Welcome to the show!

https://www.captivatetheroom.com

Conversation Summary: The host, Tracy Goodwin, delivered a solo podcast episode about the negative impact of the "mask of people pleasing" on sales and communication. She defined this "voice mask" as a set of protective vocal habits that cause a speaker to neutralize their personality, block genuine connection, and sound tentative. Goodwin argued that in a sales context, this focus on being liked rather than serving the client led to a loss of authority and business, as the speaker was often perceived as indifferent or lacking confidence. She supported her points with anecdotes from her coaching practice, explained that these masks stemmed from deeper issues like imposter syndrome, and proposed that the solution was to release the need for approval and focus on creating an authentic "voice experience" for the listener.

• The "mask of people pleasing" was identified as the most common and destructive vocal pattern in sales, causing individuals to neutralize their personality and block connection.
• People pleasers in sales mistakenly believed they must be liked to make a sale, which led them to hide their passion and expertise, resulting in a flat delivery that was perceived as indifference.
• The vocal habits associated with this mask, such as sounding tentative or ending statements with a rising intonation (lilt), undermined the speaker's authority and subconsciously asked for permission.
• These vocal masks were described as habits built on deeper insecurities, imposter syndrome, and a lack of self-worth, which surfaced in high-stakes situations like selling or job interviews.
• The recommended solution was to stop focusing on the outcome of being liked and instead concentrate on serving the client and revealing one's authentic self through their voice.

Welcome to the show!

https://www.captivatetheroom.com

Interview Summary In an interview on the "Captivate the Room" podcast, Professor Okhee Lee discussed her personal and professional journey, from growing up in a remote South Korean village to becoming a leading academic in STEM education at New York University. She detailed her work focused on multilingual learners, advocating for an asset-based approach that recognizes their inherent capabilities.

A significant portion of the conversation centered on her transformative experience with voice coaching, which she began at age 60. Lee explained how this training helped her overcome layers of self-imposed silence rooted in her cultural background, gender, and profession. She articulated a profound connection between finding her physical voice and claiming her identity, which empowered her to advocate for herself, win numerous awards, and become a more impactful public intellectual.

Interviewee Background Okhee Lee was a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. Her expertise was in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, with a specific focus on promoting equity, justice, and language learning for all students, particularly multilingual learners. Her work involved integrating science, language, and computational thinking to address major societal challenges. She was the recipient of many honors and awards for her contributions to the field.

• Okhee Lee's work shifted the educational paradigm from viewing multilingual learners through a deficit lens (e.g., "limited English proficient") to an asset-based perspective that values their diverse knowledge and languages.
• She advocated for making complex STEM concepts tangible and accessible by grounding them in real-world phenomena, such as studying garbage to understand decomposition and the conservation of matter.
• Her personal journey was one of determination, where she had to "beat the system" by earning high test scores to convince her family to let her study in the U.S. instead of getting married.
• At age 60, she undertook voice coaching which she described as a profound, identity-shifting experience. It helped her unpack and overcome layers of self-silencing stemming from being an Asian American woman in a male-dominated academic field.
• She argued that speaking and listening are fundamental skills that are critically undervalued in society and academia, unlike reading and writing, which often serves to silence certain groups.
• Finding her voice physically allowed her to find her voice academically and personally, leading her to assert her right to be recognized for her work and to actively mentor others.

Welcome to the show and to the series that I'm ending 2025 with. I'm rolling out my top 5 episodes of 2025.

This was one of my personal favorites. Everyone has a wounded voice and they don't realize it. If we just heal the wound, the don't actually fix the voice, the voice has to be dealt with as well.

I hope you enjoy this series and best wishes for a very happy holidays.

Have you taken my voice mask quiz?

https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/621a5513edca630018200027

Are you ready to rewrite your voice wounds and finally find your real voice?

Here are two options to work with me.

The Voice Code https://www.captivatetheroom.com/voicecode

Voice Mastery https://www.captivatetheroom.com/voicemastery

Welcome to the show!

I've got a little bit of a recap for you on some of the shows I've done lately with more detail about how the voice plays a role in getting what you want, specifically in sales.

Your subconscious voice patterns and "masks" are costing you money and preventing authentic connection, even when you think you're being genuine.

