by Kat Evans
We included Fatima Goss Graves on our "Best Public Speakers" list because of her justice advocacy through practical and sustainable solutions and her warmth and approachability while dealing with tough topics.
She is President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, President of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, and a co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. She has appeared as a legal and social commentator on CBS, MSNBC, BBC, CNN, PBS, and NPR, and has been published and quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She is a graduate of UCLA and Yale Law School, and resides with her family in Washington, D.C.
We reviewed Fatima Goss Graves' interview on Leaders Moving Business Forward, a series by McDermott Will & Emery, where she describes why the Covid-19 Pandemic disproportionately affected women and women of color and how that affects the entire labor force and family systems of the United States.
What are the main communication takeaways?
Fantastic pace: Graves is unhurried, calm, and measured. She sounds positive, gentle, and kind, even as she speaks of injustice and grave circumstances. Her love for humanity and concern for women and women of color is evident and drives her statements. Her message is clearly organized into three major points and she defines unique terms with plain, easy-to-understand explanations. She utilizes recent data and statistics and shares positive solutions.
How could she improve?
More breath support: Graves could benefit from a deeper inhale to fuel her sentences; she occasionally sounds out of air by the end of her thought.
Stronger language: Graves has a habit of using "right?" at the end of her sentences, as though seeking audience approval. She also uses "sort of", which weakens her message.
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