What if the communication skill that makes things happen isn't the one you practice on a stage?

Here's the problem: most of us think our speaking only counts when we're behind a podium, pitching to investors, or standing on a red dot under a spotlight. So if we're not "speakers" in that sense, we assume we don't need to evolve how we communicate at all.

But that gap is where people stall. It’s in the meetings where you give hard feedback, the moment you have to motivate a team, the conversation where you “manage up” to your boss... that's all speakership too. Most people never name it, let alone focus on it, and put the time in to figure out what comes next.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL LEARN:

• Where the word "speakership" came from, straight from backstage at TEDx Salt Lake City

• How one leader's "speakership" showed up everywhere from the red dot to the Shark Tank to a fishing trip with his kids

• The brain science behind why naming your story matters (hint: narrative coherence and the default mode network)

Speakership rarely happens on a stage. It happens in every other room you walk into.

When you finish listening, I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway from today's episode. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, share it to your Instagram stories, and tag me, @thespeakershiplab!

While you're there, make sure you follow me on Instagram so you can see behind the scenes of how I help leaders make things happen with their words and how you can too.

LEARN MORE FROM MARGARET: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretwattsromney/

Instagram: @thespeakershiplab

OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Speakership Is Leadership (book)

• Speakership is Leadership (audiobook)

• Pat Crowley's TEDx talk / Shark Tank appearance

• Research on narrative coherence and life satisfaction

• McAdams original research, “ Life story coherence and its relation to psychological well-being.”

• MedLink Neurology, Origins and relevance of the default mode network

What if the calm you're looking for in a high-stakes moment isn't about preparing harder, but about stepping back further?

Most of us think that the way through fear is to control every variable: memorize the pitch word for word, run the numbers one more time, rehearse the conversation until it's airtight. So when nerves show up anyway, in front of the board, the sharks, or your own team, it feels like proof you didn't prepare enough.

Here's what Jack Bonneau's story shows instead: the people who handle pressure well aren't the ones who eliminate fear. They're the ones who've learned to zoom out and ask a bigger question than "what if I mess this up?" That shift, from the moment in front of you to the bigger picture around it, is a skill, and it's one you can build.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

• A simple question to ask yourself before a high-stakes moment that cuts through spiraling nerves.

• The reframe that pulls you out from "I have to perform this perfectly" to "look at where I am right now"

• Why letting go of your script and just sharing your story, rather than reciting it, is what actually earns people's trust

• The brain science behind why stepping back, not preparing harder, is what steadies us when the pressure is on

Jack's pattern shows up again and again: something catches his attention, and instead of getting stuck in the moment, he zooms out to see the bigger picture first.

When you finish listening, I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway from today's episode. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, share it to your Instagram stories, and tag me, @thespeakershiplab!

While you're there, make sure you follow me on Instagram so you can see behind the scenes of how I help leaders communicate with clarity, confidence, and connection and how you can too.

CONNECT WITH JACK BONNEAU

LEARN MORE FROM MARGARET: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretwattsromney/ Instagram: @thespeakershiplab

OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Jack's TEDx talks —TEDxBoulder, TEDxCherry Creek

• Jack's Shark Tank appearance

• Ayduk, Ö., & Kross, E. (2010). From a distance: Implications of spontaneous self-distancing for adaptive self-reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(5), 809–829. — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2881638/

• Piff, P. K., Dietze, P., Feinberg, M., Stancato, D. M., & Keltner, D. (2015). Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(6), 883–899. — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25984788/

Trailer — Speakership in the Time of Change

You've built your career on holding a lot of information in your head and using that info to help others. So when a conversation or meeting takes a pivot, and you don't know what to say next, it can feel like proof you don't have what it takes.

Here's what we see: those moments have a structure. Once you can see it, you stop struggling in times of change and start navigating them on purpose. That's what this show exists to teach you.

HERE YOU’LL LEARN:

• What's coming on the show: real communication moments from Margaret's clients, including which words built trust, which lost it, and why

• The idea that pivots and surprises in leadership have a pattern, one we want to show you

• What it sounds like to bring ten thousand hours of communication work out from behind the velvet rope and deliver it to you

The first episodes are coming, so subscribe now wherever you listen.

When you finish listening, I'd love to hear what you're most looking forward to. You can find us on Instagram or LinkedIn.