622: To Rescue Your Executive Presence from the Dumpster Fire Stop Doing These 5 Things (from the 2026 Executive Influence Index)

622: To Rescue Your Executive Presence from the Dumpster Fire Stop Doing These 5 Things (from the 2026 Executive Influence Index)

Author: Laura Camacho September 4, 2026 Duration: 15:23

Know Your Own Executive Presence Strengths & Opportunities:

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.

What if the behaviors you think make you look hardworking, prepared, and smart are actually making you look less executive? It happens more often than you think.

High performers are often rewarded for knowing more, doing more, explaining more, and working harder. But as you move into senior leadership, those same habits can start working against you. Executive influence isn't about producing the most output—it’s about knowing what matters, communicating it clearly, and creating better thinking and decisions around you.

In this episode of Speak Up, Dr. Laura Camacho reveals seven things you can stop doing at work to strengthen your executive presence and make the transition from expert to interpreter, advisor, and executive.

By the end of this episode you’ll know how to:

🏆Communicate with greater authority by saying less, prioritizing what matters, and eliminating unnecessary information

🏹Strengthen your influence by asking sharper questions, creating productive friction, and focusing less on proving you’re the smartest person in the room

🪝Increase your executive presence by replacing busyness, overwork, and boring communication with better judgment, clarity, and memorable ideas

Play the episode to discover what you can stop doing this week to create more influence, clearer decisions, and stronger executive presence—without simply working harder.

If you know you’re ready for the next level in your career—but you’re not sure whether your executive presence is helping you get there or quietly holding you back—start with the Executive Presence Scorecard.

This quick self-assessment will help you pinpoint where you’re already showing up as a confident, credible leader and where there may be gaps in how you communicate, influence, and lead.

Go to the show notes, click the link for the Executive Presence Scorecard, and take the assessment today. Your next level of leadership starts with knowing exactly where you stand.

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

The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.

Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.

Topics covered in this episode:

How to strengthen executive presence by communicating less

Why overexplaining can weaken your executive influence

How senior leaders prioritize information for better decision-making

Asking strategic questions instead of always having the answer

How productive disagreement builds leadership influence

Using storytelling to make executive communication more memorable

Moving from subject-matter expert to trusted executive advisor

Common high-performer habits that hurt executive presence


Ever find yourself in a crucial meeting, certain your idea is the right one, only to have the conversation move past you? That specific frustration of being unheard, despite your expertise, is exactly where Speak Up: Develop Your Executive Presence & Leadership Communication Style begins. Hosted by communication strategist Laura Camacho, this podcast digs into the subtle, often unspoken rules of influence within organizations. It’s not about talking louder; it’s about communicating with a clarity and conviction that commands attention and gets results. Each episode moves beyond generic advice, offering practical frameworks for shaping how you’re perceived in high-stakes situations, from boardroom presentations to everyday team interactions. You’ll hear real-world breakdowns of communication successes and missteps, actionable strategies for structuring your thoughts under pressure, and insights into the nonverbal cues that define leadership presence. This is for professionals who are ready to transition from being a participant to becoming a pivotal voice. Tune into this business and careers podcast for a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of what it truly means to lead through your words and demeanor, transforming your potential into tangible impact.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Speak Up: Develop Your Executive Presence & Leadership Communication Style
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