265. Embody your speaking confidence
Your voice isn’t just what you say — it’s the energy, mindset, and embodiment behind it.
In this episode of That Voice Podcast, I sit down with Danni Vee, a mindset and leadership mentor whose EMBODY framework helps women return to their authentic power and confidence.
If you’ve ever looked confident on the outside but felt shaky on the inside — this conversation will land deep.
You’ll discover how to:
Shift your ENERGY before you speak so your presence enters the room first.
Reprogram your MINDSET to release fear, self-doubt, and “I’m not ready yet” stories.
Regulate your BODY so confidence feels calm and sustainable.
Take radical OWNERSHIP of your growth (and why that’s the Big O 😉).
Find DIRECTION and aligned action through your core values.
Finally, step into the authentic YOU—the voice that feels like home.
transcript
Hello, welcome back to That Voice Print Podcast. Yes, my book Voice Print is getting so close to releasing into the world. I have the copies, I've done the audio book, the launch party planning is coming along. Make sure you have pre-ordered your copy of the book and or cards and make sure you've bought your ticket to the launch party in Brisbane on December 7th. It's almost sold out. You listen to That Voice Podcast. So I really want you there. All the links are in the show notes or you know where to find me. Come and celebrate. I cannot wait.
Also, this is the very last call for my Brisbane Speak Up for Your Business workshop on October 31st. If you are a business owner in Brisbane, come and join us. Great way to head into the end of the year, Perth, November 21. Still tickets for that one. So if you're in Perth, jump in for that this week.
I have a fabulous guest on That Voice Podcast, That Voice Print Podcast. Her name is Danni Vee. She's a mindset and leadership mentor and her framework, which is called EMBODY, is so fantastic and so aligned with the work I do. I just had to get her on here to take you through it so you can embody your speaking confidence.
Sally:
Danni Vee, welcome to That Voice Podcast. So great to have you here and love the name Danni Vee. Is that a stage name?
Danni:
It certainly is. Thank you so much for having me here, Sally. My actual full name is Danielle . So it's not a very good stage name. So Danni Vee definitely is my stage name.
Sally:
It's got such a good ring to it. So Danni, tell us about how you got into, into the mindset work you do.
Danni:
Mm, it started almost 20 years ago now that I think back. And I was actually running a large health and wellness business for women. And I was also in an abusive relationship with my then husband. And I wanted to strengthen myself for my clients, but also I wanted to fix myself 'cause I didn't realize I was in an abusive relationship. So I thought, well, if I go and study mindset, I'll be able to become better and everything will be fine.
New Speaker:
And then I really started to shifting and changing when I studied NLP back then, like 20 years ago before it was the cool thing to do. Um, and I realized that mindset is key to be able to step into who you truly and authentically are. I was able to help my clients, but I was also able to help my then husband. So when we did split, it was as amicable as it could be in an abusive relationship because I learned and understood my boundaries and was able to give him what he needed as well by understanding that.
Sally:
Mm, amazing. So I imagine that a lot of the women who come to you have had similar experiences in relationships.
Danni:
No, a lot of the women that come to me now are really looking to get to that next level of success in business and in life. Yeah. So peeling back the mask and really showing who they truly are.
Sally:
Okay. So let's talk more about this, this, this mask. What are some of the masks that people are wearing?
Danni:
Hmm. So I find that a lot of, uh, successful business women that come to me really feel like they have to be someone to get to where they are. So they might not wanna step into the feminine if they're in corporate because they feel like they have to be fully masculine or you know, they feel like they have to show up as some certain person on stage because that's what they think that other people expect. And you know, so they're not actually being truly who they are. And so once they get to that level of success, they have actually forgotten who they are and they can feel that real big misalignment because they've been so busy in the busy of doing and getting to where they wanna get in success instead of actually being who they truly are.
Sally:
Yeah, and I love that your framework is called EMBODY because that really sums up what we're talking about now, isn't it?
Danni:
Yeah.
Sally:
As we get too, too much in the head, not enough in the heart, and it's like a returning to who you truly are.
Danni:
Oh, exactly.
