Your strengths lie in leadership, clarity, and decision-making under pressure. But on stage, whether it’s a keynote at Cannes, a live streamed product launch, your chest tightens. Your voice sounds thinner than usual. You wonder: do they hear how unsure I feel?
Satya Nadella, when speaking to investors, pauses before each slide. Oprah Winfrey, before every interview, stops and breathes. Sheryl Sandberg grounds herself physically before public appearances. These aren’t quirks. They’re tools.
Even the most experienced leaders can feel rattled when all eyes are on them. And often, what betrays them first isn’t what they say. It’s how they breathe.
Interviewing Director Tristram Shapeero
I was still at university when I landed my first paid commission: an interview with film director Tristram Shapeero for the Bath Chronicle. He was generous with his time. I was nervous.
I could hear it in my voice—and I could feel him responding to it. His tone was kind, but cautious. Like he was slowing down to steady the moment for both of us.
A few minutes in, my chest started to tighten. I wasn’t unprepared, but I was out of rhythm. So I paused. Focused on one breath. Silently told myself: You’ve done the work. You know what matters. Reset and begin again.
He relaxed. So did I. The conversation changed.
When your breath steadies you, it steadies the room.
Why breath comes first
Breathing rhythm is rarely discussed in business communication, but it’s almost always the first thing to go when pressure rises. And the first thing that can bring you back.
When your breath is shallow, sitting high in your chest, it affects your tone. You sound tight. Or too fast. Or overly careful. But when you breathe from deeper, engaging your diaphragm, expanding through the ribs, you sound grounded. Present.
Caroline Goyder, an expert in performance at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, puts it simply: “Breath is your anchor in chaos. If you don’t own it, the room owns you.”¹
Dr Emma Seppälä, Faculty Director of the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program and bestselling author of The Happiness Track (2017) writes: “Slow, deep breathing activates the vagus nerve, reducing stress hormones and improving decision-making.”²
Voice coach Patsy Rodenburg adds: “When your breath is held, you disconnect. You can’t connect with others until you connect to your breath.”³
Oprah Winfrey told The Cut: “Before every audience, I stop. I breathe. That’s how I come back to myself.”⁴
And as executive voice coach Caroline Goyder says: “The most powerful person in the room has the most relaxed breathing pattern.”
A simple breathing reset
Before you speak:
- Sit or stand tall. Relax your shoulders.
- Inhale through your nose for four counts, letting the air move into your ribs—not your collarbones.
- Hold for two.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth for six.
- Repeat two or three times.
This isn’t about staying calm. It’s about being ready. It’s the fastest way of gaining control of the adreneline.
This reset technique is used by actors, athletes, and high-performance professionals to build vocal endurance and regulate nerves. Studies, including those from the University of Utah, show that diaphragmatic breathing supports clearer voice projection and mental clarity under pressure.⁵
During the keynote itself, don’t forget to breathe between key points. Use breath to mark transitions. It steadies you, but it also signals confidence to your audience. A voice carried on breath has presence, one that fills the room without forcing it.
If you’re presenting in a second language
For many global leaders, the language of the room isn’t the language of home. And under pressure, fluency can feel just out of reach.
Breath becomes essential. It gives your mind time to retrieve the right words, and your voice time to land. It turns silence from something awkward into something deliberate.
You don’t need to speak faster to sound fluent. You need to breathe slower to sound certain.
A Final Note
You can rehearse the deck. Practise your phrasing. But if your breath goes, your presence goes with it.
Breath supports vocal tone, timing, and confidence. Studies from Stanford and the University of Utah show diaphragmatic breathing improves vocal endurance and mental clarity under pressure.
Breath isn’t soft. It isn’t a wellness hack. It’s infrastructure. And in a moment where leaders are being watched, quoted, recorded and replayed—it might be the only thing that earns you the room.
Footnotes:
- Caroline Goyder, TEDxBrixton talk: “The Surprising Secret to Speaking with Confidence” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MR5XbJtXU
- Dr. Emma Seppälä, The Happiness Track — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-science-of-happiness-could-help-you-succeed/
- Patsy Rodenburg, The Right to Speak — https://www.scribd.com/doc/136216996/The-Right-to-Speak-Patsy-Rodenburg
- Oprah Winfrey interview in The Cut — https://www.thecut.com/2018/03/oprah-winfrey-meditation.html
- University of Utah research on diaphragmatic breathing and vocal control — https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/diaphragmatic-breathing-and-the-voice/
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