This week, Skipper chats with Laura Sicola, a leadership communication and influence expert, speaker, author of "Speaking to Influence: Mastering Your Leadership Voice" (bookshop link), a coach, and host of the podcast, "Speaking to Influence: Communication Secrets of the C-Suite". But this conversation isn't just for managers or people in the C-suite, it's for anyone who wants to hear yes a bit more in their lives. As Laura says, this subject matter is every bit as "relevant with your coworkers, boss, employee, colleague, client, vendor, or otherwise, as it is with people in your personal life. And it is — whether it's with your spouse, significant other, your children, your neighbors, your friends, and co parishioners at church, temple, mosque, wherever you go, or religious house".

We talk about so many things, including her work sitting at the intersection of how language works — or what Laura refers to as the math of language — cognitive processing and language, and social filters; how non-native languages to young kids can feel like a superpower, how some people listen like others wait for the right moment to jump into a double dutch jump rope session, bosses versus leaders, manipulation versus influence, myth-busting one of the most misquoted statistic in communications research, how we all have a prismatic voice, and how authenticity is absolutely essential in how we use our voice.

Stay tuned after the outro music for a quick levels check, a peek behind the scenes.

Special Guest: Laura Sicola.

Links:

• "Speaking to Influence" by Laura Sicola
• Virtual Influence course
• Albert Mehrabian
• "Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz
• Vocal Impact Productions
• Intro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso