From "You Have No Presence" to 11 Million Views: How Caroline Goyder Built The Gravitas Method by Teaching What She Had to Learn

Caroline Goyder studied English Literature at Oxford and assumed her love of words would make her a good communicator. Then at drama school they told her, "You're in your head, you have no presence." It hurt. But it made her determined to find it.

She's the classic teacher who teaches what she needed to learn. She wasn't a natural at public speaking. Her voice would vanish, her nerves took over, and she'd wish for the floor to open up. But she learned the hard way how to handle those fears, and that's why she now helps others find their voice.

After completing a Masters in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Caroline stayed to teach actors for ten years. Over that decade, she realized something crucial: the tools used to train actors (breath, presence, storytelling, authenticity) are exactly what business leaders and professionals need to speak with confidence and authority. In theatre you inhabit a role. In business you have to inhabit yourself. Traditional voice training focused on performance, while the corporate world needed a way to communicate with grounded presence, ease and grace under pressure.

That insight became The Gravitas Method, which has now helped over 20,000 people, from politicians to schoolchildren and even a Queen, speak so their ideas truly land. Caroline is the bestselling author of "Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority" and "Find Your Voice," both published by Penguin Random House. Her TEDx talk, "The Surprising Secret to Speaking with Confidence," has over 11 million views. Her client list spans global brands like Netflix, Mastercard, and Balfour Beatty, as well as high-profile leaders including Cabinet Ministers and a Nation State President's team.

RED magazine named her one of Britain's top coaches, but Caroline describes herself as a quiet person who for years thought the world belonged to the loud ones. Not true. Quiet people have deep gravitas. Her Northumberland Quaker grandmother always said, "You should only speak if you can improve on silence." That's her life lesson. You don't have to be the loudest, just the clearest, calmest, most you version of yourself.

In this conversation, Caroline shares how she turned her own struggle into a method that bridges theatre training and corporate communication, why gravitas isn't about being loud but about being grounded, and her advice for women who have deep expertise but struggle to package and scale their knowledge: "Magnify, don't multiply."

Question 1: From Voice Teacher to Business Pioneer

After working as a voice teacher at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama for 10 years, you created The Gravitas Method and have now helped over 20,000 people find their voice in business settings. What inspired you to transition from the theater world to helping executives, politicians, and business leaders? How did you identify the gap between traditional voice training and what professionals needed in the corporate world?

I’m the classic teacher who teaches what she needed to learn! I wasn’t a natural at public speaking, my voice would vanish, my nerves took over, and I’d wish for the floor to open up. But I learned the hard way how to handle those fears, and that’s why I now help others find their voice.

I’ve always loved words, I studied English Literature at Oxford, and assumed that love would make me a good communicator. Then at drama school they told me, “You’re in your head, you have no presence.” That hurt, but it made me determined to find it.

Looking back, it might seem planned, but really it was a "say yes" approach. I said yes to offers that came, trusted what I enjoyed, followed that bliss. No plan, just trusting my instinct... I wasn’t a natural actor and realised the most interesting work was happening behind the scenes, including voice teaching. I did a Masters in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama, loved it, and stayed to teach for ten years.

Over that decade I realised the tools used to train actors, breath, presence, storytelling, authenticity, are exactly what business leaders and professionals need to speak with confidence and authority. In theatre you inhabit a role, in business you have to inhabit yourself. Traditional voice training focused on performance, while the corporate world needed a way to communicate with grounded presence, ease and grace under pressure.

Bridging those worlds made me curious, and curiosity created The Gravitas Method. It’s now helped over 20,000 people, from politicians to schoolchildren and even a Queen, speak so their ideas truly land.

Question 2: Defining Gravitas for Modern Leaders

Your book "Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority" has become essential reading for leaders worldwide. How do you define gravitas for today's business environment, and why is this Roman virtue more important than ever? What's the biggest misconception people have about developing gravitas - that it's something you're born with rather than something you can learn?

