Vol. 22, Issue 6, Sept. 9, 2024

I’m attracted to women and topics that help women cope with and improve both their personal and professional lives. Two things about Meg Bucaro got my attention — her speech challenging the Superwoman Syndrome which can be costing you your health and happiness, and the intriguing title of her book, Put Your Big Girl Pants On.

It turns out Meg is a communications expert, and it is communication that is at the heart of both these themes.

Meg Bucaro
No More Superwoman — Put Your Big Girl Pants On!

When I interviewed her, Meg explained it to me this way:
“In the Superwoman Syndrome, women are comparing themselves to some ideal view of perfection. They feel like they’re coming up short, and therefore they feel badly about themselves. They feel guilty or like they’re not enough.

“Putting on your big girl pants is about how we show up to others and a little bit about what’s going on inside. But it’s all related, because communication research reveals that our true thoughts and feelings leak out of us.”

“Part of that is the internal conversation that we don’t have to be perfect to be worthy and valuable and powerful and influential,” she told me. “Perfection is really not what it’s cracked up to be.”

“And then how does that look as far as our communication behaviors?” she continued.  “How does it sound as far as our communication behaviors? That is how I tie together the Superwoman Syndrome and ‘putting your big girl pants on.’”

Meg is a professional speaker, communications coach, college instructor and mother of three energetic children.  All these roles fuel her passion to help others communicate with more confidence and live up to their highest potential. She works with men and women, but the book in particular, was born out of her passion for what she observed in women’s communication.

“There are certain behaviors that women do sometimes just innately that we don’t realize are undermining our value in a communication interaction  — we tend not to take up physical space, or vocal space, and our vocal tone may not be powerful, i.e. making a statement that ends in a question mark.

“Because I have one leg in academia [she is a college teacher], I have easy access to research, and I love reading research on what is true, what has been proven, evidence-based research on the communication of confidence, the differences between genders, etc. And so, it was easy for me to get this information and then translate it to the woman who is in the office, whether home office or corporate office or wherever it might be, to say, ‘Okay, look, the research tells us that when we take up less space, we don’t feel great, we’re less effective.

“So how can we change that? That’s where, ‘Put your big girl pants on,’ comes in. Really all that means is standing in our own true authentic value, worthiness, and confidence. And sometimes we need a reminder to get there. It can be a great playlist of our favorite artists. Sometimes it’s putting on a great outfit or doing a little exercise – or just having a nice cup of tea. So whatever that is, I call that, ‘Let’s put our big girl pants on’ and remind ourselves of the value that we do have and bring it to whatever communication interaction we might be having.”

Meg noted that the book is under 100 pages, because she didn’t want it take up a lot of a busy woman’s time to learn a few things that could help her be more powerful in her communication interactions.

Meg’s whole goal is to help women show up in their own power and value.

“I think in general, social judgments happen based on how we show up,” she concluded. “So taking control and increasing our awareness of how we are showing up in any communication interaction is of utmost importance.”

Whether she is speaking to women’s groups on how the Superwoman Ideal is costing us our health and happiness (and what to do about it) or working with clients on how to prepare a confident testimony, Meg brings her expertise, sense of humor and passion to each class, session and event! You can learn more and view videos here.

To bring her expertise to your organization, clients. or employees, give me a call at 503-699-5031 or email barbara@speakwellbeing.com

Catching Up

It’s been a while. I unofficially took the summer off from writing, as I noticed a lot of my colleagues were taking time off this summer.  Is that what you call letting go of the Superwoman Syndrome?  I’ll call it that — taking care of myself!

Meantime, what happened to the summer?  Ours started early in May with a trip to North Carolina for a grand family gathering celebrating granddaughter Hope’s graduation from Appalachian State. We bookended the trip visiting friends — long-time speaker friend Holly Stiel in Asheville on one side and college roommate Karen Diebolt in Wake Forest on the other.  Is there anything better than re-connecting in person with long-time friends?  The family gathering was superb, too. So all in all a great trip, including a drive on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway!

The summer took a turn for the worse in early June when we woke up to find our beloved beagle, Bindy, had died in her sleep. It was a total shock and left a huge hole in our lives as well as a cloud of sadness. I’ve pretty much always had a dog in my life and could see no reason to wait. So after a few weeks of loneliness, I started the search.

While there is an overabundance of beagles needing homes in some parts of the country, that is not the case in Oregon. To make a long story short, we got Sophie (from Oklahoma) through Cascade Beagle Rescue, who coordinated with  Basset & Beagle Rescue of the Heartland. They transported 4 adult beagles and 3 puppies cross country to Oregon in July.

Sophie is a rambunctious 2 1/2-year-old who had been living in a crate most of her life.  So everything is new to her, and honestly, it’s like having a toddler around — takes a LOT of my attention to keep track of her. On the other hand, there’s all of that unconditional love and joy she brings to life.

We had several visits from friends and family in late July/early August. So lots of home time this summer, lots of time enjoying the garden, and LOTS of dog training! Life is full of surprises! Until next time, take care of yourself, for your well being and those you love.

Barbara

 

 

For Your Well Being is published with the intention of bringing you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!

The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on health and wellness for all types of organizations that want to foster health and well being for their employees, members, clients, and in their communities.

Our speakers are hand-selected. They are not only experts in their fields; they connect with their audiences while bringing them life-changing information, smiles of recognition, and ultimately a sense of well being and hope.

Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me great joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.