In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia shares the practical steps that can turn a nerve-wracking speaking slot into a powerful moment of connection.

She breaks a good speech into two halves: preparation and delivery. From using A5 cue cards and writing your opening and closing lines first, to finding the right pauses, stories, and shifts in volume, Julia’s approach is rooted in years of trial, error, and speaking to audiences around the world.

Along the way, she shares tips for calming nerves, holding attention, and making sure your message lands and lasts.

Listen to this episode to learn how a well-prepared, well-delivered speech can change the room, the conversation, and maybe even the course of events.

About the Speaker:

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: "Leading beyond Authority" and "Cultural Intelligence". She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2022, Julia led an expedition of 24 women to find 'an approach to leading that resonates with women'. In 2024, she founded Women Emerging. She leads expeditions with women all over the world using the 4Es methodology, discovered on the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.

Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia speaks with Autumn Phillips, a travel writer, adventurer, and change leader, who spent two decades as a newspaper editor leading award-winning newsrooms across the United States.

Autumn shares how to run a strategy meeting that doesn’t feel like a slow march through an agenda. Drawing from her experience leading both high-pressure editorial rooms and creative retreats around the world, she explains how to create conditions where people feel safe enough to speak up and bold enough to think differently.

From setting the right physical environment to lowering the stakes so risk-taking feels possible, Autumn offers practical steps to help teams listen better, push ideas further, and leave the room with a shared sense of momentum.

Listen to this episode to learn how a well-led strategy meeting can do more than setting a plan. It can unlock creativity, trust, and collective energy.

About the Guest:

Autumn Phillips is a travel writer, adventurer and change leader.

She retired in 2024 from a 20-year career as a newspaper editor, leading newsrooms across the United States.

Her leadership was recognized with many national awards, including two projects that were Pulitzer Prize finalists.

In 2023, she began taking readers on international trips, teaching them how to write about their journeys as a way to deepen the experience. She is starting the year by leading a women’s creativity retreat in Lamu, Kenya.

She was named NATJA Travel Journalist of the Year for stories on Lebanon, Sudan and Finland.

She writes a weekly newsletter and has published long-form narrative pieces on Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, Finland, Pakistan, Sudan, Zambia, Lebanon, Cuba, Morocco, the Grand Canyon, the World Nomad Games in Kazakhstan, and the Galapagos.

In this episode of How to Lead: 2025 Edition, Julia is joined by Susan Taylor, a CEO & leadership coach and facilitator whose work invites us to reimagine what real leadership feels like; not just from the outside, but from within.

Susan talks about entering a room grounded, choosing observation over reaction, and how to read the atmosphere of a meeting not just for what’s being said, but what’s being felt. Susan shares practical insights from her work.

This isn’t leadership as performance. It’s leadership as presence. And it’s a conversation that gently but powerfully asks: how do you want people to feel after sitting with you?

If you’ve ever led a room and walked away unsure why something didn’t land, or if you’re learning to show up without rushing to solve, this episode offers a calm, precise lens on what might be happening beneath the surface. It will teach how to hold the future. Quietly. Intentionally. Together.

About the Guest:

Susan Taylor is a transformational coach and facilitator with over 30 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and executives unlock their potential through heart-centered and purpose-aligned practices. As CEO and co-founder of Generon International, she draws on her expertise in Bohmian Dialogue to foster clarity, transform relationships, and build cultures of innovation and inclusivity. A former Forbes contributor and founding member of the Conscious Leadership Guild, Susan also serves on the Advisory Committee of the American Leadership Forum.