258. Confident Corporate Communication

This week on That Voice Podcast we’re diving into the world of confident corporate communication with the brilliant (and brutally efficient) Laura Racky — lawyer, style lover, and TikTok favourite.

In this episode you’ll learn:
✨ How to know when to speak up in the workplace
✨ What to do if you’re interrupted (and why you might be inviting it)
✨ How to handle questions you don’t know the answer to
✨ The #1 shift to make in your speaking for maximum impact
✨ Why “knowing your stuff” is the real secret weapon against imposter syndrome

Laura also shares an honest story about freezing in front of the entire Federal Court — and what it taught her about communication under pressure.

Grab your pen, hit play, and let’s get you speaking with confidence, clarity, and calm in your workplace.

Transcript

Welcome back to That Voice Podcast. We have a magical, practical, fantastical episode for you today with the amazing Laura Racky. I first met Laura on TikTok, then followed her over on Instagram, where her bio sums up why I love her. She writes career and life advice from a brutally efficient lawyer and style lover. So today we are being brutally efficient on advice for confident corporate communication, how to speak up, when to speak up, what to do if you get interrupted, what to do if you dunno the answer to a question, the number one thing to shift in the way you speak to have maximum results. And Laura also shares a really honest story about the time she froze in front of the entire federal court.

Sally:

Could you imagine? Now, before we get started, have you pre-ordered my book Voice Print? It's so exciting. It has gone off to print. Now it's officially in. And the job kind of after this podcast recording is to start thinking about the audiobook. Really exciting. So the book Voice Print is full of practical tips to be a more confident communicator. And remember, when you pre-order, send me your receipt on email, on socials, any platform, anywhere you can send a pigeon. Send me your receipt and I will send you a voice note of me reading the first chapter, and more importantly, the link to buy tickets to the launch party in Brisbane on December 7th at Blackbird. I would love to see you there, especially as a listener of That Voice Podcast. We get to meet IRL in real life. Okay. I said we're being brutally efficient, so let's get started.

Sally:

Laura Racky, welcome to That Voice Podcast. How are you?

Laura:

I'm so well and I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

Sally:

I first met you on the screens of TikTok and I thought I have to meet this woman and get her on the podcast because I love the way you share such practical, heartfelt advice, especially around communication for women coming into the workplace. What was the motivation behind starting the channel?

Laura:

Oh gosh, I don't really know. Sometimes I just start things and they snowball. But I think for me, you know, in my job and in over my career, I felt like I wasn't really creating anything. I've never made anything. But I think right deep down inside me, there's actually quite a creative person. And so I felt like it was the right time to put something out into the world that I was making and of of course I wanted it to be really real, really meaningful, really valuable.

Sally:

Yeah, it definitely is. So when did you first realize how important confident communication was in the corporate world?

Laura:

Look, I was lucky. It was very early for me. I started my career in the law when I started university. So in my first year of university I got a job working as a court officer in the federal court, and the court officer is the person that knocks on the door and opens the court and brings the judge into the room. And you know, back in the day when there were actual physical documents, you were handing it between the barristers and the judge. So I was in courtrooms at least three or four days a week for the first three or four years of my uni degree. So I'm in courtrooms. Not only am I listening to barristers, addressing judges, listening to the way judges are speaking, I am in the room when the judge leaves the room, I'm listening to lawyers speaking to one another. So it became really clear to me that sometimes it's not always about the subject matter, it's how it's presented. Because very quickly you see some barristers are very, very good at it and some not so good. And it's quite stark when you see it day in, day out. So I was lucky in my career that I was seeing that so early.

Sally:

Yeah. And what are some of the biggest lessons you learned from that?

Laura:

Learning to shift your approach for every audience is so important that you can't be a, you know, monolith one sort of person, conduct yourself in one sort of way. Every single person situation room needs you to bring a different side of yourself, a different approach, a different tone. So I think seeing it in that way really hammered that home for me.

Sally:

Yeah, I love that! I talk about the vocal wardrobe, like it's all you. But you wanna be able to choose the outfit that's best for the occasion.

Laura:

Exactly right.

Sally:

Yeah. So what about, you know, young women, they're starting out in the corporate world, maybe law, maybe another type of business, and they might even be struggling to find their own voice, let alone try to be a chameleon and adjust for different scenarios. So where would you suggest they start?

Laura:

This is, I don't know, maybe controversial, but for me we love controversial here. I would say that, you know, fake it till you make it is great. And I do think, you know, sometimes the performance and the conduct has to come before the confidence, right? But if you start getting really good at your subject matter, if you watch people, if you learn, if you build skills, then it's a snowball effect and you become more confident and you will speak more confidently. I think we forget that a lot of our insecurity and our fear around speaking, speaking in meetings, speaking on phone calls comes from inexperience or not backing ourselves with what we know or what we've learned. So the work isn't just in the talking and the speaking, the work is knowing the subject matter, being experienced, watching people learning, building your full self. You know how you said you're coming in, you don't know what your voice is. Well you can't have a voice with all of the other stuff that comes with it. And that's, I think that where if women focus on that, the feelings of insecurity, imposter syndrome, all of that fall away a little bit.

