Women don’t need more degrees. They need more practice speaking up.

If expertise alone determined who spoke with confidence at work, then it would make sense that the most accomplished women have the easiest time speaking up. Yet the opposite is true for many of the women I’ve worked with as a leadership communication advisor.

That was the case with Robin, a senior leader at a globally-renowned advertising agency whose talent was unparalleled. She led teams and creative work that won the highest honors at annual award shows, and her name traveled far and wide in agency circles. But her words in meetings didn’t carry the same weight as her reputation. In leadership huddles, where colleagues expected her to set the town, Robin struggled to speak with authority.

When I interviewed her colleagues as part of a coaching exercise, they shared a similar sentiment: She needed to trust her instincts and own her decisions more consistently.

Robin is far from alone.

Many professional women spend years building expertise. Research shows that women outpace men in earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. I’ve also seen ambitious professional women devote enormous energy to earning the next credential, award or certification, adding yet another accomplishment to an already impressive resume.

 But when it comes time to demonstrate that expertise in the critical conversations where decisions are made, many of those same women shut down. They’ve spent years learning what they know, but little time practicing how to communicate it effectively and persuasively.

Instead, they may defer to other people’s ideas, prioritize other people’s voices, or convince themselves that someone else is better positioned to speak.

I’ve seen this play out in all kinds of workplaces.

There was the pediatric physician who didn’t share her perspective on a patient’s care plan with the other physicians in the room. The data analyst at a pet care company who didn’t question a trend her colleagues accepted. The marketing manager who stayed quiet while a new menu rollout was clearly failing.

As a communication coach, it’s disheartening to witness. But it’s also personally familiar.

I spent 11 years in various marketing leadership positions at one of the world’s most respected foodservice brands. I had two degrees in communication, continuing education certificates and lots of good ideas. Yet, earlier in my career, I often found it difficult to speak up – to challenge unrealistic goals, question decisions or push back on strategies I believed were misaligned.  

It wasn’t because I lacked expertise. I simply wasn’t practiced at communicating it with courage.

I worried about coming across as incompetent or being labeled “difficult to work with.” So, I stayed quiet.

But silence comes with a cost.

There’s the personal cost of being highly accomplished, but not being seen as a leader, as Robin experienced. There’s the cost of unrealized professional potential. And there’s a cost to organizations too.

Companies miss out on innovation, healthy debate and ultimately, financial performance when talented women don’t feel able to contribute their perspectives.

 Of course, inequitable workplace structures and gender-based obstacles contribute to this reality. Dismantling those barriers requires shared responsibility and systemic change. But women can also strengthen their ability to navigate difficult workplace dynamics by practicing how they communicate when the stakes are high.

That’s why I’m rooting for women to honor themselves by owning their words—and practicing how to use them.

One approach I share with women is to think of courageous communication like a muscle. It gets stronger with training.

Collecting expertise without developing the ability to communicate it courageously is like going to the gym simply to show off your workout clothes rather than strengthen your core. The potential is there, but you’re not building the capacity you need.

But no one walks into a gym expecting to build strength after a single workout. Muscles develop gradually through repeated moments of resistance. You challenge them, recover and come back to do it again.

The same is true of courageous communication. You can practice by speaking up in small moments with lower stakes. For example:

• Ask the question. Practice asking the question you’ve been holding back, even when you’re not sure how it will be received. 

• Share the perspective. Offer the idea you almost kept to yourself instead of assuming someone else will say it better.

• Challenge the thinking. Respectfully question an assumption, strategy or trend when your expertise tells you something isn’t right.

• Voice the concern. Speak up when you see a problem before it becomes a bigger one.

• Do it again. The goal is to build evidence, conversation by conversation, that you can tolerate the discomfort of speaking up.

Over time, what once felt heavy becomes manageable. Eventually, it can become part of who you are.

Candace Doby is the founder and CEO of The Can-Do Company, a global courage-readiness training organization known for transforming professionals from self-censored to courageous communicators who accelerate engagement and innovation inside their workplaces. She is also the creator of Risk Fitness Club, a leadership communication community for professionals.

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