Be Truly Heard

Episode 80 - Body, Mind and Self: Why Integration Is the Missing Piece in Finding Your Voice In this solo episode of Be Truly Heard, host Anne Leatherland brings her current series to a close by drawing everything together - the guests, the themes and the framework that sits at the heart of all her work. Anne introduces her Vocal Intuition Framework in detail for the first time, walking through the three elements she believes every speaker needs to integrate - body, mind balance and self activation - and explaining what goes wrong when any one of them is missing. Key Takeaways Voice work that focuses on only one thing will always fall short. Technique without self activation produces skilled but hollow delivery. Confidence without vocal skill lacks authority. Inner belief without mind balance sends speakers off on unregulated tangents. The voice in the head speaks around 1,200 times a day - and most of it is negative. Mind balance is not about silencing that voice but about knowing which parts to listen to and which to reframe. The positive messages are there - they are just easily overlooked. Integration is what allows you to stop performing confidence and simply have it. When body, mind and self are working together, you are no longer monitoring yourself constantly. Your voice reflects your capability in a way that people immediately respond to differently. Vocal skills can be learned - and most people do not realise that. There is a significant difference between the voice someone uses every day and the voice of a professional voice user. That gap can be closed with the right technique. Key Moments "Just be yourself isn't enough if you tend to be someone who gets very nervous about speaking." "If you have skills and mind balance but no self activation, it doesn't resonate.” "You're not trying to sound confident anymore. You just are." "Your voice starts working for you in your business - that is when opportunities open." About Be Truly Heard Be Truly Heard is the podcast for women in business who want to speak with authority, warmth and authenticity. Hosted by Anne Leatherland, coach and voice expert, each episode explores vocal skills and personal growth strategies to help listeners overcome confidence barriers and communicate what is inside. Because your voice matters. And it is time to be truly heard. How to Get in Touch To connect with Anne or find out more about the Be Truly Heard programme: Email: [email protected] Website: betrulyheardpodcast.co.uk If this episode landed with you, share it with a friend or leave a review - it helps more women find their voice.

In this episode of Be Truly Heard, host Anne Leatherland is joined by Karen Cureton, founder of Cureton Consulting and a social media trainer with over 16 years of business experience, for a conversation about what it really means to show up as yourself online. Karen brings a refreshingly straight-talking perspective - no vanity metrics, no scattergun strategies, no pretending to be something you are not. Together she and Anne explore the connection between voice, authenticity and visibility, and why the most effective social media presence is always the one that sounds most like the person behind it. Key Takeaways Finding your voice on social media takes time - and that is completely normal. Karen did not feel naturally confident in a sales or networking context early in her career. That journey is part of what now makes her able to help others find theirs. AI is a useful tool, but only if you train it in your voice first. A custom GPT built on your own tone of voice produces output that sounds like you. Without that groundwork, AI-generated content sounds like everyone else - which defeats the purpose entirely. A scattergun approach to platforms almost never works. Trying to be active on every channel at once dilutes focus and produces nothing of value. Knowing which two or three platforms your ideal clients actually use - and showing up well there - is worth far more. Closing the gap between who you are in real life and who you are online is the work. Many women feel that gap acutely. The way to close it is not to perform a polished version of yourself, but to bring your real emotional state, values and perspective into what you share. Key Moments "People engage with people. They don't necessarily engage with a brand." "Be real, be relevant, be you. Because there's no other version of you." "The really cheeky, quite sweary Karen doesn't come out until I'm off duty." "AI can't replicate you. That's what makes it even more important to be honest." About Be Truly Heard Be Truly Heard is the podcast for women in business who want to speak with authority, warmth and authenticity. Hosted by Anne Leatherland, coach and voice expert, each episode explores vocal skills and personal growth strategies to help listeners overcome confidence barriers and communicate what is inside. Because your voice matters. And it is time to be truly heard. How to Get in Touch Guest this episode: Karen Cureton - Cureton Consulting LinkedIn: Karen Cureton To connect with Anne Leatherland and find out more about her coaching and voice work, visit the show notes for links and resources. If this episode landed with you, share it with a friend or leave a review - it helps more women find their voice.

