Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson: communication coaching for humble leaders

204 - How To Speak With Authority Without Sounding Demanding 06.08.2026 14min

If you overthink or second guess how you're going to express yourself in team meetings, this episode is for you.In our reluctance to NOT appear 'bossy' we sometimes overthink our messages, try to facilitate a discussion when really, our recommendation is appropriate and prioritise consensus over getting things done.Inspired by a real conversation in my Communicate with Impact program, in this episode I'm sharing some practical and mindset tips to help you say what you want to say, with authority and credibility, without sounding pushy, bossy without feeling awkwardly assertive.Listen in to hear:Mindset shifts for confident recommendationsHow to own your expertise in meetingsLanguage hacks to soften any potential harshnessMoving from asking for permission to making direct recommendationsThe impact of imposter syndrome on speaking upOther episodes mentioned: # 7 - Why Me? Overcoming 'I'm Not Good Enough' Get my FREE How To Stop Rambling Masterclass

203 - The Lost Art of Casual Conversations (and the cost to our relationships) 24.07.2026 24min

I've become very present, recently, to how our work-from-home, online world, is reducing our casual conversations.And with that, we're losing the key human skills of building relationships through conversations.In this episode I'm 'working out loud' on this 'trend' ... Listen in to hear:my 'evidence' for this diminishing human skill of conversations and connectionwhy relationships are a key part of a successful (meaningful, satisfying) career or businesshow conversations - imperfect, flawed, unscripted - are the building blocks to relationshipswhy I think we need to consciously create time to build relationships - and not just through asynschronous text and voice notes, or social media commentsI would love to know what you think. Leave a comment below.I'd also love to answer your questions in a future episode - leave them below DM me on instagramAnd if you'd like to better understand why you ramble, and how to manage it, you want my FREE How To Stop Rambling Masterclass

202 - Why I Ramble, And How I Don't (when I don't want to) 30.06.2026 26min

It will probably suprise you to learn that, despite being a communication and speaking coach, my natural tendency is to ramble.In fact, it was my rambling, and my deep frustration that I wasn't making sense to my colleagues (despite my intelligence and experience) that inspired me to start my business and podcast. So in this episode I want to share what I now understand to be the causes of my rambling, and how I manage it so I can be an impactful communicator, without stifling my thought process or my personality.Listen in to hear:how it was reading about split-brain experiements that was the 'a-ha' for me about what I now understand is verbal processingthe gorgeous experience with a friend that had me realise that verbal processing wasn't necessarily normal (who knew?!?!)the reasons why verbal processing works for different neurodivergent minds (and what rings true for me)how I signal to my listeners, when I can, that I am 'thinking out loud', so I can still 'think' but they don't have to follow the (crazy-to-them) detailswhy feeling like I need to defend my position will also cause me to ramble, differently to the verbal processing stylehow I'm learning to trust my contribution without third party credibilityand how, when rambling really isn't ok, I manage to collect my thoughts and land them to move my listener closer to where I want the to beAlso mentioned in this episode.My FREE SpeakEASY Community Call, Friday 3 July. Click here for details My IMPACTFUL newsletter - subscribe to be the first to know of future SpeakEASYs and other eventsThe book: 'Who's In Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain' by Michael GazzinagaWant to ask a question? Let me know what resonated? Instagram is the best place to do that, or, if you're listening on Spotify, simply comment here!

201 - Breathing Space for Greater Impact 16.06.2026 19min

What happens when you take a few deep breaths?You feel better. Every time.Well, your messages need breathing space, both at a micro-level as well as at a macro-level, and that's what I'm talking about today.As I click over into the next century(!) of this podcast with episode 201, I'm changing the pace and style (a smidge) of these podcasts.Listen in to hear:how the algorithm-obsessed rule of 'consistency' does not mean frequency (even though we've conflated the two)why any good message needs space around it to breathe and to be receivedhow I'm approaching visibility and 'findability' while pushing back on the notion of volumewhy I think less really is moremy thinking on more 'working out loud' episodes rather than 'teaching' episodesMentioned In This EpisodeEpisode 200! (it's the episode before this one!)How To Stop Rambling Masterclass - it's free and it's on-demand. Get it here

