Heardthe Women in Fintech Spokesperson Index, today releases its first research report on attitudes towards public speaking in the industry. When it comes to events and content, only 31% of all respondents think event organizers and content producers are doing a good job when it comes to gender diversity.
An additional 85% say they notice that event programs do not represent women and non-binary people well. Although public speaking and advertising may seem like a very small part of the fintech and financial services universe, with a plethora of content and events produced, their importance to the industry is growing .
And with many fintech and financial services companies reporting difficulty attracting diverse talent, 84% of all respondents said they would assume a company doesn’t support women very well internally if it only features male executives in the media or through events. .
The importance of public opportunities:
- It’s easy to dismiss speaking publicly as just a public relations exercise, but that’s no longer the case.
- A whopping 94% of men and women surveyed said more public speaking opportunities would benefit their careers, with more than half (52%) saying more external speaking engagements would help them accelerate towards the goals set by their current employer. This included: seeking marketing opportunities, securing partnerships and increasing the visibility of the company’s work.
What holds women and non-binary speakers back:
- Nearly 40% of women and non-binary people said they did not consider themselves experts, which prevented them from pursuing opportunities. This was double the number of men, or 20%.
- On top of that, more than a third of women and non-binary people (36%) said they didn’t know how to get these opportunities, and another 20% said they didn’t know if they needed of an authorization or if they were “authorized”. ‘ to take part in the speech.
- Hesitation appears to be a big factor here, and women and non-binary people are also 5 times more likely than men to worry about saying something they shouldn’t say about their employer ( 2% versus 11%).
Chantal Swainston, founder of The Heard, said: We know that fintech and financial services is a male-dominated field, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t brilliant women and non-binary people working in this sector as well. By working a little harder to put them in the spotlight, companies can demonstrate the wide diversity of talent already on their teams and, in turn, help attract more candidates in the future.
Public speaking is a universal fear, and the only way to get better at it is to practice. We should stop expecting people to change their charisma when they reach a certain level of seniority. As an industry, we need to consider speaking training and practice earlier in the career journey, which can help employees develop essential soft skills for life, as well as increase the number of doors -positive words that companies can rely on when opportunities present themselves.
The Heard calls on fintech companies, event organizers and content creators to prioritize gender diversity through inclusive representation. Providing targeted training can enable women and non-binary professionals to confidently engage in public speaking opportunities.