Member since December 2023
Lauri Smith is a speaker, author, and the creator of The Vocal Presence Path® approach to soulful speaking. She’s the host of the Untamed Leader Podcast and the author of Your Voice Matters: A Guide to Speaking Soulfully When It Counts. She helps wild-hearted leaders and loving rebels lead from the untamed, radiant pulse of their purpose—so they can transform the vibe in the room and ignite meaningful change.
Her work is built on 30+ years as a professional actor, director, and theatre artist, paired with deep leadership training. She's a Master Certified Coach (MCC) through the International Coach Federation trained in Fitzmaurice Voicework®, the same embodied voice work used by theatre companies worldwide, and she holds a Master’s Degree in Theatre.
That combination of stage-tested presence and rigorous coaching methodology is what allows her to help leaders access truth and power under pressure, not just talk about it.
Lauri has brought this work into organizations including eBay, PayPal, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google and other Fortune 500 companies, coaching senior leaders and corporate teams to access deeper purpose and lead with genuine presence.
Lauri treats leadership as a sacred art—one that reclaims the primal power of the voice and guides us home to our true selves. Her mission is to call forth open-hearted leaders ready to change the world with authenticity, creativity, and courage.
She envisions a world where every voice carries the vibration of soul-level purpose, and together we create global harmony—one courageous expression at a time.
Known for her fierce compassion and intuitive depth, Lauri sees the soul beneath the static—helping people fight their inner demons, unleash their radiance, and rise into leadership with tremendous inner power.
Helping wild-hearted leaders, loving rebels , and soul-driven entrepreneurs break free of "Good Girl" conditioning and reclaim the untamed, radiant pulse of their purpose—so they can transform the energy in any room and ignite meaningful change.
On December 29, 2019, I got a call two hours before curtain: the lead in the show I was understudying at Berkeley Repertory was injured and I was going on. With one understudy rehearsal under my belt during which we hadn't even finished the play. I grabbed my go-bag and walked into a two-and-a-half-hour lead role in front of a sold-out house.
What unfolded was one of the peak experiences of my theatre life. Standing ovation. Cast and directors asking how on earth I’d pulled off such a virtuosic performance under those conditions.
Here's the truth: I rose to the occasion by leaning on decades of theatre and leadership development training that both taught me real power doesn't come from control, it comes from surrendering into the present moment and creating from whatever's there. That's exactly what I teach my clients: how to prepare creatively so that when the big moment arrives, on a stage, in a boardroom, in a pitch, they can let go and rise.
As I kept trying to "pull myself together" during an acting class exercise, my teacher said, "Don't. Just be where you are. Let everything flow." I blurted, "I'm not that comfortable having everyone's eyes on me." He smiled: "You've chosen a strange set of careers for yourself, then. Part of you knows you’re meant to be seen.”
I allowed decades of protective armor to melt and by the end of that exercise, I could see straight through to the hearts of everyone in the room.
I’d stepped back into being everything I'd been told I couldn't be: wild, emotional, intuitive, untamed, radiant.
That's the difference between industrial speaking (performance, polish, control) and the kind of presence that actually moves people. Industrial speaking tames you. It teaches you to suppress truth and manage the room instead of meeting it. What I learned that day, and have built my entire practice around since, is that our power isn't in having our ducks in a row — it's in surrendering to what's true and letting it move through us. That's when our primal life force meets our purpose, and we become magnetic.
You were never meant to stay small.
If you’ve been doing everything “right” while quietly silencing your own voice—your true voice—this is your invitation to break free.
In this talk, leadership coach Lauri Smith will guide you on the journey from “Good Girl” conditioning to Wild Woman sovereignty—so you can reclaim the full power of your voice and step into your embodied, radiant presence.
You’ll learn how to move through sensation, emotion, and energy—channeling them into your one-in-eight-billion presence.
This is a sacred invitation to stop dimming your light and start speaking from the core of who you really are.
It’s time to be seen, heard, and felt.
Good Girl to Wild Woman for She Is Me Global
You’re doing the work your Soul came here to do. The world stage is calling for you to share your purpose in a bigger way. You want to awaken, energize, and move people.
But when it’s time for you to speak, you get OVERWHELMED by sensations, emotions, and energy. Your voice shakes, your throat goes dry, and your words fall on deaf ears.You can’t express your vision when it matters most.