Sally:
I'm curious to learn more about this framework.
Danni:
Mm-hmm.
Sally:
So let's go through it starting with E. What is E for?
Danni:
So E is energy. So energetics, the way that you show up in the room. So this is what you are a professional at Sally, is really teaching people on how to really bring their presence into the room. So when you're on stage, when you're speaking and using your voice, using your voice to create the energy around you, you know, there's that saying that your energy enters a room before you do.
And I so strongly believe that you can actually create such an impact without saying anything to start with. And that means actually protecting your energy as well. So are you setting boundaries around your energy? Are you, are you letting your energy leak in different areas where it's depleting you? And then reverting back to how can I bring that back into myself? So really stepping into your own true energy. So then when you enter a room, it's magnetic.
Sally:
Oh, absolutely. I'm often, uh, sharing with clients that all the content preparation in the world will mean nothing if you haven't prepared your energy. So I love that. So when you step out on stage, it's your energy that's speaking before the sound is even made. Okay, so M?
Danni:
Mindset, this is my big one. I am an absolute neuroscience nerd, Sally. I love the brain. The more I study it, the more excited I get. And this is really teaching your mind to overcome those limiting beliefs. And you know, we've had a discussion on another day, Sally, where you spoke about, and I love that you speak about how people aren't actually afraid of public speaking. They're afraid of being seen and heard, and you know, showing that vulnerability. And this is where you can undo those thoughts patterns. So with your mindset, you can actually let go of those limiting beliefs of, I I don't wanna be seen or even like a big one for business owners, especially women, is that fear of success. What's gonna happen to the people in my life if I'm successful? What's gonna, what am I gonna lose if I become successful, you know?
Sally:
Yeah. How is that gonna shift my relationships?
Danni:
Yeah, yeah. So mindset is really letting go of those beliefs that are holding you back from truly who you are and stepping into that true authenticity and, you know, and then that arrays back to energy and you can create that beautiful energy around you.
Sally:
Yeah. It's so important. The inner voice is what drives the physical voice. So, you know, there's not many fantastic confidence speakers who are running a soundtrack before they step on of, You are so terrible, you can't do this. No one wants to listen to you, it's gonna be a car crash. Now just go out there and just have a big flop. You know? So it's definitely the place to start, isn't it? Okay. Yeah. We're so aligned. I love this. So energy, mindset, B?
Danni:
Body.
Sally:
Love it!
Danni:
So you've already spoken about getting your body prepared, like when you go on stage and body is that nervous system regulation. And this is a really big missing piece for a lot of, uh, people that are really stepping into their confidence and and embodying their confidence. I actually did a podcast.
Sally:
Yeah. Why do you think that is?
Danni:
Uh, because people are performing confidence. People put on that mask of confidence, but inside they actually aren't feeling the confidence. They're not being the confidence, if that makes sense. So regulating the nervous system, just doing simple practices to be able to just bring yourself back into your body, understand where there there might be misalignment, and knowing how to regulate that and getting it back to that beautiful working system that we're all supposed to have.
Sally:
Yeah. So often I hear people say, Oh, people say that I looked really confident speaking, but I really wanted to die the whole time inside. It's so we, we wanna have that, that aligned feeling of looking confident, sounding confident, and really feeling confident inside ourselves.
Danni:
Yeah, and I remember when I first started speaking Sally, and you'll probably find a million, um, different notes that you could support me with in this, but when I first started speaking, a lot of people would say exactly that about me. It's like, Oh, you look so confident out there, you spoke really well. And then I would be like literally shaking inside my nervous system would be like, I'm like, how was I not shaking on the outside? And then I'd watch myself back so someone recorded it or something like that. I watched myself back and I would be so surprised with how confident I looked and how altogether I looked because like you just said, my nervous system was wrecked. It was completely out, completely not regulated. And so every time I got on stage, it literally would just shake.
Sally:
So it wasn't a very enjoyable experience.
Danni:
No, but I survived to tell the story and help others.
