Here’s a LinkedIn article I just published about my work coaching women’s public speaking. NOTE: Although I focused on that particular aspect of my work in this piece, I also still teach singing lessons on occasion. Email me directly if you’d like to try a private singing or public speaking lesson alicia@aliciadara.com
In my job as a professional voice coach, I specialize in working women. In a nutshell, I teach public speaking skills like breath support, pacing, and vocal projection, and help my clients clarify their messaging. I also show them how to push back against acts of everyday sexism, like being interrupted, talked over, and having their ideas co-opted. I do this via group trainings and private lessons.
Everyone has the same basic vocal anatomy: vocal cords, lungs, and diaphragm muscle. How we use them to produce our own voice is a highly individualized process. It involves kinesthetic, mental, and emotional elements that we engage every single day. No two people are alike, and I'm constantly surprised by the myriad variety of human voices. Yet women's voices in particular compel me, because we are constantly moving between how we want to live and what is expected of us. This struggle is reflected in our voices, and if you know how to listen for it, you can learn a lot about what women are truly capable of (spoiler alert: anything!).
I love my job as much as a person can. It takes me into many different industries and businesses, such as tech, law, finance, education, start-ups and social justice. My clients run the gamut from huge enterprise companies (such as Microsoft, where I am currently a vendor), and 3- or 4-person small businesses. In 20+ years I've had the opportunity to observe and interact with thousands of women, and I've come to understand something that I believe is crucial to the continued progress of women in our society.
It's simple. Women's voices are always about women's power: how we feel about our power, how we broadcast our power to the material world, and how the world responds to that power. It's obvious right at this particular moment in our political landscape that when women work collectively and raise our voices, we can accomplish astonishing things. The #MeToo movement is only one example. Women are running for political office in record numbers. We're also drawing attention to the lack of equal representation at the highest levels of business and industry, demanding real change, and creating real solutions. And of course let's not forget equal pay for equal work, a concept that has existed for more than half a century, yet is still not fully enacted into law (or practiced by every employer).
I'm honored to have a front-row seat to these extraordinary events, as women's voices grow stronger than ever. Are you ready to come and join us? For information about the next "Public Speaking Bootcamp for Women" click here.