Permission to Speak: How to Change What Power Sounds Like, Starting with You

Use your voice to lead us to a better future with this game-changing guide to redefining what power and authority sound like—from a speech expert who’s worked with Hollywood’s biggest stars, political powerhouses, and businesspeople shaking up the status quo.

“I love this book—funny, surprising, stirring, and so important! What a beautiful accomplishment and gift to put into the world.”—Rachel McAdams

Getting heard is a tricky business: It’s what you say and how you show up, filtered through your audience’s assumptions and biases—and maybe even your own. For women, people of color, immigrants, and queer folks, there’s often a dissonance between how you speak and how we collectively think powerful people should speak: like the wealthy white men who’ve historically been in charge. But, fortunately, the sound of power is changing.

Permission to Speak is your tool kit for making that change. In this revolutionary take on how to use your voice to get what you want, sought-after speech coach Samara Bay offers a fresh perspective on public speaking and a new definition of what power sounds like: namely, you. Blending anecdotes with eye-opening research in leadership, linguistics, and social science, Permission to Speak shows you how to strike the right balance of strength and warmth to land your message; exactly what to do before a high-stakes scenario so that your voice, your mind, and your spirit are ready; and how to turn habits like vocal fry and upspeak into tools. Most important, you’ll discover your voice story: why you talk the way you do, what’s wonderful about it, and what you’ve outgrown.

Fiery, fun, and truly profound, Permission to Speak is a personal and cultural reckoning with what speaking in public is and what it can be. This book meets the moment and offers this provocation: When we change what power sounds like, we change who has it.