A Call for More Women Speakers in 2026
by Tabby Biddle
At this time last year, I found myself in a familiar in-between space, the quiet days between Christmas and the New Year.
I was journaling, listening, and sitting in stillness. I was asking my inner knowing what wanted to be born through my work in the year ahead.
What kept coming through, again and again, was public speaking.
At first, it appeared simply as a thread. A gentle but persistent nudge. Over time, it revealed itself as the guiding theme of my year, and in many ways, of this next chapter of my work.
I felt a deep desire to create something for women leaders, changemakers, and entrepreneurs who were ready to grow their thought leadership. I felt especially called to support women who want to use their voice not only on stages like TEDx, work I’ve supported women with for over a decade, but also as paid public speakers and trusted voices in their field.
Beneath that calling, however, there was something deeper still: I was feeling called to contribute to what I think of as feminine legacy.
That phrase has lived with me for a long time. It comes from the many worlds I’ve moved through, including politics, journalism, women’s history, and leadership. It also comes from my own family lineage, where the stories of male leaders are carefully documented while the lives of women are barely named.
I believe this matters, especially now.
We are living through political, social, economic, and environmental crises that are asking us to rethink leadership itself. For centuries, patriarchal systems have dismissed, erased, and silenced millions of women. The imbalance of that silencing is something we are all living with today.
Feminine legacy, as I understand it, isn’t about heroic acts or impressive titles alone.
It’s about how you live and lead. It’s about the values you uphold, the wisdom you share, and the way you use your voice. It’s also about what you transmit through your presence and your work.
Over the years, I’ve come to understand that legacy isn’t only what you leave behind someday. It’s also how you show up now for yourself, for others, and for the world you are shaping simply by being in it.
And yet, so many women underestimate the value of their voice, gifts, talents and wisdom. This is not because these things aren’t valuable, but because we’ve been taught, again and again, to question our worth.
I see this pattern constantly in my work. And I’ve felt it in my own life as well.
I meet women who feel the call to speak, but are hesitating. They are waiting until they feel more “ready” and more certain about their expertise. These same women assume someone else is more qualified, more articulate, and more authoritative than they are.
Meanwhile, the world continues to be shaped by a narrow range of voices, reflecting a narrow range of experiences and ways of seeing.
When women’s voices are missing from public, influential spaces, we remain stuck in systems that reflect only one way of leading. Thse are the same systems that have contributed to war, poverty, violence, corruption, oppression, and the erosion of democracy.
When women are visible on stages as speakers, and when we are heard and trusted as leaders, we begin to rebalance who gets to shape our collective future.
Our lived experience matters. Our perspective matters. Our truth matters.
For us to move toward a world with real equity, women must be able to express the truth of our lives and leadership, not in the margins, but in public and influential spaces.
Helping women develop and share their voice isn’t optional work to me. It’s 100 percent essential.
If you’re reading this and something is stirring in you, if you’ve felt the quiet pull toward public speaking or thought leadership, I encourage you to listen.
This is an invitation to stop waiting, to trust that your voice is already worthy of being heard, and to give yourself space to pursue what is wanting to be spoken through you.
Let 2026 be the year you answer the call to speak.
The world doesn’t need fewer women on stages. It needs more women shaping what comes next.
Tabby Biddle is a Women’s Thought Leadership Coach & Public Speaking Mentor and the creator of Speak & Prosper. For over 15 years, she has supported women to become influential public voices and leaders of our time, from TEDx stages to Hollywood to the United Nations. Learn more at tabbybiddle.com.