Documentary to point out girls’s journey to turning into position fashions

Beckie Taylor, public speaker and founding father of Tech Returners, is making a six-part documentary sequence referred to as Breaking the sound barrier – voices unleashed, following the journeys of 10 girls in expertise as they be taught expertise in public talking.

The Sound Barrier programme the documentary follows helps members construct confidence and “discover their voices”, and every girl can be a part of an occasion the place they may publicly ship a chat to share their tales for the primary time on the finish of the programme.

The documentary following the members can be a uncommon alternative to see the time, effort and challenges dealing with influential folks, in line with Taylor, who identified that many concentrate on the position mannequin in entrance of them with out considering the journey they took to the highest.

Taylor stated: “If I have a look at youthful Beckie rising up, I didn’t assume I’d stand in entrance of a whole lot of individuals to speak about my experiences or be classed as knowledgeable public speaker.”

She admitted her early talking alternatives consisted of “knees knocking [and] gripping onto a lectern”, including: “I believe what folks see now’s [the Beckie who is] assured, capable of articulate herself and capable of interact audiences – however what folks don’t see is the journey.”

Many within the expertise sector consider giving younger folks, notably ladies, entry to seen and accessible position fashions will encourage them to pursue careers within the tech sector, however there may be usually a big hole between these younger folks and their position fashions, leaving these positions feeling unobtainable.

“We should be targeted on the actual girls in tech,” Taylor stated. “It’s nice to have the large position fashions – CEOs of massive company corporations – [but] what I’m attempting to seize from the entire documentary is to actually be relatable to folks. There must be extra real-life tech influencers exhibiting the fact of an business that’s rising quickly and has so many wonderful alternatives.”

The present range in tech panorama is “miserable”, stated Taylor, which has pushed her “greater than ever” to focus on feminine expertise within the sector, including: “It’s nonetheless such an vital factor to push and it actually does want pushing greater than ever.”

A current report discovered that 1000’s of ladies are leaving their expertise roles every year, and in lots of instances claimed their profession paths haven’t gone as they anticipated them to, or that they’ve struggled to make it into increased roles.

Taylor stated girls lose the boldness to have an opinion after a sure level, or to share those they do have, which is why she selected to assist these collaborating in The Sound Barrier programme to be taught public talking expertise – to “share girls’s voices” in a time the place DEI conversations are being “suppressed”.

“Somewhat than girls saying, ‘I’ll by no means do this as a result of I’m too scared. Who would wish to hearken to me?’, I would like girls to know that everyone has a narrative, and you’ll be relatable to folks in case you share the story” stated Taylor.

The programme is presently self-funded by Taylor, who’s hoping to search out sponsorship to proceed working the programme sooner or later.

The primary cohort can be presenting on 11 November 2025 at an occasion in Manchester, with the documentary airing in 2026.