Sally:

Yeah, imposter syndrome's a big one. It comes up a lot. You know, sometimes it's not just a matter of belief, as you say, sometimes there is more work to be done and more preparation needs to be done in the background.

Laura:

Exactly, be curious. Why do I feel like an imposter in this room? Is it because everyone else is 10 years in and I'm one year in? Well, there's your answer. Or is it because I'm working on a project I've never worked on before and I feel like I've fish out of water? Get curious, work out what you need to know and do to feel less like a fish outta water in that room.

Sally:

You've mentioned on some of your videos that your DMs are quite busy with people asking for different advice and complaining of different things. What are the questions that are coming through? What are the main concerns?

Laura:

Lots of them are around navigating managers and not feeling supported or feeling like they're being dismissed or discriminated against. And what's really interesting to me, and now I'm seeing a pattern, so I'm trying to address it more globally, is this feeling of that I don't have a voice and I don't have any agency and how do I sort of work around this problem? And I know it sounds silly, but sometimes actually the really most obvious thing is gonna be the answer for these people, but that actually it has not occurred to them to raise it with the person. For example, I had a question where a junior said, I don't get CC'd in on project emails that I'm working on some of it and then I don't really see what happens next or I don't get to be involved right through the end. And it's like, did you ask, you know, does, does the person that you did that work for know that this is important to you or that it will be helpful for your development and your knowledge to be copying into?

Sally:

I think they're just probably trying to save your inbox a little bit by not bombarding you with stuff you don't need to know.

Laura:

Exactly. Or they're just busy or they're not thinking about your professional development. There's lots of wonderful senior and managers out there who have an eye on this, but often others don't. And all you have to do is say, Hey, did you know this was really important to me? It's a really simple thing I'm hoping you can help me with. So I think that's the pattern I'm seeing is this feeling of I can't just go to the person and ask the question. And I quite haven't quite got to the bottom of why this is so prevalent. But it does bother me and it does worry me that especially women just seem to be kind of accepting the status quo and not thinking that the first port of call when there's a problem is to just ask the question of the person.

Sally:

Yeah, or this feeling of waiting for things to come to. I work with lots of young journalists, it's the same thing in a newsroom. Like, Oh, I'm not really being given opportunities. I'm like, well, have you talked to the news director or the producer and just said, Hey, I really wanna be part of these stories in this process. What advice would you give for people who feel, oh my gosh, well that's my boss. And especially with corporate cultures that are quite hierarchical, how can they have a voice and be able to go in, whether it be a meeting or a one-on-one and have their voice heard?

Laura:

A big part actually I would say is being prepared and planning. Again, what I'm seeing a lot of is I have a problem, will you fix it for me? So I would say to these young people, not having a think first, not being proactive and bringing some suggestions to the person is actually gonna be a problem. If you're going to have agency, if you wanna advocate for yourself, you need to really think about what that looks like and what it is that you are asking the person for. So that's going to fill you with confidence. I've thought about this, I know how this benefits me, I know how it benefits the organization and I know how we can achieve it together if this is something we can do. And when you do that work, we're back to that theme when you do the pre-work coming in that into that conversation is much less scary than going into a conversation being like, Hey, I don't, I'm not getting the work that I want. What, you know, help me out. It's like, no, demonstrate that you are invested and engaged.

Sally:

Yeah. And have the evidence, have the data. So, so often it's not just because you are emotional, it was because you were emotional and didn't have the data. Yes. So I always say like, have your evidence and have your work, your preparation going in. What about women who feel like they may have done that in the past and being told you're too aggressive?

Laura:

Look, it is hard because I think that the more junior you are, the more concerning that is, right? So for you and I where we are, if someone says that about me, I don't care. I know who I am, I know what my expertise is, my experience, my capability, and I don't have to sugarcoat it to deliver the results. Like I have that, you know, we talk about data, I have that data. When you're starting out, you've just gotta find the happy medium. You can't control everyone's perception of you. And I don't think anybody should be overly diluting themselves to make people feel comfortable. So it's a lot of self-reflection. Sometimes potentially we go too far in the extreme in terms of focusing on the competence and the directness because we don't want to seem wishy-washy and soft. And I've certainly done that in the past.