Sally:
Yeah. And here's the thing, like that might be okay a few times, but it's not sustainable. If you are constantly showing up and you're putting on this front where you look, look looks like everything's okay, but inside you are, you know, shaking or feeling like your nervous system is just not with it, then at some point that's gonna manifest in burnout.
Danni:
There's health conditions that can happen when you don't look after your nervous system. There's so many different health issues because people don't know and don't even understand that their nervous system is what actually needs the love and attention. So then that reverts back to your mind because, uh, you know, our bodies are 75% water, our thoughts actually affect the vibration of our body. So, you know, if you're telling yourself, Oh my goodness, I'm, I'm hopeless, I can't do this all the time, your body actually starts believing that and it's just a follow on effect, you know? And, and it's just so important that if you can focus on having a really strong clear mindset and then really nurturing your body and being in your body, the shifts and changes that will make for you no matter where you are in life, is just gonna be exponential.
Sally:
Absolutely. And it goes back to that mindset as well because it's really that soundtrack and what we're telling ourselves inside. I write about it in my book, Voice Print actually about the water. And I saw on TikTok the other day, an experiment that I did with little bits of rice. The rice that was spoken to in a mean way was really moldy. The rice that was ignored was kind of moldy. And the rice that was shown love was still mold-free. It's incredible. Hey,
Danni:
It's incredible. I actually did that myself, Sally, because I, when I started deep diving into neuroscience and understanding the brain and how the brain and the body speak to each other, and I was skeptical and I thought, well I wanna do that.
Sally:
Wanna do this myself.
Danni:
Yeah. And I did it and it is exactly that. I spoke really badly to this one, uh, glass of rice and just lovingly to another one. And the, the glass of rice that was bad. It turned black. It was incredible the difference. And then this one was, yeah, like you said, no, not even impacted.
Sally:
So fascinating. It goes back to our first point too, because it's the energy as well. It's the intention.
Danni:
The vibrations.
Sally:
Okay, energy mindset, we're in our body and then we get to the big O.
Danni:
Ownership, the big O. That's it definitely is the big O. And there actually is a book that I always recommend when we get to the big O and it's called Existential Kink. And it is about taking ra radical responsibility. It is about understanding that there is a part of you that's not serving you that you really love and you love sitting in it and you love like sort of soldering in it.
And O is taking radical responsibility of that radical responsibility to actually step up and take the ownership of where you are right now. So you know, for example, if you're not confident in going on stage, well what can you do to take ownership of that? You know, like, so invest in Sally, you know, that type of thing. So you really need to understand what is this thing that's holding me back and take responsibility is that you are the one that put yourself there and not consciously.
Danni:
So it's really important then on the other side to not judge yourself for being there as well. And a big thing for me was I loved being in the victim from my abusive relationship. I was so comfy there, I loved it, you know, because I was so used to it. We were married for a long time. And so when I realized that it was so confronting for me, but I decided to take radical responsibility and ownership of stepping out of that.
So what that looked like was, instead of saying, Oh, I've never seen, I'm never picked for anything. Oh, woe is me. Everything's so hard. And I can joke around because that's exactly what I was like and I didn't realize I was being like that. And then I just took ownership and I'm like, Well, I'm not doing anything to be seen. I'm not doing anything to build relationships and conversations. So it actually is me that's stopping me from stepping in out of that victimhood.
Sally:
Oh yeah. That victim mindset. I saw a video this morning actually about this where it can feel like you're special. It's hard for me. Things have happened to me. You don't understand, you know, and it's like, well actually you're not special. Everyone's had stuff happen to them.
Danni:
So true.
Sally:
You're not special at all. Some people are just getting on with it and have decided to move forward anyway. You're absolutely right. And I'm sure we've all had, uh, especially those of us who've done personal development work, these conversations with people who are constantly complaining and you are like, and you, what are you doing about it?
Danni:
Yeah.
Sally:
Because some people dunno who they're without being the victim and without complaining.
Danni:
Absolutely. Until you actually get into your body, you don't know who you are. Until you work with your mindset, you don't make your unconscious conscious. So Carl Jung, I'm go, I'm probably gonna stuff the quote up, but it's my favorite quote. Carl Jung is a really, um, well, well-known behavioral psychologist. And he says, until you make your unconscious conscious, you're going to walk around and call it fate.
