163: A Feminist Approach to Public Speaking with Carol Cox

As I’ve worked with nearly 200 women over the past few years, I’ve seen how the same things trip us up, as well as what liberates us as women - our voices and our stories.

Have you ever attended an event, heard a speaker, and thought, “I could give just as good as, if not a better, presentation. Why am I not up there?”

Have you ever shied away from submitting to speak at a conference or pitching yourself for a paid workshop because you don’t feel like you’re expert enough?

Lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, the critical inner voice can all prevent us from putting ourselves out there or from talking about what we really want to talk about.

I’ve been a self-proclaimed feminist since high school and have Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in women’s history and gender studies.

Yet, until recently, I haven’t seen how feminism applies to how we show up as speakers.

In this episode, I’m sharing the beginnings of a feminist framework I’m developing around public speaking.

Being a feminist speaker has nothing to do with your content - you don’t have to be talking about feminist theory or only to women.

It’s about truly finding our voices as women that have been buried under the scripts we think we’re supposed to act from - and making room for the voices that haven’t had opportunities to be heard.

It’s about relationship and connection, equality and liberation.

Listen in to hear 3 ways you can start adopting a feminist approach to your speaking now.

I’ll do a future episode where I dig more into the feminist framework I’m developing, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/163

Sign up for our free 7-day challenge #ChoosingWomensVoices at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/challenge or text the word SPEAKING to 33-777.

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox

Join our Master Your Speaking program at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/mastery.

Resources Mentioned:

• Book co-authored by Carol Gilligan: “Darkness Now Visible: Patriarchy's Resurgence and Feminist Resistance”
• Emma Gonzalez’s March for Our Lives speech: https://youtu.be/u46HzTGVQhg
• Article on political scientist Rachel Bitecofer: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/02/06/rachel-bitecofer-profile-election-forecasting-new-theory-108944

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 91: Visibility Works: From Local Speaking to TED.com to a Book with Tammy Lally
• Episode 127: Developing Confidence in Public Speaking
• Episode 162: Why We’re #ChoosingWomensVoices – and You Should Too with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable