How to Find Your Voice and Speak with Confidence with Caroline Goyder
Caroline Goyder has spent her career teaching people that the way they speak can matter just as much as what they say. In this episode of the Money & Us podcast, Anna talks to Caroline, voice coach and bestselling author of Gravitas, whose TEDx talk has now been watched more than 11 million times, about the surprising, largely unspoken link between how we speak and how far we get in life. Caroline shares research most of us have never encountered on how voice shapes the way we're perceived, trusted and even paid, along with why that link plays out so differently for men and women. She explains why voice is really about breath, and why breath is really about safety, something she believes we've largely lost touch with as a culture. Caroline speaks candidly about her own journey, including a formative moment early in her career when a talk went badly wrong in front of a large audience, and the practical, almost startlingly simple techniques she now teaches, from chanting for five minutes a day to the physical postures performers use to take up space and calm their nervous system before walking into a room. This episode is for anyone who has ever felt their voice let them down in a moment that mattered, and for anyone curious about the physical foundations of confidence and success. Key Moments: • How voice shapes trust, perception and pay • Why the research plays out differently for men and women • The moment a talk went wrong in front of a huge audience • How chanting changed Caroline's voice in three months • The physical techniques performers use to take up space • What wealth means to Caroline after losing her father Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:13 Can Your Voice Affect Your Success? 05:45 Why Your Voice Matters at Work 09:49 Why Public Speaking Feels So Scary 11:40 Caroline’s Worst Public Speaking Experience 14:20 How to Train and Improve Your Voice 18:57 Why a Lower Voice Sounds More Confident 21:23 How to Take Up Space and Command a Room 24:23 How to Prepare for a High-Stakes Conversation 28:13 How to Control Nerves When Speaking 30:12 Why Your Voice Matters More in the Age of AI 31:25 Where Real Confidence Comes From 35:39 The Secret to Rehearsed Spontaneity 40:02 How to Use Pitch and Intonation 45:29 How to Sound Charismatic Without Trying 49:09 What Famous Actors Taught Caroline About Confidence 50:04 Minnie Driver’s Advice for Handling Criticism 55:55 How to Ask for a Pay Rise With Confidence 57:26 How to Speak With Authority in a Job Interview 01:01:29 How to Stop Using Filler Words 01:04:50 Why Great Speakers Are Made, Not Born 01:06:21 Is Your Phone Making You a Worse Speaker? 01:09:07 Caroline’s Biggest Lesson About Confidence 01:10:24 Your Voice Is Part of Who You Are 01:11:18 What Does Wealth Really Mean? References: 1. Asli Ceren Cinar and Özgür Kıbrıs (2024), Persistence of Voice-Pitch Bias Against Policy Differences, Political Science Research and Methods, 12(3), 591–605. https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/120372/1/Cinar_Kibris_Voice_bias_pitch_policy_differences_published.pdf 2. William J. Mayew, Christopher A. Parsons and Mohan Venkatachalam (2013), Voice Pitch and the Labor Market Success of Male Chief Executive Officers, Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(4), 243–248. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513813000238 Follow Caroline Goyder: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinegoyder LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinegoyder/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolinegoyder Website: https://carolinegoyder.com Buy Find Your Voice: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MT59K96/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1 Buy Gravitas: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gravitas-Communicate-Confidence-Influence-Authority/dp/0091954959 Buy The Star Qualities: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Qualities-sparkle-confidence-aspects/dp/1447263251 Follow Anna Brading: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentoramoney/?hl=en-gb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annajoybrading/ Website: https://www.mentoramoney.com Follow Money & Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentoramoney/?hl=en-gb TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moneyanduspod?_r=1&_t=ZN-97TWiGIYThe YouTube: https://youtube.com/@moneyanduspod?si=eezWMsuQ7uY4ipBP Buy Money Mentor: https://amzn.eu/d/03ISOm6z