Whether you are a woman in politics or business, the road to success is markedly smoother for women who possess solid communication and presentation skills. Unlike her male counterpart, a woman at the head of any room has the added burden of being on display when they give a presentation, headline a speech, or begin their opening remarks in a political debate. And no other woman in recent memory has been scrutinized more for her presentation style than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders or former Gov. Clinton strayed from her signature bright colors to don an outfit appropriate for a political candidate on a debate stage less than hours after a tragedy; in this case, the terrorist attacks in Paris, France.

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Men and women face the same fears of public speaking
Photograph by great photographer Yann Boyer, www. But we do not live in a perfect world, not even here in Tuscany where I am writing these words down, and we are all aware that woman have a tougher time to make their way to the top in business than their male counterparts. And I think that we are also aware that women actually do present in way that is different from what men do on stage. This is a tough question and most of my colleagues are wise enough to avoid this topic in their books and on their websites. Well, I will try to do better.
1. Structure is your friend. (But you can still improvise.)
Why is it that some women make it seem so effortless, while others are scared to death of getting up in front of a crowd? There are things that can help a lot if you are not feeling good about your presentation experiences. What message did the audience take away? If she achieved the goal of the presentation, she was effective. Here is one of my hot tips for delivering an effective presentation while lowering any anxiety. Check back in a future issue for more! If you are interested, passionate and truly care about your topic, you have the best chance of getting your audience to care. If they care, they can connect. If they connect, you can make an impact. You can be effective.
Perhaps the most sought after advice about public speaking is overcoming the fear of it. In this article, Emma speaks of how this fear is shared by both men and women , but women still face other hurdles when it comes to speaking in work environments. Given I grew up in a family that encouraged me to speak only when spoken to, as an adult, public speaking was one of my biggest fears. Luckily, in my chosen career as a designer, I could hide behind my screen. One of the best tips I received was to reframe my nerves into excitement and use that energy in my presentation. Incredibly, by facing my biggest fear, I found my confidence. However when it comes to gender specific challenges I wanted to find out more. I spoke to a couple of my colleagues who specialise in helping women build their presentation skills, including Dr. Louise Mahler. In response, under stress, some women throw their energy into their upper body, constricting their vocal mechanism, turning it into screaming or whining, exacerbating the problem.