エピソード

  • 638: How to Disagree With a Senior Leader Without Losing Your Nerve (DAY 4)

    638: How to Disagree With a Senior Leader Without Losing Your Nerve (DAY 4)
    2026/10/08

    Access your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide.

    How to Disagree With a Senior Leader Without Losing Your Nerve

    Some leaders disagree so diplomatically that everyone leaves the meeting believing they agreed. Their real opinion appears later in a private conversation—after the opportunity to improve the decision has passed.

    Trust is not built by agreeing with the most powerful person in every meeting. It is built by helping the group make a better decision. Yet many conscientious leaders either soften their point until it disappears or wait so long that frustration makes them sound more defensive than they intended.

    By the end of this short episode you’ll know:

    🇨🇭The Swiss-Army knife question answering framework of Affirm and Add

    🔑How to preserve both respect and candor—without weakening your contribution with disclaimers that invite the room to discount you

    🔥The right mindset for approaching questions, even when they feel aggressive

    Identify one issue on which you hold a different view from a senior stakeholder. Write one genuine point of agreement and one addition the room needs from you, then practice saying both in a calm, neutral voice.

    Record the outcome in your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide and continue with Day 5 to make your contribution sound more strategic.

    To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

    The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

    Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Speaking up in executive meetings
    • Executive Presence
    • High-stakes conversations
    • Business leadership communication
    • Executive Presence Tips
    • Senior Leader Advice
    • How to speak up in executive meetings
    • How to communicate with senior leadership
    • How to develop executive presence
    • How to be seen as VP material
    • How to influence executives
    • How to stop overexplaining at work
    • How to answer executive questions concisely
    • How to handle pushback from senior leaders
    • How to increase visibility with leadership
    • Director-to-VP transition
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    6 分
  • 637: What to Say When You’re Challenged in an Executive Meeting (DAY 3)

    637: What to Say When You’re Challenged in an Executive Meeting (DAY 3)
    2026/10/07

    Access your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide.

    What to Say When You’re Challenged in an Executive Meeting

    You prepare for weeks, present your recommendation, and then an executive asks the one question you did not anticipate. Within seconds, you are speaking faster, adding disclaimers, and retreating from the very recommendation you came to defend.

    An unexpected question is not proof that you were unprepared. Senior leaders ask questions to test risk, evaluate thinking, and participate in decisions. The real test is whether you can remain useful when the conversation moves beyond your script.

    By the end of this short episode you’ll know:

    💰The PAAB framework: Pause, Acknowledge, Answer, Bridge. This four-part response helps you slow down, address the concern directly.

    🎯How to distinguish what you know from what still needs verification

    🛑 To stop seeking omniscience. What you need is composure and judgment.

    Predict one difficult question you could receive in an upcoming meeting. Write a response using Pause, Acknowledge, Answer, Bridge—and say it aloud twice.

    Capture what happens in your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide, then continue with Day 4 to learn how to disagree with a senior leader without becoming combative, apologetic, or invisible.

    To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

    The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

    Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Speaking up in executive meetings
    • Executive Presence
    • High-stakes conversations
    • Business leadership communication
    • Executive Presence Tips
    • Senior Leader Advice
    • How to speak up in executive meetings
    • How to communicate with senior leadership
    • How to develop executive presence
    • How to be seen as VP material
    • How to influence executives
    • How to stop overexplaining at work
    • How to answer executive questions concisely
    • How to handle pushback from senior leaders
    • How to increase visibility with leadership
    • Director-to-VP transition
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    7 分
  • 636: Stop Making Executives Dig for Your Best Idea (DAY 2)

    636: Stop Making Executives Dig for Your Best Idea (DAY 2)
    2026/10/06

    Access your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide.

    Stop Making Executives Dig for Your Best Idea

    If a senior leader has to excavate your recommendation from three minutes of context, your idea may be excellent—but it is not yet executive-ready.

    Conscientious leaders often begin at the beginning because they want others to understand the analysis, history, and nuance behind their thinking. But executives are listening first for the destination: What should we know? Why does it matter? What do you recommend? What decision is needed? Context is not the enemy. Unprioritized context is.

    By the end of this short episode you’ll know:

    3️⃣ A simple three-part structure starting with lead with the headline

    🧩How to sound concise without becoming simplistic—and how to make your judgment easier for senior leaders to recognize and use

    🪝 What to do with all the context in your head

    Choose one update you expect to give this week and write the first sentence senior leaders need to hear. Test it by asking: If I were interrupted after this sentence, would the room still know my essential point?

