Ignite Your Confidence with Karen Laos

Executive Presence is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait

Episode Notes

Executive presence isn't something you're born with. It's a skill you can develop. Yet careers are being decided by subjective qualities like charisma, gravitas, and confidence. What if you could break executive presence down into tangible behaviors that build trust, credibility, and influence?

In this episode of Ignite Your Confidence, Karen challenges the myths around executive presence and shares five practical ways to develop Powerhouse Presence™ so your communication matches your expertise.

In this episode, you'll discover:

  1. Confidence is a behavior, not just a feeling. Why you don't have to feel confident to show up with authority.
  2. Your energy speaks before you do. How body language, posture, and intentional pauses shape first impressions.
  3. Connection creates influence. Why warmth and credibility work together to build trust.
  4. Your voice impacts your credibility. How to eliminate habits like upspeak, rushing, and over-explaining.
  5. Close The Credibility Gap™. How to ensure the way you come across reflects the expertise and value you bring.

Your challenge: Choose one behavior to practice this week that strengthens your presence in a high-stakes moment.

Because when your presence matches your brilliance, people don't just hear you. They believe you.

 

Some resources for you:

Get 3 Strategies to Speak Up in Meetings here.

Project more confidence and credibility with my free tips: 9 Words to Avoid & What to Say Instead: Words to Avoid | Karen Laos

My book “Trust Your Own Voice”: https://karenlaos.com/book/ 
 

Connect with me:


Website: https://www.karenlaos.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenlaosofficial 
 

Episodes also available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwQoTGdJX5eME0ccBKiKng/videos
 

About me:
Many years ago I found myself tongue-tied in a boardroom, my colleagues and executives staring at me. My stomach in my throat, I was unable to get the words out (in spite of being in a senior leadership role). 

Then, I heard my boss shut down the meeting. My heart sank. I was mortified. She pulled me aside and said, "You didn't trust your gut. You could've tabled the meeting like I did."

Why didn’t that option occur to me in the moment? Why did I feel like I needed permission?

That was the day I set out to change. I began a journey of personal growth to discover the root of the problem. Once I did, I wanted every woman to experience that same freedom.

I’m now on a mission to silence self-doubt in 10 million women in 10 years by giving them simple strategies to speak up and ask for what they want in the boardroom and beyond, resulting in more clients, job promotions, and negotiation wins.

Companies like NASA, Netflix, Google, and Sephora have been propelled toward more effective communication skills through my signature framework, The Confidence Cocktail™.

This is your invitation to step into your most confident self so you can catapult your career!