You have the expertise. We help you become a powerful speaker.

She Owns the Stage develops established women into speakers and leaders whose communication carries the weight of the position they already hold.

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Public Speaking ✱ Authority ✱ Visibility ✱ Credibility ✱ Gravitas ✱

Public Speaking ✱ Authority ✱ Visibility ✱ Credibility ✱ Gravitas ✱

YOU’VE BUILT
EXPERTISE.

WE HELP YOU
TRANSLATE IT INTO
STAGE PRESENCE.

Shortlisted for the Solopreneur Awards 2026

Group Programme Of The Year

✦

Newcomer Of The Year

✦

Visual Brand Of The Year

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Group Programme Of The Year ✦ Newcomer Of The Year ✦ Visual Brand Of The Year ✦

01

The Authority Paradox

The moves that earn respect cost you authority.

We were taught to be polite, prepared and modest. On stage, those habits make us sound less sure than we are.

Softening, over-explaining, apologising before we've said anything. Each one feels safe. Together they tell the room you're asking for permission. I call it the Apology Tax, and most expert women pay it every time they speak.

  • "Sorry, this might be a silly question…"Here's the question nobody's asking.
  • "I'll be really quick."This deserves two minutes.
  • "I'm not an expert, but…"In my experience…
  • "Does that make sense?"That's what needs to happen next.

Where's your stage?

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The STAGE Academy

1:1 executive training

Bespoke group training

  • "I used to try to say what I think as quickly as possible. Now I've realised I can take my time, say it calmly, pause if needed, and it sounds more credible."

    —M. (Finland), Clarity Sprint participant

  • "Knowing thousands of pages of legislation means nothing if you can't communicate it and bring it to life. Absolutely nothing."

    —S. (Ireland), Clarity Sprint participant

  • "Before, I used to think I wasn't enough of a big expert to take the floor. Now I feel more confident to express myself whenever I feel passionate about something."

    —Clarity Sprint participant

Meet the Founder

I've spent five years handing experts the mic. I know which ones the room remembers.

I'm Anna Gumbau: event moderator, executive speaker advisor and founder of She Owns The Stage, based in Brussels.

I started my career as a journalist covering tech, energy, sustainability and transport. Those rooms were full of men and full of jargon, with people who knew a lot and struggled to say it simply. My job was to make it make sense.

That turned into moderation. In the past five years I've moderated more than 200 events across Europe, for the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the European Committee of the Regions, Volvo Cars, Booking.com, Airbnb and many more.

From the moderator's chair, I kept seeing the same thing. The woman with the sharpest expertise on the panel softened her point, apologised before she spoke and handed the floor back. I call it the Apology Tax. It comes from what I call the Authority Paradox: the moves we're taught to earn respect are the exact moves that cost us authority.

So I built She Owns The Stage to fix it. My method (Root, Refine, Resonate, Reclaim) trains the craft: finding your point, structuring it, delivering it with presence and holding your ground when the questions come. I work 1:1, in small groups like the Clarity Sprint, and with teams at organisations across Europe..

In 2026, She Owns The Stage was shortlisted three times at the Solopreneur Awards.

I work in English, Spanish and Catalan. I'm writing a book about the Authority Paradox. And I give every client the same rule I live by: own it 'til you feel it.

Book Anna as speaker

DROP THE MIC

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