Preparation versus presence at senior levels

Click here if: You’re a senior leader who’s finally ready to level up, speak up, get recognised and nail that promotion…and you want to work with Laura Camacho to build your Executive Presence in the next 90-120 days.

Click here to pinpoint the specific area in your executive presence that’s keeping you invisible to senior leadership and guarantees you stay working hard as a pack mule who never gets promoted. Download the Executive Presence Scorecard assessment.

If you're a high-performing leader who preps endlessly but still hesitates to speak up at the table, this episode reveals the exact reason you're being overlooked — and how communication, not competence, is now your career driver.

By the end of today’s episode you’ll know:

🔥Why over-preparing is a leftover habit that’s now working against you.

🚀The 3 executive behaviors that signal leadership — and have nothing to do with technical skills.

🎯 How to shift from sounding smart to sounding strategic — so you're trusted, not just respected.

Listen now to learn how to match your communication to your title and finally get recognized at the level you’ve already earned.

Are you still leading with data instead of decisions? Waiting to be invited to speak instead of shaping the narrative? If you’ve been promoted but feel like you're being overlooked for the next opportunity, you're not alone—and it’s not a skills problem.

That’s why I built the Executive Presence Mastery System—to help senior leaders like you stop relying on technical perfection and start building trust through strategic communication. Because presence, judgment, and communication now make up 70% of your leadership evaluation.

So if you're ready to stop playing small and start signaling real leadership, go to the show notes, click the first link you find, or visit www.speakupwithlaura.com/speakup to schedule a time that works for you. I'd love to help you close the presence gap once and for all.

🔗 Research & References Mentioned in This Episode

🎯 Executive Presence & Leadership Perception

1. Carol Kinsey Goman – The Silent Language of Leaders
2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10401591-the-silent-language-of-leaders
3. Center for Talent Innovation – Executive Presence (2014 Study)
4. https://www.talentinnovation.org/_private/assets/ExecutivePresence-CTI-Research.pdf
5. Bain & Company – What Separates Top Leaders
6. https://www.bain.com/insights/what-executive-presence-means-and-why-it-matters/

💬 Confidence, Communication & Visibility

1. Katty Kay & Claire Shipman – The Confidence Code
2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18170143-the-confidence-code
3. McKinsey & LeanIn – Women in the Workplace (2023 Report)
4. https://womenintheworkplace.com/
5. Harvard Business Review – “Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?”
6. https://hbr.org/2013/08/why-do-so-many-incompetent-men

🧠 Decision-Making & Senior Leadership Dynamics

1. Harvard Business Review – What Sets Successful CEOs Apart
2. https://hbr.org/2017/05/what-sets-successful-ceos-apart
3. MIT Sloan Management Review – Strategic Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
4. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/strategic-decisions-under-uncertainty/
5. Stanford GSB – The Communication Behaviors of Effective Leaders
6. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/communication-behaviors-effective-leaders

⚙️ Communication for Technical Leaders

1. National Academy of Engineering – Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering
2. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12187/changing-the-conversation-messages-for-improving-public-understanding-of-engineering

To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.

In Speak Up communication and executive presence coaching, high performing leaders and executives learn to enhance their influence and confidence, refining their communication style to increase visibility and effectiveness in promotion opportunities.

By honing communication skills and fostering a trusted advisor mindset, aspiring executives cultivate mastery in public speaking and beat imposter syndrome. Your leadership becomes more strategic and inspiring.