    Record the result in your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide, then continue with Day 3 to prepare for unexpected pushback.

    To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

    The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

    Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Speaking up in executive meetings
    • Executive Presence
    • High-stakes conversations
    • Business leadership communication
    • Executive Presence Tips
    • Senior Leader Advice
    • How to speak up in executive meetings
    • How to communicate with senior leadership
    • How to develop executive presence
    • How to be seen as VP material
    • How to influence executives
    • How to stop overexplaining at work
    • How to answer executive questions concisely
    • How to handle pushback from senior leaders
    • How to increase visibility with leadership
    • Director-to-VP transition
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    6 分
  • 635: The 7-Minute Rule That Makes You More Visible in Executive Meetings (DAY 1)

    635: The 7-Minute Rule That Makes You More Visible in Executive Meetings (DAY 1)
    2026/10/05

    Access your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide.

    The 7-Minute Rule That Makes You More Visible in Executive Meetings

    The executive meeting on your calendar may do more to shape your career than the presentation you spent three weeks perfecting. While everyone discusses the agenda, senior leaders are also noticing who has judgment, who can handle pressure, and who belongs in the next room.

    For many high-performing introvert leaders, the hardest contribution is the first one. The longer you wait, the more room you give overthinking to take control—and the greater the chance that someone else will say the idea you were still rehearsing.

    In this first episode of the five-day Q4 Visibility Challenge, Laura introduces the 7-Minute Rule: contribute something useful within the first seven minutes of an important meeting.

    By the end of today’s episode you’ll know:

    💰How to enter the conversation without forcing a brilliant insight

    🧩Use the phrase “What I like about that is…” to add value rather than empty agreement

    🎯Prepare one question or observation before the meeting begins

    Speaking early makes the next contribution easier and gives senior leaders visible evidence of how you think.

    Choose one important meeting this week. Prepare one useful contribution and deliver it within the first seven minutes. Then record what happened in your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide. Continue with Day 2 to make sure executives hear your best idea without having to dig for it.

    To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

    The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

    Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Speaking up in executive meetings
    • Executive Presence
    • High-stakes conversations
    • Business leadership communication
    • Executive Presence Tips
    • Senior Leader Advice
    • How to speak up in executive meetings
    • How to communicate with senior leadership
    • How to develop executive presence
    • How to be seen as VP material
    • How to influence executives
    • How to stop overexplaining at work
    • How to answer executive questions concisely
    • How to handle pushback from senior leaders
    • How to increase visibility with leadership
    • Director-to-VP transition
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    6 分
  • 634: Why Being Afraid to Be Wrong Is Hurting Your Executive Presence and the Way You Come Back from a Mistake is Your STRONGEST Asset Is Hurting Your Executive Presence Exhibit A: Chamath Palihapitiya

    634: Why Being Afraid to Be Wrong Is Hurting Your Executive Presence and the Way You Come Back from a Mistake is Your STRONGEST Asset Is Hurting Your Executive Presence Exhibit A: Chamath Palihapitiya
    2026/10/02
    Know Your Own Executive Presence Strengths & Opportunities:Click here to pinpoint the specific area in your executive presence that’s keeping you invisible to senior leadership and guarantees you stay working hard as a pack mule who never gets promoted.What if trying to always be right is actually weakening your executive presence?For high-performing leaders, admitting you made the wrong call can feel risky. You may worry that reversing a recommendation, acknowledging a flawed assumption, or admitting someone else saw the situation more clearly will cause people to question your judgment. But executive presence isn’t about being infallible—it’s about how you respond when reality proves you wrong.In this episode, Laura examines Chamath Palihapitiya’s public reflections on his mistakes during the SPAC boom to reveal what owning a mistake can teach us about authority, trust, and leadership.By the end of this episode you’ll know:🎯How to separate a bad decision from your identity so you stop hiding behind explanations and excuses.🔥How to transform admitting a mistake into top value for your company.4️⃣A simple four-part framework for communicating a changed recommendation.Play the episode to learn how to admit when you’re wrong, revise your thinking with confidence, and turn mistakes into evidence of stronger executive leadership.Access the Executive Presence Scorecard assessment here.To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.Sources and production notes:Chamath’s statements about his SPAC incentives, insecurity and redesigned incentive structure: OfficeChai’s coverage of his June 2026 Axios interview.The original interview and its framing of the SPAC chapter as the biggest “blemish” on his record: The Axios Show.Leadership research: Jia Hu, Shuxia Zhang, Robert B. Lount Jr. and Bennett J. Tepper, “When leaders heed the lessons of mistakes,” Personnel Psychology (2024): research paper.The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.Topics covered in this episode:How to admit you’re wrong without losing authorityExecutive presence when making mistakesHow admitting mistakes can strengthen leadership credibilityHow to change your mind without appearing indecisiveHow to reverse a recommendation with confidenceWhy defensiveness can damage leadership trustHow leaders can take ownership of bad decisionsHow to explain why a decision failed without making excusesThe difference between confidence and executive presenceHow to communicate a change in strategy to your teamHow leader humility encourages team voice and learningHow to create a culture where employees speak up about problemsHow to demonstrate intellectual flexibility as a leaderThe relationship between executive presence, trust, and accountabilityWhat leaders can learn from Chamath Palihapitiya’s SPAC experience
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    14 分
  • 633: Stop Trying to Win the Argument and What to Do Instead to Build Real Influence

