The Power Of Speaking Up

We are continuing our ‘Power Of’ series with a topic that is relevant for all whether it be in our personal lives, our professional environment or in the public domain (think, social media, politics, social awareness…). When to speak up and how to use our voice in a skilful way so we can create impact.

Don’t we all find ourselves in moments, confronted with a situation where we feel the need to express our opinion yet keep silent. We let the moment pass. Afterwards we are left with frustration, as if we were untrue to our authentic self. And then weeks later we realize our opinion was shared by others or could have helped the situation. Or we just rest in the conviction that our opinion was probably not valid enough. Sometimes we share our opinion, but in a hesitant way. With a soft or doubtful voice. We realize our message lacked impact. Or we blurt out our opinion without considering the full impact of your words. People tend to misinterpret our message and we don’t fully succeed in getting the essence across.

Why do we do this? Why do we not always speak up loud and clear when we have something to say? The persuasion that nobody cares what we think? Fear of looking like a fool? Wanting to only share if our message is perfectly substantiated?

The reality is: we all naturally have a powerful voice. One opinion is not more valuable than another. So that is why we are hosting this workshop: to help you find and use your powerful voice. To have more impact on ourselves and on our environment.

Part 1: unlocking your voice

Believe it or not you are not born an opera singer. Opera singers just happen to have found the power which lies within them and leant how to play their vocal cords. Singing is about removing blockages in our energy so it can flow freely. When our energy flows, we are more confident and able to unlock our power. And our voice. Quite literally. We are all born singers, we just need to find our own type of songs. In the first part of the evening Martine Reyners (a professional soprano and singing/public speaking coach) will tell us her story about how singing helped her to reconnect to herself after depression. She will share her interesting view on the link between voice, energy and personal flow. And she will lead a group singing workshop which hopefully leave you surprised about the power which lies within ready to be discovered and used.

Part 2: speaking up skilfully

Once Martine has sparked the energy in the room we continue with an interactive (yes, get ready to speak up!) panel conversation, led by the passionate Evi Kahle (expert in the human dynamics of change, culture and women’s leadership, providing content on speaking up in the personal domain) who is joined by Rosemary Stone (Global Head of Human Resources at SWIFT, providing content on speaking up in the professional domain ) and Stéphanie Duval (content marketing consultant for lifestyle brands and social media expert, providing content on speaking up in the public domain). These three power bullets have the professional background and personal experience to dive in deep. They will share their insights and personal experiences on the value of speaking up in different domains. Furthermore the conversation will focus on what it means to speak up skilfully (meaning understanding the impact of our words and emotions and how to present our ideas so that we are engaging the thoughts of others in a constructive and value-adding way). You will go home with practical key take-aways on how to speak up skilfully in almost every situation.

The setting...

Because this event is about power, we found a beautiful yet rough industrial venue with an interesting acoustic. The red brick walls and steel details will invite us to unlock the strength we hold within. We have selected a tasty walking dinner which will tickle your fancy and will add some feminine delicate touches to balance out the metal masculinity.

Join us for a chitty chatty (en)chanting evening.