​

WST champions what we have termed the Collective Responsibility Model as a foundational principle for all curriculum. This approach invites women, men, and companies to commit equally to building a greater share of voice for women within organizations. It challenges all stakeholders to share accountability for evolving organizational cultures in order to nourish and sustain more inclusive spaces for speaking and listening.

​

The Collective Responsibility Model structures all WST classes, coaching tracks and speaking events. Its purpose is to interrupt biases at multiple levels around women and public speaking. It works to build actionable systems for implementing best practices for correcting biases and amplifying message.

 

The model is structured along three dimensions of environment, bias, and change agents.

​

• Environment | An overview of the viability of women’s voices throughout history through to the present, the evolving social norms of women speaking in public spaces, types of rhetoric women used, and collective responses to female speakers and leaders.

​

• Patterns/Effects of Bias | Presentations and exercises that make use of current linguistics findings inside groups and organizations to identify current behaviors that either stand as obstacles or serve as opportunities for building greater share of voice for female employees.

​

• Change agents | Instruction for public speaking, active listening, and ally building to evolve and align participants with current best practices. WST facilitates discussion to invite collective accountability for constructing systems that both initiate and sustain inclusion, in order to retain top talent, build company culture, and drive an organization’s financial performance.