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THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE

SPEAKERNOVEMBER 2015THE ART AND BUSINESS OF SPEAKING

A RECIPE FORLEADERSHIP

SUCCESS

BUILDING ALEADERSHIP CULTURE IN

SCHOOLS

WHAT WOMEN WANTHOW TO CONNECT WITH

FEMALE AUDIENCES

ENHANCE YOUR REPUTATION AS ATHOUGHT LEADER

AVOIDAV GLITCHES

FOR GOOD!

Pictured: Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP, 2015-16 President, National Speakers Association

22 | SPEAKER | November 2015

WHAT

WOMENWANT

Understanding the unique needs of women can boost your business

BY FRANCES RÍOS

Frances Ríos, shown

in her signature orange,

advocates connecting

with women audiences

on a deeper level.

November 2015 | SPEAKER | 23

Do you connect deeply with yourfemale audience members? Are your programs free of

conscious and unconscious biases? Accordingto one recent study, 91 percent of women sayadvertisers don’t understand them. There’s agood chance you don’t either.

I transformed my speaking business bycreating an information and data-gatheringtool that allows me to connect with womenon a more personal level, and by creatingeducational programs that address the partic-ular needs of women who want to grow pro-fessionally. Plus, I learned to serve mycorporate clients by helping them positionthemselves as women’s advocates.

During a special breakout session forwomen at the 2014 NSA Convention, agroup of female colleagues expressed the needfor more opportunities and a stronger pres-ence for women speakers. I was experiencing

the same situation in Puerto Rico, where Iam the only NSA member, and where the

majority of keynote speakers are men.Along with the lack of womenkeynote speakers hired, I experiencedfirsthand that it was harder forwomen to reach top leadership posi-tions when I worked as a spokes-woman for Fortune 100 companiesin Puerto Rico and the United

States. This is not news. Internetsearches for topics like “break the glass

ceiling” or “opportunities for women”produce endless lists of links. At the C-

Level among Fortune 500 companies, only25 positions are held by women (5 percent),and in Puerto Rico among the 400 top localcompanies, it’s only 6 percent, according tothe 2014 Caribbean Business’ Book of Lists.

24 | SPEAKER | November 2015

Boardroom genderimbalance can be attributedto a combination of the“unbreakable boys’ club,” the need for more roundedbusiness experience amongwomen, as well as consciousand unconscious biases, amongother factors.

My reality dovetailed withwhat my fellow female NSA col-leagues were experiencing, andthis gave me a green light to inno-vate and lead. My goal was to cre-ate a business model that would helpincrease the numbers of women includedin organizations at high levels of leader-ship—and of female keynote speakers.

Inclusion Leads to Better Financial ResultsCompanies are noticing the cor-relation between female leader-

ship and financial results. Studiesdemonstrate that companies with morewomen in senior management and ontheir boards of directors see betterreturns on their investments than thosewith fewer women.

Organizations of all sizes in everytype of industry are noticing that to bemore successful at understanding theirclients’ needs, the top leadership’s pro-file must match the customer’s profile.

And it makes business sense. Studiesconducted in the United States pointout that:

• Women account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases fromautomobiles to health care. (Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather)

• 62 percent of women business owners question whether the com-panies they buy from understand

their needs as business owners.(Entrepreneur Tracking Study)

• Only 28 percent of women who participated in the W CertifiedCompany™ survey indicated thattheir organizations utilize otherwomen-owned companies.

• 50 percent of products typicallymarketed to men are purchased by women. (Business Insider)

• 70 percent of women say their companies don’t provide skillsdevelopment in the areas of con-scious and unconscious bias. (W Certified Company)

Deloitte learned the hard way. In the Harvard Business Review, theyexplained how hard they prepared fornew business presentations, includingthe pitch, the slide deck and rehearsal.But their presentations did not allowthem to build sufficient rapport withprospects to get the business. Why?Half of the attendees at those new business presentations were women.

Women’s decision-makingprocesses and collaboration stylesare different. They pay attentionto an array of factors that mengenerally don’t. Deloitte reshuf-fled their new business teamsand taught men how to sell to women.

As speakers, we have thesame challenges in connectingwith women who are meetingplanners, top executives and

audience members. According to theU.S. Census Bureau, there are morethan 73 million working women—47percent of the general workforce. If thissegment has different priorities andwork styles, it makes sense to re-exam-ine our selling and speaking strategiesto ensure we’re connecting and closing.

At a beginning-of-the-year meetingat a Fortune company where I workedas a top executive, we invited a majorinternational speaker from NSA to talkabout how teamwork leads to greatcustomer service. Our expectationswere as high as his price tag. But 10minutes into his keynote, the audiencedisconnected. That’s because 99 per-cent of the examples in his speech were about baseball and basketball. He was energetic and articulate, but his stories alienated the 75 percentfemale audience.

The vast majority of keynote speakers hired in Puerto Rico and other countries where I do business are men. Every week I get dozens of event promotions from trade organizations; nine out of 10 pro-grams include only men. Is it becausethere are no women leaders? Or is itbecause organizers don’t make a conscious effort to reserve spots for women leaders?

Ríos and Holly Duckworth, CAE,

CMP, prepare for Women Who

Lead Summit.

November 2015 | SPEAKER | 25

Unique Solutions for Unique NeedsBased on my personal experi-ences as an executive and keynote

speaker, I developed distinctive solu-tions to promote women’s leadership,including:

• Offering educational programsbased on the needs of executives andbusiness women to reach their pro-fessional goals.

• Helping organizations make con-scious efforts to balance the ratiobetween male and female speakersand top-tier leaders.

• Creating a platform exclusively forwomen speakers.

