Fixing Women or Fixing the Room? Why We're Still Being Told How to Speak

Fixing Women or Fixing the Room? Why We're Still Being Told How to Speak

From Create Magic At Work® by Amy Lynn Durham

June 9, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

The episode explores whether women are being supported in finding their voice or being taught to conform to environments not designed for them.

What happens when the advice meant to help us succeed teaches us to distrust our own voice? In this conversation, Amy sits down with Create Magic At Work’s Resident Voice and Presence coach Sandra Bargman to explore a question that reaches far beyond communication skills. Are women being supported in finding their voice, or are they being taught to reshape themselves to fit environments that were never designed for them? Together, they unpack the hidden assumptions behind executive presence, the double standards that shape how authority is perceived, and the subtle ways women are encouraged to soften, edit, or second-guess themselves. From phrases like "Does that make sense?" to the criticism of vocal fry, filler words, and emotional language, the conversation challenges who gets to decide what credibility sounds like. Amy and Sandra also share what they are seeing inside the voice and presence coaching at Create Magic At Work with clients, where storytelling, breath, intention, and self-awareness often create deeper transformation than any communication technique. At its core, this episode is an invitation to stop asking how to sound more powerful and start asking whether we…

People in this episode

Host: Amy Lynn Durham

Guest: Sandra Bargman

Topics covered

  • communication skills
  • women's empowerment
  • executive presence
  • self-trust
  • leadership evaluation

Keywords

  • voice
  • presence
  • credibility
  • authenticity
  • communication advice
  • leadership
  • self-awareness

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