When I wrote Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority, I wanted to bring an ancient virtue into a modern world. In an age where so many voices demand attention, you can instantly tell when someone has presence and weight, they exert a magnetic pull.

Newton’s concept of gravity adds to the metaphor, a downward force that grounds you and gives pilot of the plane energy. But there’s also an equal and opposite force, lightness, warmth, ease. The best leaders balance both, grounded energy with a smile. In a noisy world, that calm presence cuts through.

Gravitas isn’t about being loud, it’s about being grounded. It’s when voice, body and purpose align so completely that people lean in, Michelle Obama style. The biggest misconception is that gravitas is something you’re born with. It isn’t. It’s a skill, the result of practice, feedback and awareness.

I’ve seen quiet, shy leaders grow powerful simply by learning to breathe, pause and connect. Gravitas isn’t about perfection, it’s about connection, trusting your own energy, grounding yourself, tuning into shared purpose. There’s no gravitas in serving your ego, it exists in that flow state where you focus on others.

When people picture gravitas, they imagine a Roman senator or Churchill and recoil. But it’s not about that, it’s about being centred in your own power and helping others. Think Michelle Obama, or the sports coach you love. Cicero called gravitas the quality that made words carry weight. For me, it’s still that, the ability to speak with weight, warmth and presence.

Gravitas equals knowledge plus purpose plus passion minus anxiety. When you manage nerves and speak from your centre, your words land. Breathwork is central to this because voice is out-breath. I wish more people thought of that.

I’m a quiet person, and for years I thought the world belonged to the loud ones. Not true. Quiet people have deep gravitas. My Northumberland Quaker grandmother always said,“You should only speak if you can improve on silence.”That’s my life lesson. You don’t have to be the loudest, just the clearest, calmest, most you version of yourself. 

Question 3: Building a Method That Scales

You've created courses, written bestselling books, and built a business that's been recognized with "Tens Speaker awards" from Henley Business School. How did you scale your expertise from one-on-one coaching to reaching thousands through your methodology? What advice would you give to other women who have deep expertise but struggle to package and scale their knowledge into a sustainable business?

Scaling The Gravitas Method has been a journey of turning practice into process. When I coached one to one, I saw the same patterns of fear, obstacles and breakthroughs. Writing my books was a creative challenge to turn those patterns into a method that could reach people I’d never meet.

I never wanted to go big. Early on someone said, “Magnify, don’t multiply,” and it was wise advice. Managing large teams was never the goal, I love the creative process of writing books and courses.

Publishing with Penguin Random House, Gravitas and Find Your Voice, became a wonderful calling card, and my TEDx Talk, now with over 11 million views, took my work further than I could have imagined.

I’m grateful for that first decade of teaching and testing, it gave me time to learn my craft. Once you can explain it simply, you can teach it. That’s how The Gravitas Method became something bigger than me. There’s no shortcut to that kind of learning. If you’re in an expert business, don’t rush. Love what you do and keep learning.

I also learned to be okay with little by little, testing as I went, launching workshops, refining content, listening carefully. The same curiosity that made me a voice teacher guides me as a founder, what lights people up, what worries them, what helps. That’s where the gold is.

My advice to women founders is this:
Don’t wait for perfect, go for connection.
The first version is never the final one, the learning is the path.
Package what you know into simple steps, clarity scales.
Protect your energy, it persuades more than any pitch.
Stay smaller if it keeps you strong, don’t burn out.
And share your story. The fear, trial, and error, that’s what gives your work heart.

Often the ideas you’re most nervous to share are the ones that land most deeply. Give your best ideas freely, more will come. That creates the kind of energy that builds your brand. 

Now I’m excited to keep building with new courses like Master Your Speaking, the sister to Master Your Meetings. And my  Free Gravitas Course  offers everyone the daily tools we all need, because, as I remind clients, gravitas takes practice.

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