In 2013, I created the Women WhoLead Summit, a one-day program for topexecutives and business women. Femaleexecutives and “WomenPreneurs” wantto attain their professional goals just as

men do, but with a different twist.Women want to learn best global busi-ness practices that they can apply accord-ing to their unique business preferences.

The Women Who Lead Summitoffers a unique learning experience. We have brought in WomenPreneurslike Margareth Henriquez, global CEOof Krug, one of the most luxuriouschampagnes in the world. This invita-tion-only event allows women to con-nect with other leaders, and gives thenthe opportunity to talk openly abouttheir particular needs, aspirations andbusiness styles.

Following Cavett Robert’s idea of“let’s just build a bigger pie!” weanswered the concerns of my speakercolleagues by reserving spaces for starNSA speakers. For the past two years,recognized NSA speakers like HollyDuckworth, Linda Swindling and NeenJames have inspired Hispanic women atthe Women Who Lead Summit.

Why did these speakersdare to present in English in a Spanish-

speaking country? Executivewomen speak English—the lan-guage of global business, and Hispanic women are an importantmarket. According to Nielsen:“Hispanic women are gainingprominence in the U.S. and arebecoming a strong influence onthe mainstream economy. With 52 million in the U.S. population,Hispanics collectively have an impressive buying power of $1.2trillion, and women are the ones in the driver’s seat.”

Leaders Take RisksWhile searching the Internet forimages related to phrases like“business risk takers,” the results

included mostly pictures of men likeDonald Trump, Bill Gates and RichardBranson. Only two women were regu-larly included: Oprah and Martha Stew-art. This outcome disappointed me as Iconsider myself a business risk taker.

I knew that creating a summit exclu-sively for women wasn’t enough toincrease women’s inclusion and helpcompanies be more conscious about gen-der balance. So I created a program topublicly recognize corporations thatdemonstrate a commitment to women’sdevelopment and inclusion while inspir-ing others to follow. The W CertifiedCompany—Leading the way forwomen’s inclusion™ was born as aninnovative survey tool to help companiesevaluate how their female employees feelabout their employer’s commitment towomen. Skeptics assured me that nocompany would participate in the survey,that it was too risky. “I bet only fivecompanies will register,” I was told.

International businesses are clearlyinterested in gender issues. Thirty com-panies—more than half with a globalpresence—enrolled, and 23 ended upbeing certified. Walmart, Microsoft,Starbucks, Unilever, T-Mobile, Ethiconand General Electric, among many oth-ers, were recognized for their inclusionefforts.

We met with every company andasked why they chose to participate.

Company presidents and humanresources executives pointed out twokey factors as motivators to enroll: Theuniqueness of the diagnostic tool andthe trust they had in me. Those conver-sations inspired me to extend the pro-

26 | SPEAKER | November 2015

gram internationally to support womenleaders’ efforts to reach their profes-sional pinnacles around the world.

Globally, companies are measured bytheir economic results, employee engage-ment and corporate social responsibility.The W Certified Company offers busi-nesses a way to measure and be recog-nized for their initiatives, investmentsand commitment to the growth ofwomen, internally and externally.

The uniqueness of the programwould not have been recognized withoutthe trust companies placed in my organi-zation and me. Throughout my 20-yearcareer as a top executive and businesswoman, I have always practiced six keyprinciples to create long-lasting businessrelationships: being the best I can be,providing real solutions, honoring mypromises, being consistent, breathingcreativity and having a positive impacton as many people as possible—thesame values many speakers promoteduring presentations and workshops onleadership and team building.

The Skipping StoneEffectAs a kid, stone skipping was atypical pastime. The goal: to

get the stone to jump as many timesand go as far as possible. When youare a true leader, your message andefforts have to touch as many lives aspossible and travel far.

Learning the needs of business andexecutive women at a deep levelthrough the Women Who Lead Summitand the W Certified Company allowsme to develop stronger connections atdifferent levels with companies andtheir female employees, vendors andclients. I create ties with humanresources departments to support theirefforts to attract, hire and retain thebest female talent. And they needspeakers who can share specific strate-gies with the women in their networksbased on what they need to grow in thecorporate world.

How good are you at stone skippingwith your female clients? Do you con-nect with your female audiences in a

deep and meaningful way? Is your mes-sage touching as many lives as possibleand traveling as far as it can? Do youtake risks to create new business mod-els that will allow you to become athought leader within the women’sbusiness segment? Half the world wantsto know.

Frances Ríos is known as “the communicationsurgeon.” With her keynotes and programs,she helps women reach their professionalpinnacle, while helping companies becomewomen’s advocates. Learn more at www.FrancesRíos.com

“What an incredibleexperience to speakto an audience com-prised of women whoare eager for informa-

tion on how to succeed as a pro-fessional woman. On stage therewere no speakers using stereotyp-ical sports analogies with a slight,respectful mention about a motheror wife whose contribution con-sists of baking, volunteeringand/or raising kids. Instead, pow-erful and successful women werepositioned to discuss real busi-ness issues in a distinguished,respectful and humorous format.”

—Linda Swindling, JD, CSP

“When women leadersgather, they createamazing impact. Theirdesire to nurture andgrow future leaders,

combined with their commitmentto the multiple roles they manageat work, at home and in their com-munity, make them a powerfulforce. Our platforms need moreexceptional, powerful femalespeakers to be role models for usas we grow our influence andimpact our audiences and ourindustry.” 

—Neen James, MBA, CSP

“As a speaker andparticipant in theWomen Who LeadSummit, you releaseperceptions of being

different from every other womanin the room. Participants cometogether around the commonbond of being visionary womenand making those visions becomea reality for the good ofhumankind.”

—Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP

VIEWS FROM WOMEN WHO LEAD

Women Who Lead: Neen James,

MBA, CSP, Frances Ríos and

Linda Swindling, JD, CSP.