    633: Stop Trying to Win the Argument and What to Do Instead to Build Real Influence
    2026/09/30
    Know Your Own Executive Presence Strengths & Opportunities:Click here to pinpoint the specific area in your executive presence that’s keeping you invisible to senior leadership and guarantees you stay working hard as a pack mule who never gets promoted. What if the secret to becoming more influential at work isn’t talking more—but learning how to listen like a hostage negotiator?Whether you’re asking for more resources, pushing back on a senior leader, dealing with an attack in a meeting, or negotiating for something you need, your ability to stay composed and understand the other person can completely change the conversation.In this episode of The Speak Up Show, former Las Vegas police officer and Black Swan communication expert Annette Mullin shares lessons from 24 years in law enforcement, including her experience in investigations and crisis negotiation. She explains how tactical empathy, curiosity, preparation, and deliberate listening can help you navigate difficult conversations without becoming aggressive—or backing down.In today’s episode with Annette Mullin you’ll discover how to:👂Listen for someone’s internal logic and emotions so you can understand what’s really driving their behavior and build greater influence.🔑 Stay calm when you’re challenged or attacked by using tactical breathing, curiosity, labeling, silence, and a controlled tone.🧲Prepare for important negotiations through low-stakes practice, crisis rehearsal, and techniques such as labels, mirrors, dynamic silence, and summaries.Play the episode to learn how to turn high-pressure conversations into opportunities to build trust, strengthen your leadership reputation, and negotiate with greater confidence.Access the Executive Presence Scorecard assessment here.About our guest:Annette Mullin retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) in August 2021, concluding a 24-year career in law enforcement. Throughout her tenure, Annette specialized in Violent Crimes against Persons, dedicating over 20 years to various roles including Criminal Intelligence, Sexual Assault/Abuse, Abuse/Neglect, Internal Affairs, Force Investigations, and Homicide.During her time with the LVMPD, Annette served as a Crisis Negotiator for nine years and led the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) for two years. In 2018, she was promoted to the rank of Director and spearheaded the Police Employee Assistance Program, providing health and wellness resources to LVMPD employees and their families.Annette has also made significant contributions to education, teaching Sexual Assault Prevention, Sex Trafficking Investigations and Domestic Violence Prevention both locally and internationally, with engagements as far-reaching as Vietnam and Budapest.To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader. Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.Topics covered in this episode:How tactical empathy improves workplace communication and negotiationThe five levels of listening and how to practice empathetic listeningHow active listening builds trust and influence with senior leadersHow to uncover someone’s internal logic and emotional motivationsHow to push back respectfully when someone has more powerHow to make someone feel heard without agreeing with themHow to stay composed when attacked in a meetingHow tactical breathing helps leaders regulate stress in real timeHow tone, cadence, and silence de-escalate workplace conflictHow to use labels to address emotions and difficult behaviorFour essential negotiation tools: labels, mirrors, dynamic silence, and summariesHow curiosity reduces defensiveness, judgment, and assumptionsHow accusation audits prepare leaders for objectionsHow to negotiate for resources, headcount, compensation, and executive attentionHow crisis rehearsal and role-play prepare leaders for high-stakes negotiations
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    27 分
  • 632: How To Make Yourself INDISPENSABLE At Executive Tables Rather Than Trying to Get Invited

    632: How To Make Yourself INDISPENSABLE At Executive Tables Rather Than Trying to Get Invited
    2026/09/28

    Are you Director or Above Who Wants Faster Promotions, More Influence, and Stronger Executive Presence?

