fear being seen? Speak to influence, not to spotlight, and that will diminish your fears. Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review. And give us a follow at Mic Drop Workshop and at Jess Ekstrom. Coming up on Amplify. With each generation of women that comes up, women are more confident. Women have more role models to inspire them and to model themselves after. It is not a level playing field. And as long as it’s not a level playing field, we have to up our game. We have to sharpen the way we speak. We have to learn to be confident, decisive, authoritative. So that we can override all of those prejudices. This episode was edited and produced by EarFluence. And I’m Jess Ekstrom, your host. Remember that you deserve the biggest stage. So let’s find out how to get you there. I’ll see you again soon.