• Even successful people leave 30% of potential buyers behind due to subtle voice issues
• One small voice adjustment can dramatically impact results:
  • Jade's story: Conversion rate jumped from 40% to 80% after removing one protective sound
  • Another client: Achieved 78% conversion rate at live events after fixing minimizing patterns

1. "I don't want to sound salesy"

• Results in minimizing and flattening offers
• Makes you sound unconfident about your own programs
• Buyers lose inspiration and curiosity

2. "I don't want to bother people"

• Creates rushed, indifferent delivery
• Sounds like you're hurrying to get through interactions
• Makes listeners feel unwelcome

3. Outcome-driven/problem-solver patterns

• Being "vocally somewhere else" while speaking
• Creates disconnect between words and presence

• Your nervous system tries to keep you "safe" by avoiding judgment, rejection, or abandonment
• These protective patterns show up as voice masks that repel listeners
• You can't hear these patterns yourself because your subconscious doesn't want you to

• In an AI world, authentic human frequency is crucial
• Many people have "buried" their natural feeling sounds
• Without authentic vocal connection, you sound flat and AI-like

The gap between thinking you're being authentic and actually connecting authentically through your voice is costing you sales, leadership effectiveness, and relationships. Small voice adjustments can yield massive results.

Contact: tracy@captivatetheroom.com for voice assessments and improvement work.

Welcome to the show!

I've got a great guest with me today, a little bit of an analysis, especially around what's stopping conversions, voice stories and beliefs around what is working vs. what is protection and voice masks and how they cost sales.

Interview Summary This interview was a live voice coaching session between host and voice expert Tracy Goodwin and her guest, business owner Beverly Simpson. [01:38]

Tracy analyzed clips of Beverly's voice from a previous podcast appearance and an Instagram Live video, identifying vocal patterns that stemmed from a deep-seated need to prove her worth. [02:21]

They discussed how childhood experiences, particularly criticism from her father, created "voice masks" that caused her to sound like she was pushing, convincing, and justifying her expertise. Beverly shared her own vulnerabilities, including the fear of becoming egotistical and the deeper fear of not being "great enough."

The conversation explored how these vocal habits, while contributing to her success so far, were now limiting her ability to connect authentically with her full audience and step into her next level of leadership.

Interviewee Background Beverly Simpson was a former actor and a former district fitness manager for a national gym in Manhattan, where she was responsible for significant revenue and team development. For the past decade, she has been running her own business, where she helps personal trainers and other health and wellness professionals start and scale their own profitable online businesses.

Welcome to the show! I've got a great guest and a great episode for you today.

Dr. Stephanie Lopez with me today.

Dr. Steph is a former NASA Psychologist and the founder of The BRAVE Method. She’s known for guiding women to break through anxiety, heal, and get out of fight or fight for good.

Broken to Brave Podcast: https://brokentobrave.buzzsprout.com

Free Training: www.brave-method.com/anxiety

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstephanielopez/

Interview Summary

In this interview, host Tracy Goodwin spoke with Dr. Stephanie Lopez, a former NASA psychologist turned healing coach. [04:32] Dr. Lopez discussed her unique perspective on anxiety, defining it as the mismanagement of emotions that resulted from a lifetime of being taught to suppress feelings and cut short the natural emotional cycle. [08:39] She explained how this suppression led to anxiety, people-pleasing, and perfectionism.

[27:35] Dr. Lopez shared her personal journey, which began with a transformational workshop at NASA, and outlined her approach to healing, which emphasized increasing one's tolerance for feeling all emotions, understanding the somatic nature of emotional regulation, and breaking free from limiting self-identities.

[10:07] The conversation also explored the mechanics of people-pleasing, the importance of a nuanced emotional vocabulary, and the power of experiential work in creating lasting change. [25:23]

• Dr. Lopez defined anxiety not as a permanent condition but as the result of mismanaging emotions, specifically by suppressing them and preventing them from completing their natural cycle. [08:49]
• She argued that from a young age, most people were conditioned to "cut off" their emotions, which led to a buildup of unprocessed feelings that manifested as anxiety, ruminating thoughts, and even physical pain. [11:01]
• She stated that "overthinking is under-feeling," explaining that attempts to control every outcome were driven by an unwillingness to feel potential negative emotions like embarrassment or incompetence. [15:34]
• The key to gaining control, she proposed, was to increase one's tolerance to feel all emotions. [14:36] When one was willing to feel anything, external circumstances and other people's reactions lost their power. [14:36]
• People-pleasing was described as an attempt to control others' feelings to avoid one's own discomfort, which paradoxically could erode trust in relationships. [25:28]
• She emphasized that true emotional regulation was primarily a somatic (body-based) experience, and that intellectual understanding alone was insufficient for deep, lasting healing. [24:01]