Long before I founded Women Speakers Association, I built my career in sales.

My history in sales had me spend years meeting with people, asking questions, making presentations and building relationships. When people hear that someone was successful in sales, they often imagine a person who was very good at talking. My presentations mattered, although every conversation depended on how carefully I listened.

I had to understand what mattered to the person sitting across from me. I needed to hear the concern behind the question and recognize when someone needed more information, more time or simply the confidence that I was telling them the truth. People could sense very quickly whether I was genuinely interested in helping them or only interested in making a sale.

Trust shaped every conversation.

I never wanted someone to say yes (I still don’t today) because I had pressured them into it. I wanted them to feel comfortable with me, confident in what I was offering and clear about why it mattered to them. The relationship mattered beyond the transaction, and my integrity mattered long after the meeting ended.

Those years taught me something I still carry into every part of my work today. People may initially notice what you say, but they remember how they felt while they were listening to you.

Our words carry more than information

When we share an idea through an article, a book, a presentation or a social media post, we are guiding someone through our way of seeing the world.

The words matter, but so does the voice within them.

When I read something you have written, I want to know what you have seen. I want to understand what years of working with people have taught you. I want to hear the thought you have been hesitant to say aloud because it matters deeply to you.

I want your voice to guide my mind as I read.

That voice helps me understand what you mean, where you are taking me and why I should keep listening. It carries your personality, your beliefs and the experiences that have shaped you.

I want to hear your voice in my head

Keeping a woman’s voice has been a fundamental value of Voices of the 21st Century from the very beginning.

Over the years, many of our authors have worried that their chapter was not good enough. Some were concerned about their grammar. Others wondered whether their writing sounded professional enough or whether their story was important enough to belong in a book.

I have often said to them, “People need to hear your voice in their heads as they read.”

Editing gives the writing clarity and helps the reader follow the story. It should also protect the author’s tone, expressions and natural way of communicating. When a woman opens the finished book, I want her to recognize herself on the page.

I also want the reader to feel that the author is right there, telling her the story.

That is where connection begins.

People know when we are really present

My years in sales taught me how quickly people recognize genuine attention. They know when you are listening. They know when you care about what they are saying, and they remember how they felt in the conversation.

I wanted to understand the person in front of me. What mattered to them? What were they trying to accomplish? What was holding them back? Trust grew because people felt heard. They knew I would tell them the truth and give them the space to make the right decision.

I believe the same thing happens when we share our message.

People can feel when we are truly present in our words. Our personality and care come through. We might tell a story that is a little untidy because real life usually is. We may admit that we changed our mind, learned something the hard way or are still working through the answer.

Those are often the words people remember because they can feel the person within them.

Since founding Women Speakers Association, I have had the privilege of listening to women from around the world explain why their work matters. Many believe they need a stronger title, a more impressive introduction or a perfectly rehearsed message before anyone will take them seriously.

Then we begin talking. (If you’ve ever had a conversation with me, you are probably laughing right now because you know…)

I hear the story that led her to this work and I hear about the client she has never forgotten. I hear the emotion in her voice when she describes the problem she feels called to change and I hear the wisdom she has gained through years of experience, even when she does not recognize it as wisdom yet.

That is the woman I want others to meet.

Your experience belongs in your message

One of the easiest things to overlook is what we know because we have lived it for so long.

We assume other people already understand it. We dismiss a story because it happened years ago or decide that the lesson is too simple to share. We can become so focused on presenting ourselves professionally that we lose the warmth and conviction that made us want to speak in the first place.

I have done this too. There have been times when I have read something prepared for me and thought, “Yes, that sounds good, but it does not sound like me.”

When that happens, I picture the woman I am trying to reach. I imagine that we are sitting together over coffee and ask myself what I would actually say to her.

That brings me back to my own voice.

It is a voice built by years in sales, by working within Women Speakers Association and by listening to thousands of women who wanted to be seen and heard. It also carries something my father told me when I was young: “You can be whoever you want to be.”

Those words shaped how I see possibility, both in myself and in other women. They are part of the reason I believe so deeply that every woman has something worth saying.

Let your voice lead the reader

Before you share your next post, article or presentation, read it aloud.

Can you hear yourself in it? Will the people who know you recognize you? Does it guide the reader toward the idea, feeling or possibility you want her to understand?

Your voice carries years of experience. Let it lead us somewhere meaningful.

I would love to know what you want people to feel or understand when they hear your voice. Tell me in the comments.