That sticks with me because I was that few of my clients just recently, we've been speaking about this because the comparisonitis as a woman especially like you, you look at this woman over here and she, Oh, she's so successful. Why she got that and she's 10 chapters ahead of you. So realizing also that it's okay to be at the chapter you are at, take responsibility to be there and take the responsibility to then move towards that as well.
Sally:
Yeah. The old, it's okay, it's okay for her, it's okay for him because, and we come up with all these reasons why it's them and not us, you know, uh, I found the quote and it's even stronger. It says, "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate". And it's interesting because so many people have, you know, have heard these quotes and they sort of know what to do. And a lot of it is taking that action.
Danni:
Yeah. And that moves us to the D because when you're saying taking action, it's, it's really taking that aligned action too and knowing what your vision, mission, and values are. So your business is not you. So your business has its own nervous system and that's another podcast for another day. But you as yourself, what is your vision, mission and values for yourself and where you wanna move to. And that's how you can make aligned action.
When you know what that is, it's really easy to move forward because you know what your boundaries are, you know, you know which way you're going, you know which road you're going to take. And then when you do start taking a different road, you know, you feel that misalignment. So then you can veer back to where you are with the aligned action. You can train your brain to see where you need to go as well. So the RAS, the reticular activating system, it teaches your brain to see what you need.
And so this can work positive and negative though, right? So if you want, if you want a red Ferrari, you're gonna start seeing red Ferraris everywhere. If you think that if you are not seen and you're not chosen, you are gonna see evidence for that everywhere 'cause your brain doesn't understand the negative. So it's like, Oh, she wants to not be seen, she wants to not be chosen. So I'm gonna show her evidence that she's not.
Sally:
Yeah. If you are, if you are like, I'm never gonna be a good public speaker. I say, if you say so. If you say so, because all the coaching in the world cannot override the RAS, which is constantly giving you confirmation of what you believe.
Danni:
What you believe. Exactly. So really knowing what those internal values are, and I speak about this a lot, is that internal values are different. Like say intrinsic is different to extrinsic. And an example I give is family. Like family is such a strong value of mine, it's my number one value, but that's extrinsic. My family is on the outside of me. So then what does family give me? They give me connection and love. So my intrinsic values are connection and love. So then if I can move forward in life with my aligned action with connection and love, I'm gonna really feel that in my body.
Sally:
Oh absolutely. So what does the D stand for in your framework?
Danni:
Direction.
Sally:
Direction. Yeah, I love that. So it's the direction of taking that aligned action.
Danni:
Yes.
Sally:
We've gone from the big O to the big D. There you go. Alright.
Danni:
It's the best. I'm never gonna be thinking about it the same. Um, Y is authentically You? So once you move through E, M, B, O, and D, you become authentically you. You are authentically who you were born to be on this earth because you know who you are. You know your intrinsic values, you're taking ownership of the parts of you that you've really been like just smoldering in and loving being there but it's not allowing you to get there. You really have that energy that serves you and brings you into a room. So it is really stepping into that authenticity of you taking that self-leadership into being really proud of what that is.
Sally:
Sort of one of life's great challenges, isn't it? Is finding your way back to you. Ugh. And that's what I love about this framework of it, the energy and the mindset and the body ownership direction. It really is a roadmap of how to get back to feeling yourself.
Danni:
Yeah. I really deeply agree with you.
Sally:
Oh, Danni. Love it. So how can people work with you?
Danni:
Well, actually currently I am in the launching of My Mastermind, which really helps women step into this next level of success. So they're becoming who they've always known they could be. That will be closing at the end of November.
Sally:
Oh, love it. And how can people connect with you? Where can they find you?
Danni:
Absolutely. So I'm @danniveecoach on Instagram, Danni Vee anywhere else. So you can just search me on LinkedIn and my website is dannivee.com. So D-A double N-I-V- double E.com.
Sally:
Danni Vee, thank you so much for joining us on That Voice Podcast.
Danni:
Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to chat with you, Sally.