Laura:

Like I actually mentioned something this week where I had a someone that I worked with said, Laura, you're too abrasive. People in the business are afraid to come to you because you're so assertive and you scare them. And I said, I don't really care. I'm doing a really serious complex job and these are adults and that's not my problem. But you know, now with age I can look back and say, but it was important for people to feel comfortable to come and talk to me. So I don't know if I've answered the question, Sally, I don't think anyone should just flat out tell you that you are aggressive and then you completely change your demeanor and soften and dilute who you are. I think that being smart and self-aware means that it's okay to adjust yourself slightly to make sure that you're able to get your message across and it not be affected by people be feeling that you are abrasive. And as women, we get so angry when anyone says, Oh, you're being too aggressive or you are fine, but let's be in the real world and say, okay, what do I need to do to temper it enough that I'm not changing my message, I'm not changing who I am, but it's just warm enough that it gets through through to the keeper, right?

Sally:

Yeah. And if you're not sure how to temper it, then that's why investing in communication skills and courses are so useful. There's ways that language can be more invitational and not demanding. There's ways you can use your voice so it sits lower in your body. So it doesn't all just go up into the head, you know? So I'd say that if you're feeling a bit out of your depth or you're not sure what to do, then, Hello Laura and sign up for one of my courses because this is sort of this, these are the things that can really help you thrive in these environments. And some people who you see are really great communicators and great presenters, often they have mentors in the background that have helped them get to that stage.

Laura:

That's right. People have worked on it. And you can find people around you that are excellent at it and you can watch them and learn it. It is, they, they are learned skills.

Sally:

What about being asked a question, right? Especially when you're new, you go into a room and you're sitting there thinking, I really hope that if there is a question that comes, I can answer it. Do you have any techniques about answering questions you don't know the answers to?

Laura:

This happens to me every single day. I get phone calls from clients, I'm in Zoom meetings with clients and they say, can we do this? Or can they do that? Or is this legal? And you know, I've been around a while, but I dunno everything. And I hope I don't ever know everything. How boring would that be? But there's a few things. The first thing you need to do is accept that you don't ever have to provide a perfect answer in the moment. Ever. Ever. So that's the starting point to know that I don't always have to answer the question. Of course, sometimes maybe you should know the answer, but generally you don't have to. Then the next thing is pausing, taking the moment to think about it. And the best thing to be able to do is actually explain why you're not going to be able to answer the question. So I think that it's, you can't just say, I don't know the answer and leave it at that. Take a breath, take a moment. That's a really good question. I wanna think about it some more and here's why I can't answer it today because there's a whole lot of complex other factors that we need. Whatever it is, people are okay to not get the answer in the moment if you can explain why they're not getting the answer and when they're gonna get it.

Sally:

Absolutely. Yeah. And how, have you ever had an experience where you didn't speak up or where you got a question and completely fumbled it? Do you have a moment that, sorry to bring up if it's any sort of past trauma, but was there a moment where you were like, Oh God, that was a learning curve.

Laura:

Do you know what, this is a funny one. This, this, I mean this was in the court and there was a hearing, it was a judgment on a massive natal native title case. It was in the federal court and it was so massive that it was being live streamed to other registries around the country. So all of the courtrooms in all of those places were full. I'm pretty sure it was a full bench, so there was, I can't remember, but I think there were three judges.

Sally:

Wow.

Laura:

Live job, high stakes. So we've got a full court. So my job was to knock, knock, knock, open the door for the judges and they come in and stand there and there's a spiel that you have to say to open the court. And I had said it hundreds of times, but I had to say it differently in this day. I had to say, the full court of the federal court is now in session rather than the court of federal court of Australia. Anyway, I froze. I couldn't, the words did not come come out of my mouth. I remember the look on one of the judges' faces. He, I reckon, burned a hole in my retina because I just stood there. That pause felt like a lifetime. And you know what? You feel like the, the ground, you want the ground to open up and swallow you and you feel like you've destroyed your life.

Laura:

But guess what? The second the courtroom kicked off and the judgment was delivered and everything happened, it was all forgotten. Nobody cares. You care more than everybody else in the room. So that was a moment where I lost my words. But in terms of like not speaking up, I think like most people and especially women in any profession, for a lot of my early career, you know, you stay quiet on so much and you don't know when the tipping point is to start speaking up in, you know, in meetings, in calls, when you've got somebody more senior in the room, do you always defer to them? When is it your time to step in and say something? And I think that's just takes nuance time. Ask the person you're going into the meeting with and say, oh, I'm really across this file. I'd love to be able to talk to the client about this aspect of it. Are you okay with it? Like, if that gives you comfort and it means you're going to speak up, ask before the meeting. Like create those opportunities for yourself rather than kind of second guessing and not being sure, oh, am I allowed to talk in this room? I don't know.

Sally:

Yeah, that's such good advice 'cause sometimes the leader feels like, oh, I don't wanna put it on this person, so I'll, I'll take it. I had a fantastic boss when I worked at Urban Utilities, the water and sewage company, and she used to say things like before a meeting, Sal, you take the lead on this one. And it really helped build up my confidence.