In this episode of Be Truly Heard, host Anne Leatherland is joined by Matt Glover, brand photographer and author of a self-published cookbook, who helps business owners create images that genuinely reflect who they are. The conversation explores the connection between how we look, how we sound and how we feel - and why showing up authentically in business is as much a visual challenge as a vocal one. From working with clients who have never appeared in their own family photos to his own ADHD diagnosis and what it unlocked, Matt brings warmth, honesty and a refreshing perspective on what it really means to be seen. Key Takeaways Listening before photographing is what changes everything.Understanding what a client is uncomfortable with - whether that is smiling, their profile or simply being looked at - means Matt can create the conditions for genuine shots rather than forced ones. One throwaway comment can shape how someone sees themselves for years. Clients arrive with beliefs about being unphotogenic that often trace back to a single moment. A few minutes of honest conversation and a handful of good shots can undo years of that story. Showing the images during the shoot builds trust immediately. When a client sees a strong shot on the back of the camera mid-session, they relax. They stop wondering whether it is working and start enjoying the process. The breath does the same job for photographers as it does for voice coaches. Asking someone to take a deep breath and smile on the exhale produces a real expression every time. It is the same nervous system reset that Anne uses in her own work. Only take advice from people who understand the sticking points. A stranger's passing judgement and a fellow business owner's considered view are not the same thing. Knowing whose opinion to take seriously is a skill worth developing.ake seriously is a skill worth developing. Key Moments "I listen to the person, not what the world is telling us we're supposed to be doing." "The diagnosis helped me forgive myself for everything I didn't really do wrong anyway." "Take a deep breath and smile when you exhale. That smile is real - because there is energy flowing." "Would I have asked that person for advice? No. So why would I be taking it?" About Be Truly Heard Be Truly Heard is the podcast for women in business who want to speak with authority, warmth and authenticity. Hosted by Anne Leatherland, coach and voice expert, each episode explores vocal skills and personal growth strategies to help listeners overcome

In this episode of Be Truly Heard, Anne Leatherland challenges the idea that vocal technique somehow gets in the way of authenticity. Her message is clear: technique is not the enemy of authenticity, disembodied technique is. She explores the difference between sounding polished and sounding powerful, showing that real authority does not come from copying someone else or performing confidence on the surface. Instead, it comes from developing vocal skills that are embodied, aligned with who you are, and used in service of the message you want to share. Anne explains why simply being “natural” is not always enough, especially when you need your voice to carry authority, emotion and clarity in higher-stakes situations. She looks at how speakers can learn, practise and embody vocal skills so that they become second nature, allowing confidence to come from the inside rather than being acted out. Through examples from public speaking, acting, singing and even sport, she shows that mastery creates ease – and that when self and skill work together, your voice can sound both authentic and powerful. Key Takeaways Technique is not the problem, disconnected technique is. Anne argues that learning vocal skills does not make you fake. The real issue is when technique is layered on from the outside without being integrated into your body, your message and your sense of self. Authenticity is not the same as simply “being natural”. Sometimes your natural way of speaking is not yet equipped with the tools needed for the situation you are in. Vocal development is about building skills that help you express yourself more clearly and effectively, not becoming someone else. Copying someone else rarely creates real presence. Trying to sound like a speaker you admire may give you surface-level polish, but it disconnects you from your own values, energy and message. Anne prefers the idea of modelling rather than copying, trying something out in your own voice to see whether it fits. Powerful speaking is believable speaking. A highly rehearsed presentation can sound slick, but if it feels rigid or insincere, audiences will notice. What people respond to most is when a speaker sounds real, emotionally connected and genuinely present. Skill helps you stay grounded when emotion is involved. Anne shares the example of a client preparing for an important keynote who became emotional during one section of the talk. By restructuring the content and using vocal tools to reset, the client was able to speak with honesty and control, rather than being overwhelmed. Natural authority depends on a range of vocal skills. Pitch variety, emphasis, pacing, clarity, tone and breath all help an audience process what you are saying and feel connected to it. These skills support authority by making your message easier to understand and more engaging to hear. Breath and emotional state are closely linked.The way you breathe communicates a great deal about how steady or unsettled you feel. Learning how to regulate breath and voice together helps you sound calm and grounded, even when you are not feeling completely steady underneath. Embodied skill is what makes things look effortless. Whether it is a skater, singer, actor or speaker, what looks easy on the outside is nearly always the result of years of learning and practice. Vocal confidence works in the same way: mastery creates ease. True confidence comes from skill and self working together. When your voice responds skilfully, naturally and as a part of you, you no longer have to act confident. Confidence becomes something internal, supported by trust in your own ability and by skills you can rely on. Best Moments * “Technique is not the enemy of authenticity. Disembodied technique is.” * “The real aim is to learn appropriate techniques and then embody them.” * “Our natural self might not have the skills that we need.” * “You could become a copy of a copy, and who wants that?” * “To me, powerful is being real.” * “If you were to just let that go and behave completely naturally, then the emotions would overcome you every time.” * “Mastery creates ease in doing something, but it also looks easy on the outside.” * “When skill and self work together, you no longer have to perform confidence.” About the Host With over 28 years’ experience, Anne Leatherland helps clients develop vocal confidence and personal growth. Her holistic approach bridges science, education and the performing arts, supporting women to be truly heard in business.Find out more: https://anneleatherland.co.uk/

