Dana Rubin is a US-based consultant, speechwriter, and speaker who’s on a mission to encourage more women to put their views into the public square. She created the Speaking While Female Speech Bank to broaden our understanding of the role of women orators in history. It’s the world’s largest online archive of women’s speeches from around the world and across time, free for anyone to use. In addition to speaking and coaching, she leads workshops that support women to be thought leaders, subject matter experts, brand ambassadors, business developers, and role models for future generations of women and girls.

At the centre of practice is the idea of public voice and the dynamics of power.

For the past few years Dana has researching extensively the history of women’s speech. What she found has completely changed her understanding of how a historical narrative gets created and reinforced through the years. In this case, the narrative in question is that men have delivered the best speeches in history.

She noted virtually ALL the individuals whom we consider great speakers were men: Churchill, Lincoln, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan – all men, and I note even mostly white. In her research, Dana soon discovered it's not true. Women have indeed been speaking out, forcefully and eloquently, changing the world with their voices. Now she has worked on a new anthology of American women’s speeches, "Speaking While Female: 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women."

Her real mission is to change the way we think about great oratory of the past, and women’s roles as speakers and leaders today.

We discuss:

1. Best women’s speech of all time in your view and why that one?

2. Men and their speeches are most often referred to as the “best or most memorable speeches”. Think JFK, Michael Jordan or Barack Obama. To set the record straight, you created a free online archive with thousands of speeches by women in history, the Speaking While Female Speech Bank (SpeakingWhileFemale.co). Why did you feel compelled to create such a  global repository?

3. Does looking back somehow help fuel the future? Explain with 1-2 examples.

4. Is this about rewriting history in some way? Explain.

5. What role does greater diversity play such as being of colour, LBTQI+ or even neurodiverse and how will you drive that change on how we see “public voice” that matters?

6. Take away: What is your final takeaway message for us on The Politics of Public Voice?

CONTACT INFO:

LinkedIn: (12) Dana Rubin | LinkedIn

Website: SpeakingWhileFemale.co

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