When we started Women Speakers Association in 2011, we wrote our first blog post and sent it out into the world. Within three weeks, it had reached 500 women in 80 countries.
I remember being amazed by how quickly one message travelled. It confirmed something I have always believed. When a woman has something meaningful to say and finds the courage to share it, her voice can reach farther than she ever imagined.
A great deal has changed since then.
Today, we have more ways to share our voices than we could have imagined 15 years ago. We can publish an article, record a video, host a podcast, speak to an online audience or connect with someone on the other side of the world in seconds.
With all these opportunities, being seen has somehow become more difficult.
I hear this from women all the time. These are accomplished women who have built businesses, written books, spoken on stages, created programs and helped many people. They know their work has value, yet they are finding that the response is different now.
Their posts receive less engagement. Referrals have slowed down. Speaking opportunities are harder to find. The marketing strategies they once relied on are producing fewer results.
After a while, that can become very personal. A woman may begin questioning her message, her business and even herself.
If you have been feeling this way, I want you to know that you are not alone. Your experience has not suddenly lost its value. The way people discover expertise, build trust and make decisions has changed, and many of us are still learning how to respond.
How people decide who to trust
People are surrounded by more content than ever. Every day, they see advice, invitations, videos, programs and promises. They have learned how to scroll quickly and make decisions even faster.
They are paying attention to the people who understand what they are experiencing right now. They want ideas that help them see a problem differently, make a decision or take a useful next step.
This creates an important opportunity for women with real experience.
Research from LinkedIn and Edelman found that 73% of decision-makers consider thought leadership a more trustworthy way to assess an organization’s capabilities than traditional marketing materials. The same research found that 75% had explored a product or service after reading or watching a piece of thought leadership. (LinkedIn and Edelman)
People want to hear from those who have done the work, learned the lessons and developed a meaningful point of view. Many women already have that depth. The challenge is communicating it in a way that connects with what people care about today.
Has your message grown with you?
Our businesses change as we gain experience. The people we serve may change. Our understanding becomes deeper. Sometimes we have changed so gradually that we don’t realize our message is still describing an earlier version of our work.
You may have started as a coach and grown into a trusted advisor. You may have begun speaking about one subject and discovered that your most important message lies somewhere deeper. You may have years of knowledge that people cannot see when they visit your profile or website.
This is one of the questions I believe every experienced woman should ask herself:
Does the way I present myself today reflect who I have become?
It can be difficult to see this in our own businesses. We are so close to our work that we assume people understand the value behind it. We know the years, stories, results and hard-earned lessons that brought us here. Someone discovering us for the first time only sees what we have chosen to show them.
That first impression needs to help her understand what we care about, who we can help and why our work is relevant to her.
This is where speaking and visibility become so important.
Speaking does not always mean standing on a professional stage. Every time you talk about your business, introduce yourself, share an idea, record a video, lead a meeting or participate in a conversation, you are speaking your message.
Visibility should create connection
Over the years, I have seen what happens when women move beyond simply promoting themselves and begin building genuine relationships around their message.
One conversation leads to an introduction. An introduction leads to an invitation, someone remembers your name when an opportunity appears or a person who has followed your work quietly for months finally reaches out.
Much of the response to our visibility happens where we cannot immediately see it. People may read without commenting and they may remember a story without clicking “like.” They may mention your name in a conversation you know nothing about. That is why I do not believe we can measure the value of our voices by the reaction to a single post.
Consistency allows people to know us and clarity helps them understand us. Connection gives them a reason to remember us and visibility leads to conversations, and conversations lead to opportunities.