Email from Innovation Women

Innovation Women Newsletter #563

May 15, 2026

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IT'S THE LAW

Hi ala,


It's the Law of Onstage Shout-outs. The more complex your story is, the less likely you are to get an effective or useful shout-out from the stage.


Lately I have been spending more time at local events. (Better weather, got a new clutch for the Mini and wheeeeee, I'm out tearing up this town.)


Recently I attended an event where accelerator mentors took to the stage on behalf of their mentees. They told their stories with varying degrees of success. 


Not surprisingly, the simpler the story, the better it was retold.


Think about your business story, your life story or the story of your transformation. Could someone else pick up the ball and run with it on your behalf?


On the other side of the aisle, event organizers need to do the inclusion math. How many of the shout-outs and stories will involve Matt, Joe, Bob, and David?


Too many startup and entrepreneurial events fall short when it comes to the gender equity in the stories told. When the speakers uniformly shout-out or cite men, it almost doesn't matter who is on stage. The stories are what stick and the impression we're leaving is that women's stories matter less or that women are just not active in the business world.


Bobbie and the entire Innovation Women team


P.S. We sent out an invitation to the Speaker Friend-a-thon yesterday and had no idea we would fill up the registration so quickly. Don't worry, we bought a bigger boat! You can register to join us! Sign up today for our special Speaker Friend-a-thon!

MAY 29 SPEAKER FRIEND-A-THON

Join us for a special 11th Anniversary event - 11 hours of Speaker Friends! We're hitting all the time zones we can!


On Friday, May 29th, 2026, we'll be holding our first-ever Speaker Friend-a-thon, an 11-hour live Zoom experience from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET. It’s designed to bring our global community together for connection, collaboration and a whole lot of speaker support. (Bobbie’s note: And FUN! Don’t forget fun!


We’ll be talking about things like speaker compensation, building a speaking business, pricing, sizzle reels, authorship and more.  Everything related to public speaking! RSVP now!

EVENT MANAGER OR EXPERT?

Do you need speakers or subject matter experts at your event or conference? Are you looking for podcast guests? Are you a journalist looking for an expert source? Check out InnovationWomen.com. You can sign up for a free account and search the database by topic, industry, location, title and more.

Are you an expert looking to expand your visibility, thought leadership or expert status? Are you looking to drive book sales or podcast downloads? Are you looking for a supportive community? Are you looking for information and education on speaking? Check out Innovation Women memberships.

SPEAKER FRIEND FRIDAYS

All are welcome!


Join us today (and every Friday) at 8:45 am ET for Speaker Friend Fridays on Zoom. You can also join us for West Coast Friendly Speaker Friends on the first Friday and third Friday (TODAY!) of each month at noon ET/9:00 am PT. Click the links below to RSVP and add the recurring links to your calendar. (Everyone is welcome at these events. Bring a friend, even if they aren't a member.) Event organizers? You're welcome too!

MY SPEAKER LEADS IS OPEN!


My Speaker Leads is open for business again! (It has been running a waiting list for the last two years.) What is My Speaker Leads? My Speaker Leads saves professional speakers time and effort by providing a weekly list of leads most likely to convert to paid public speaking opportunities. Sign up today for 200-400 speaking leads every month. 

GET MORE SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES

We’re here to help you find EVEN MORE speaking opportunities.


Join Innovation Women founder and Speaker Friend Fridays host Bobbie Carlton, an industry veteran who has spent decades getting executives and experts onto high-visibility stages. You’ll get insider secrets and insights you can use immediately.


You know how speaking can drive business growth and dramatically boost your professional visibility, but do you know:


  • What event managers, podcast hosts, and media are really looking for in speakers?
  • How Innovation Women connects women and other underrepresented voices with speaking opportunities of all kinds?
  • Ways you can uncover opportunities most others miss?


Plus, you’ll get a live tour of the Innovation Women speaking opportunity database, a look at our educational resources, and an introduction to our supportive online community. Where other organizations stop short of delivering the real goods, Innovation Women always gives you the inside scoop.


Please join us: Thursday June 18 at 12:00 pm ET

UPCOMING INNOVATION WOMEN WEBINAR

Mastering Complex Expertise: How to Give Technical Talks that Matter  

Featuring Sal Kimmich

May 20, 2026, 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET


Most experts are terrible at explaining what they do. Not because they do not know enough, but because they know too much. The jargon, the assumptions, the shorthand that makes perfect sense inside their field becomes a wall between them and every audience outside it.


Sal Kimmich writes and speaks about AI governance, semiconductor policy, and cybersecurity for a living. Their book Code, Chips and Control covers topics that could not sound less accessible: kernel-level security, hardware supply chains, hypervisors, space systems. It has been read by diplomats, policymakers, developers, and people who had never heard the word "kernel" before they picked it up. Getting there required learning three things that no technical training programme teaches: how to strip jargon without dumbing your idea down, how to find the story living inside any technical topic, and how to build a structure that lets a mixed audience follow you all the way to the end.


You will leave with a practical framework for taking your most complex idea and making it land with an audience that does not share your background, whether that is a boardroom, a conference stage, a podcast, or a book.

LIONESS MAGAZINE FEATURES

Lioness for the Female Entrepreneur is our digital magazine for women who are starting (or thinking about starting) companies. Get the latest news, tools and resources to launch and scale startups. This week you can read great articles like: