Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson: communication coaching for humble leaders

How do we find the courage, or the skill, to speak up for issues we feel strongly about when there is a real risk of consequences?
That’s exactly what I’m exploring in this episode.
I’ve recently decided to focus my ‘change the world’ energies into one cause - housing affordability - and in doing so I’ve had to confront my concerns about negative consequences.
Being seen as ‘political’.
Being seen as a left-wing hippie (proud to be one, if I’m honest).
Potentially losing work because of my views.
There can be real risks that need to be managed when we speak up, so I’m sharing the process, the thinking, that I’m using to feel ‘safe enough’ to speak up.
Listen in to hear:
Why ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ is shitty advice

How I’m both amplifying others’ voices as well as speaking up myself

How I assess the risk of speaking up, and then manage those risks (not eliminate them)

Why being mindful of, and speaking into, nuance and complexity is important

How to NOT get caught up in well-meaning but not productive moral outrage and righteous indignation

How I’m ‘practising’ in lower risk environments

Why I’m choosing housing affordability out of all the other causes I care about

Other episodes mentioned:
174 - How Personal Is Too Personal
170 - How To Make A Difference Over The Long Term
171 - Managing Conflict & Disagreements - 

You can follow and DM me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/catmatson/
And you can get into a deeper discussion on substack - https://catmatson.substack.com/

If you overthink or second guess how you're going to express yourself in team meetings, this episode is for you.
In our reluctance to NOT appear 'bossy' we sometimes overthink our messages, try to facilitate a discussion when really, our recommendation is appropriate and prioritise consensus over getting things done.
Inspired by a real conversation in my Communicate with Impact program, in this episode I'm sharing some practical and mindset tips to help you say what you want to say, with authority and credibility, without sounding pushy, bossy without feeling awkwardly assertive.
Listen in to hear:
Mindset shifts for confident recommendations
How to own your expertise in meetings
Language hacks to soften any potential harshness
Moving from asking for permission to making direct recommendations
The impact of imposter syndrome on speaking up

Other episodes mentioned: # 7 - Why Me? Overcoming 'I'm Not Good Enough'

Get my FREE How To Stop Rambling Masterclass

I've become very present, recently, to how our work-from-home, online world, is reducing our casual conversations.
And with that, we're losing the key human skills of building relationships through conversations.
In this episode I'm 'working out loud' on this 'trend' ...
Listen in to hear:
my 'evidence' for this diminishing human skill of conversations and connection
why relationships are a key part of a successful (meaningful, satisfying) career or business
how conversations - imperfect, flawed, unscripted - are the building blocks to relationships
why I think we need to consciously create time to build relationships - and not just through asynschronous text and voice notes, or social media comments

I would love to know what you think. Leave a comment below.
I'd also love to answer your questions in a future episode - leave them below DM me on instagram
And if you'd like to better understand why you ramble, and how to manage it, you want my FREE How To Stop Rambling Masterclass

It will probably suprise you to learn that, despite being a communication and speaking coach, my natural tendency is to ramble.
In fact, it was my rambling, and my deep frustration that I wasn't making sense to my colleagues (despite my intelligence and experience) that inspired me to start my business and podcast.
So in this episode I want to share what I now understand to be the causes of my rambling, and how I manage it so I can be an impactful communicator, without stifling my thought process or my personality.
Listen in to hear:
how it was reading about split-brain experiements that was the 'a-ha' for me about what I now understand is verbal processing
the gorgeous experience with a friend that had me realise that verbal processing wasn't necessarily normal (who knew?!?!)
the reasons why verbal processing works for different neurodivergent minds (and what rings true for me)
how I signal to my listeners, when I can, that I am 'thinking out loud', so I can still 'think' but they don't have to follow the (crazy-to-them) details
why feeling like I need to defend my position will also cause me to ramble, differently to the verbal processing style
how I'm learning to trust my contribution without third party credibility
and how, when rambling really isn't ok, I manage to collect my thoughts and land them to move my listener closer to where I want the to be

Also mentioned in this episode.
My FREE SpeakEASY Community Call, Friday 3 July. Click here for details
My IMPACTFUL newsletter - subscribe to be the first to know of future SpeakEASYs and other events
The book: 'Who's In Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain' by Michael Gazzinaga
Want to ask a question? Let me know what resonated? Instagram is the best place to do that, or, if you're listening on Spotify, simply comment here!

What happens when you take a few deep breaths?
You feel better. Every time.
Well, your messages need breathing space, both at a micro-level as well as at a macro-level, and that's what I'm talking about today.
As I click over into the next century(!) of this podcast with episode 201, I'm changing the pace and style (a smidge) of these podcasts.
Listen in to hear:
how the algorithm-obsessed rule of 'consistency' does not mean frequency (even though we've conflated the two)
why any good message needs space around it to breathe and to be received
how I'm approaching visibility and 'findability' while pushing back on the notion of volume
why I think less really is more
my thinking on more 'working out loud' episodes rather than 'teaching' episodes
Mentioned In This Episode
Episode 200! (it's the episode before this one!)
How To Stop Rambling Masterclass - it's free and it's on-demand. Get it here