If you haven’t seen Coco Gauff’s acceptance speech for her US Open win earlier this month, it’s worth three minutes (watch this clip from 9:10-12:10) for a quick dose of inspiration and three important communication lessons for all of us.
1. Own it
Coco started with, “Can I take the mic for this one?”
Every time you communicate (whether you like it or not) you are creating an experience for your audience, from one person to thousands. Own the experience. Change the set up, move a table, adjust your chair. Grab the freaking mic.
Too often we’ll walk into a meeting and take the closest open seat, accept the room set up the way it is, and leave the chair height too high or low. Own your material. Own your space.
Walk into a room and be mindful about the seat you choose. What set up will help you engage the most in the meeting?
When giving a larger presentation, ditch the podium. Either move it completely out of the way or if it’s bolted to the floor, find a way to move in front of it.
And for those of you using multiple screens when you’re working remotely, for the love, please stop looking at the screen without the camera (I mean, how is this still happening with three solid years of practice?). Look directly at the camera to involve and connect with your audience.
2. Shine with humble confidence
Coco thanked them all – her family (even calling out her dad for seeing him cry for the first time), her team, the supporters, the ball kids, photographers and literally all of New York. And then she thanked the haters – more on that below.
This isn’t just about thanking the right people. It’s how you show up. Humble confidence is a “just right” balance of warmth and competence. You exude warmth through expression, conversational tone. As Amy Cuddy said, “Warmth is the conduit of influence.” It creates connection and trust.
That must be balanced by competence. If you just project warmth, without any confidence, people might be thinking, “Wow. You’re really nice but super unhelpful to what we need to accomplish right now.” You project competence in your posture, how you hold yourself and lean into conversations, and in the cadence of your speech.
The best thing to figure out where you’re positioned on the warmth vs. competence continuum is to record yourself – if you dare. And then watch it or listen to it. Where do you need to shift?
3. Use a killer analogy
“For those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it. Now I’m burning so bright right now.”
Analogies are powerful because they create concrete images that are seared into your mind. And they help bring abstractions like, “seamless customer experience,” “dynamic workplace,” and “purpose-built platforms” into focus. Without concrete images, abstractions create blurry images, and each person often walks away with a different perspective or understanding. Take one of your key points in your next message – whether spoken or written – and challenge yourself to add an analogy or a concrete example.
Now go burn brightly!