Is the System Set Up for Speakers to Succeed? Why Infrastructure Matters as Much as Confidence In this episode of Be Truly Heard, host Anne Leatherland is joined by Emma Wyatt, marketing strategist and founder of Dream Clinic, who works with founders, experts and thought leaders to design the systems and processes that allow them to show up consistently and sustainably. The conversation takes a refreshingly different angle on the topic of showing up as yourself. Rather than focusing solely on confidence or technique, Anne and Emma look at what happens when the environment around a speaker fails them - and how that failure shows up in the voice itself. From tech that cuts out before you walk on stage to the quiet drain of constantly pushing through noise, this episode makes the case that great speaking is not just an inside job. Key Takeaways Systems shape the voice whether we realise it or not. When speakers are constantly fighting through tech issues, platform noise and digital overwhelm, their messages get diluted and their voices begin to reflect the strain. Fatigue, inconsistency and a loss of faith in the whole process are the natural result of working in an environment that does not support you. The voice and the nervous system work in both directions. Anxiety affects the voice - but the reverse is also true. Calming the voice through technique, breath and intention can calm the nervous system in turn. This two-way relationship means that vocal skill is not just about sounding good. It is one of the most effective tools a speaker has for managing nerves in real time. Social events take more out of the voice than the speaking itself. The drinks after the event, the lunch with delegates, the post-talk conversations - all of this uses the voice in ways that are easy to overlook. Speakers who carefully prepare for the talk and then forget to protect their voice in the margins are often the ones who find themselves struggling by the end of a busy run. Better support for speakers means better representation for everyone. When the systems around speakers are well designed and people have access to training, infrastructure and real support, it is not just the individual who benefits. A wider range of voices and experiences can come through - and that is good for every audience. Key Moments "If the system around a speaker demands constant output without support, the voice responds. And that person cannot show up as they want to." "Voice care is part of the infrastructure. It is not an indulgence." "Social events can take more out of your voice than the speaking work. It is the bit in between." About Be Truly Heard Be Truly Heard is the podcast for women in business who want to speak with authority, warmth and authenticity. Hosted by Anne Leatherland, coach and voice expert, each episode explores vocal skills and personal growth strategies to help listeners overcome confidence barriers and communicate what is inside. Because your voice matters. And it is time to be truly heard. How to Get in Touch Guest this episode: Emma Wyatt - Dream Clinic Emma Wyatt is a communications specialist and consultant with a strong background in helping individuals and organisations express themselves with clarity and confidence. With experience spanning corporate, creative and client-facing environments, she brings a thoughtful, people-centred approach to her work, supporting others to communicate in a way that feels both natural and impactful. Emma is passionate about authentic connection and believes that when people feel at ease in themselves, their voice becomes a powerful tool for influence, collaboration and change. Website: dream.clinic linkedin.com/in/emma-wyatt-uk To connect with Anne Leatherland and find out more about her coaching and voice work, visit the show notes for links and resources. If this episode landed with you, share it with a friend or leave a review - it helps more women find their voice.