200 - Lessons in speaking, podcasting & imposter syndrome! 01.06.2026 31min

A milestone episode, the 200th, deserves a celebration! 🥳To do just that, in this episode I’m answering a series of listener questions about speaking, podcasting and speaking highlights, as well as sharing what I’ve learned, and what’s coming next, for the Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson podcast.Listen in to hear:The most popular episode of all timeThe common mistakes people make when they start working on their speaking skillsThe ‘thing’ that keeps coming up, over and over again, in my coaching workThe number one insight I’ve gained, as in, the ONE THING that is most impactful when communicatingWhat surprises me the most about this podcast and this workMy speaking highlight (and no, it’s not the biggest stage I’ve spoken on)How I record these episodes without a script and keep my voice calm and invitingWhy I think speaking in THE MOST valuable skill you can haveWhat I’ll be sharing in episodes 201, onwardsAlso mentioned in this episode:The most popular episode of all time - How To Get The Right Words To Come Outhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/6zvje5YEEpFaEejTa9TFay?si=0c4f43ba393841d2The interview with Denise Duffield-Thomashttps://open.spotify.com/episode/4Yfa9VK2Hf0r7Dj50W07v1?si=9J3n_ebUQD2hCH58z2kBzgThe interview with Dr Martine Rothblatthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp5w47HjLKM My newsletter, Impactful, on substack (best way to hear about the cool stuff coming up)https://catmatson.substack.com/Instagram - where you can chat with me about anything ☺️https://www.instagram.com/catmatson/

199 - Making It Simply Obvious 26.05.2026 13min

Nothing is obvious to the uninformed ... yet so often when we communicate we assume that our audience knows what we're talking about. I've been reading award entries this week and so many of them don't make it obvious what they do. It's a lost opportunity for them to make an impression and to make an impact with the judging panel.It's not just award entries where this happens though:describing your businessdescribing your role in governmentintroducing yourself at networking functionsIn this episode I explain how to make it simply obvious to your audience.Listen in to hear:why nothing is obvious to the uninformedhow to think about what you do so you can describe it in a way that landshow thinking in 'sesame street terms' might help you simplify your messagehow being cute, jargonistic or extra clever doesn't helpmy simple framework for explaining what you do, simplyTo learn more about my Earn The Right Framework, listen to Episode 7 - Why Me? Overcoming I'm Not Good EnoughHelp me celebrate 200 episodes. Leave a question or a toast below or, head over to instagram and leave your question or toast thereSubscribe to my juicy almost-weekly newsletter to be the first in the know about my upcoming Masterclasses, events and 'work out loud' with me

198 - Speaking with substance (and length) without a script 19.05.2026 18min

197 - Trusting Yourself To Say The Right Thing 12.05.2026 15min

How often have you NOT spoken up because you don’t trust yourself to say the ‘right’ thing?I was recently asked these 2 questions:How do you build the confidence in knowing what to say? How do you trust yourself to provide the right content?How do you develop the confidence to trust your intuition?And I thought answering them would make for a delicious discussion.Listen in to hear:How I determined what is the ‘right’ thing to say (as a recovering over-thinker and self-doubter)How to listen to your audience in a way that tells you what they want to knowHow to strengthen your intuition in an age of AI and ‘should’ messagingThe ways to practice trusting your intuition to strength itWhy feedback and interaction is the best way to determine if you’re ‘saying the right thing’ (which requires practice and risk)>> I would LOVE your help to celebrate 200 episodes of Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson. If you’re listening on a platform that allows comments, leave a ‘toast’ for the podcast that I can read out on the show, or ask me a question I can answer on episode 200!If you can't leave comments on your podcast app, head over to this pinned post on Instagram and leave your toast, or ask your question, there.>> Want more ideas on strengthening your intuition?Listen to this interview with Chenae Carey Episode 123 - Intuitive Business with Chenae Carey Want to dive deeper into each podcast, work out loud with me and be the first to know of my events? Subscribe to my substack newsletter, Impactful, here https://catmatson.substack.com/

196 - Where Does Your Confidence Come From? 05.05.2026 16min

Where does your confidence come from?Is it authority?Is it something else?That was a question I was asked recently and I’m answering it in this week’s podcast.A listener asked:>> When you stand up as a public speaker, how do you build your confidence? Through authority, or something else? And, if authority, is it internal or external authority?What a question!Listen in to hear my exploration, including:When external authority is important in building your confidenceHow to build your internal authorityHow to recognise the authority that others ascribe to youWhy using my ‘brag bag stories’ is a powerful way to build your confidence around your authorityWhy the conversations you have repeatedly are often a source of fabulous authority (even if it seems too obvious to you).>> I would LOVE your help to celebrate 200 episodes of Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson. If you’re listening on a platform that allows comments, leave a ‘toast’ for the podcast that I can read out on the show, or ask me a question I can answer on episode 200!If your podcast app doesn't let you leave comments, then ask your question or make a toast on this instagram post.>> Want to know more about brag bag stories and establishing your authority? Listen to episode 143 - How To Establish Credibility without sounding braggy - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7C2ap7T1cPRJUjkeOkcZoJ?si=mTF_fmvARqGXUD3rKHYU_gAnd want to dive deeper into each podcast, work out loud with me and be the first to know of my events? Subscribe to my substack newsletter, Impactful, here https://catmatson.substack.com/

Speaking with Impact Day 7 | Bringing it all together 25.04.2026 13min