    Book a confidential Executive Presence Strategy Call to discover the communication patterns that help high performers get seen as senior leaders.

    👉 Book Your Executive Strategy Call here

    You can be the person doing the most important work in the room—and still be the person leadership forgets to invite into it.

    And if that's happening to you, doing even better work probably isn't going to fix it.

    You can be highly respected, trusted for your expertise, and responsible for strategically important work while still being excluded from the executive conversations that shape your next career opportunity. The problem may not be that you need to work harder or become more visible. It may be that senior leaders are experiencing you as the expert who executes the work rather than the executive-level resource they want helping them make the decision.

    In this episode, you'll discover:

    🧩Why being respected for your expertise does not automatically make senior leaders see you as executive material

    🚫Why “I just need more visibility” is probably the wrong diagnosis

    🪝What has to change if you want executives to start thinking, “We need her/him in this conversation.”

    Play the episode to learn how to shift from being the expert executives know about to the strategic resource they believe they need in the room.

    👉 Book Your Executive Strategy Call here.

    To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

    The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

    Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How to develop executive presence
    • How to communicate with senior executives
    • How to communicate like an executive
    • How to get noticed by senior leadership
    • How to get invited to executive meetings
    • How to move from Director to VP
    • Why high performers get overlooked for promotion
    • How to demonstrate executive readiness
    • How to be seen as a strategic leader
    • How to stop being seen as only the technical expert
    • How to transition from technical expert to strategic leader
    • How to build executive visibility
    • How to communicate business impact to executives
    • How to build influence with senior stakeholders
    • How to become a trusted advisor to executives
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    9 分
  • 631: Create Influence By The End of 2026 With These 5 High ROI Moves To Change How Leadership Sees You

    631: Create Influence By The End of 2026 With These 5 High ROI Moves To Change How Leadership Sees You
    2026/09/25
    Know Your Own Executive Presence Strengths & Opportunities:Click here to pinpoint the specific area in your executive presence that’s keeping you invisible to senior leadership and guarantees you stay working hard as a pack mule who never gets promoted.With only 97 days remaining in 2026, working harder probably won’t change that story. You need one unmistakable piece of new evidence. Today I give you 5 options to develop that evidence and multiply your influence.In this Fun Friday episode, Laura shares five unexpected, research-supported moves that can change how senior leadership perceives you before year-end. From adopting a signature color and organizing a strategic lunch to recognizing overlooked talent, recommending what the organization should stop doing and claiming a problem nobody owns, each move communicates a different kind of leadership value.By the end of this episode you’ll know:🪝Create recognition through consistency. Learn how a distinctive visual or audio signal can make your leadership presence more memorable🎉Demonstrate leadership by creating value for others. Use purposeful gatherings and meaningful recognition to become known as someone who connects people, develops talent and strengthens collaboration💰Replace greater output with stronger judgment. Discover how eliminating low-value work or claiming an overlooked organizational problem can position you as an enterprise-minded executiveAs of the release day of this episode, You have 97 days left in 2026.That is 97 days to change how leadership sees you.Access the Executive Presence Scorecard assessment here.Studies cited in this episode:Research on enclothed cognitionWorkplace commensality studyEmployee-recognition field experimentNature study on overlooking subtractionTo learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.This episode explores how executive presence, leadership visibility, and a memorable personal brand at work shape your leadership reputation and career advancement. Discover a practical Q4 career strategy for high-performing introverts who want to strengthen their executive leadership skills, workplace influence, professional visibility, cross-functional leadership, executive decision-making, and strategic thinking. You’ll also learn how employee recognition and intentional leadership development can change leadership perception—and how to get noticed by senior leadership for the right reasons.Topics covered in this episode:How to change leadership’s perception of youFive high-ROI executive-presence movesUsing enclothed cognition and signature clothing at workHow consistent visual signals increase memorabilityOrganizing a cross-functional leadership lunchThe relationship between shared meals and team performanceUsing employee awards to make invisible contributions visibleHow specific recognition influences workplace performanceWhy leaders overlook subtractive solutionsCreating a strategic stop-doing recommendationDemonstrating executive judgment through prioritizationIdentifying problems that fall between organizational silosTaking charge without becoming the team’s permanent fixerMoving from individual contributor to enterprise leaderBuilding leadership visibility without braggingChoosing a Q4 action that changes your professional reputation
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    15 分