Laura:

Exactly. Right. And that, and then, you know, where you stand, you don't feel like you're cutting across your colleague as well. I think that's a fear we all have. But you know, ask the question. Yeah, I'd love to talk in this meeting. Is that okay?

Sally:

Yeah. And then once you're in the meeting and someone starts talking over you?

Laura:

I don't think people talk about this enough when it comes to being interrupted. And that is, I really recommend that if this happens to you a lot, you need to take some stock and have some self-reflection. A lot of women in particular don't have enough self-awareness to hear themselves and see how they present in ways. And I'm not saying it's okay to be interrupted, but they can sometimes invite interruption by the way they're speaking. So it could be their cadence. I mean, you'd be all over this far better than I am. But if you are not presenting confidently, if it feels like you're lost, if you're couching everything in maybe we could I don't this sort of way of speaking, I think that it makes it easier for people to interrupt you. Sometimes they might just feel like they're saving you by interrupting, but if you're not commanding the room, you're inviting the interruption. So that's where I would start.

Sally:

If you're not commanding the room, you're inviting interruption.

Laura:

And I think it's very easy for us to all go, oh, I'm always these, these people are always interrupting me in these meetings. Okay, why? That's, my starting point. If you work on that and you feel like you're really on the job, you're all over the subject matter. You are confidently speaking and then you're still being interrupted, that's when you've gotta practice centering yourself, having a breath and very confidently and directly addressing it. You can do it in gentle ways. Thanks for your comment. Let me just finish. I'm just, I've still got a little bit to go or Yes, John, very happy to cover that. Let's just cover the rest of my presentation first and then we can talk about it. Then if someone is really being rude, call it out. John, I notice that you keep interrupting me. It will be much better for the meeting if I'm able to finish what I'm talking about and then we can turn to you call it out.

Laura:

I think that we're all too nice. If someone's interrupting you, they're being rude. It's okay to call it out. Be assertive about it. You are able to, this is, when we talk about agency and being able to speak up, why would you let somebody rudely interrupt you and you feel bad to address it in the moment? So I think there's degrees. Have a look at how you are behaving. See if this is something you're inviting. Is it something that's just someone's got a bad habit and you just need to call it out and cat catch them in the moment? Or is it someone who's rude and misbehaving? And in that case, give them a whack. I'm okay with giving them the whack.

Sally:

Great advice. And I've found that sometimes people just aren't aware of it. They're just so excited about speaking and sharing their point. And as soon as they're told, oh, you're interrupting people, they go, Oh, okay, thank you. Now I'm aware of it, I'll stop doing it. Oh, Laura, so much gold. So much great advice here. If there was one thing you could leave people with, what's one tip to become a more confident corporate communicator? What would it be?

Laura:

Know your stuff. If you really wanna do yourself a favor, if you wanna start chipping away at all of the things that are holding you back, knowing your stuff is going to take you so, so much further than a lot of other work. And maybe thinking about superficial things, how you're dressed, what you're putting in, like know your stuff.

Sally:

Yeah. There is so much comfort in content.

Laura:

Absolutely. Right. And look, we are not perfect. That doesn't mean that if you miss something, you make a mistake, you forget something in the moment, like that's all okay. But if you go into any room and you know your stuff as well as you should, everything else becomes easier.

Sally:

Oh, love it. Laura, was there anything else you wanted to add?

Laura:

When we are talking about speaking and what I think really helped me, and it's not how I always speak, but I think that we all can do very well for ourselves by learning to speak slowly in such a way that it's almost uncomfortable and to create the skill around doing that because it gives you the ability to control yourself, your tone, your pace, and give yourself time to think.

Sally:

Yeah. Become friends with the pause. I really like that. So where can people find you? How can they follow you on your TikTok and Instagram?

Laura:

Yeah, I'm on under my name on TikTok and on Instagram. And I'm posting most days, I've got a Google spreadsheet where I invite people to pop-in questions because I struggle to sort of keep up with DMs or comments.

Sally:

It's a good system. It's a good idea.

Laura:

Yeah. I think like, look, I still get the DMs, I still get the comments, which I love, but I'm more likely to get to them if they're in one place. So I really see this as being an exciting opportunity to build a collective of women like ourselves who really wanna talk openly and honestly and build each other up and, but in practical ways, not tried, you know, warm and fuzzy ways. I really wanna talk about things honestly and clearly in a way that we can all get the benefit out of it. That's, that's what I hope for these conversations that I'm having on the platforms.

Sally:

Yeah, absolutely. And this is one of these episodes where you'll be listening with a pen and paper because you've shared so much practical advice that people can change straight away. So thank you so much for being so generous and joining us on That Voice Podcast.

Laura:

Thanks Sally.