Fighting our inner demons while accessing our inner power isn’t easy — but it’s what we need to do if we want to do our part to change the world with authenticity, creativity, and courage.
During this interactive presentation author and leadership coach Lauri Smith will show you how to use your perceived ‘flaws’ to your advantage and channel your sensations into the fire that fuels transformation.You will learn how to step into your voice, unleash your presence, and connect with your audience on a deep and powerful level.
You'll learn how to:
You climbed the ladder by doing it "right" — polished, professional, in control.
So why does your voice still feel disconnected from your truth the moment it matters most? Why do you walk out of high-stakes rooms feeling like you performed, instead of led?
Industrial speaking taught you to manage the room — to suppress what's true in favor of what's safe. But the leaders who actually move people aren't managing anything. They're present.
In this session, leadership coach Lauri Smith will show you why "doing it right" is quietly costing you the very presence your leadership depends on.
You'll learn how to:
This is how you stop managing the room and start transforming it.
Lauri's book guides you from a voice of suppression into one of soulful power — with tools and practices to help you speak your truth and claim your seat at the tables that matter most.
Buy Now
A new book for leaders ready to stop playing small. Your message deserves to land. This book shows you how.
Learn More
Untamed Leader is a podcast for loving rebels who are ready to speak, live, and lead from the radiant pulse of their purpose—the wild-hearted ones dedicated to transforming the vibe in the room and igniting meaningful change.
Listen Now
Lauri works with a select number of leaders and visionaries ready to break free from their "Good Girl" and "Good Boy" conditioning and speak from the full, embodied power of their true voice — so they can transform the energy in any room.
Learn MoreOn December 29, 2019, I got a call two hours before curtain: the lead in the show I was understudying at Berkeley Repertory was injured and I was going on. With one understudy rehearsal under my belt during which we hadn't even finished the play. I grabbed my go-bag and walked into a two-and-a-half-hour lead role in front of a sold-out house.
What unfolded was one of the peak experiences of my theatre life. Standing ovation. Cast and directors asking how on earth I’d pulled off such a virtuosic performance under those conditions.
Here's the truth: I rose to the occasion by leaning on decades of theatre and leadership development training that both taught me real power doesn't come from control, it comes from surrendering into the present moment and creating from whatever's there. That's exactly what I teach my clients: how to prepare creatively so that when the big moment arrives, on a stage, in a boardroom, in a pitch, they can let go and rise.
As I kept trying to "pull myself together" during an acting class exercise, my teacher said, "Don't. Just be where you are. Let everything flow." I blurted, "I'm not that comfortable having everyone's eyes on me." He smiled: "You've chosen a strange set of careers for yourself, then. Part of you knows you’re meant to be seen.”
I allowed decades of protective armor to melt and by the end of that exercise, I could see straight through to the hearts of everyone in the room.
I’d stepped back into being everything I'd been told I couldn't be: wild, emotional, intuitive, untamed, radiant.
That's the difference between industrial speaking (performance, polish, control) and the kind of presence that actually moves people. Industrial speaking tames you. It teaches you to suppress truth and manage the room instead of meeting it. What I learned that day, and have built my entire practice around since, is that our power isn't in having our ducks in a row — it's in surrendering to what's true and letting it move through us. That's when our primal life force meets our purpose, and we become magnetic.
You were never meant to stay small.
If you’ve been doing everything “right” while quietly silencing your own voice—your true voice—this is your invitation to break free.
In this talk, leadership coach Lauri Smith will guide you on the journey from “Good Girl” conditioning to Wild Woman sovereignty—so you can reclaim the full power of your voice and step into your embodied, radiant presence.
You’ll learn how to move through sensation, emotion, and energy—channeling them into your one-in-eight-billion presence.
This is a sacred invitation to stop dimming your light and start speaking from the core of who you really are.
It’s time to be seen, heard, and felt.
Good Girl to Wild Woman for She Is Me Global
You’re doing the work your Soul came here to do. The world stage is calling for you to share your purpose in a bigger way. You want to awaken, energize, and move people.
But when it’s time for you to speak, you get OVERWHELMED by sensations, emotions, and energy. Your voice shakes, your throat goes dry, and your words fall on deaf ears.You can’t express your vision when it matters most.
Fighting our inner demons while accessing our inner power isn’t easy — but it’s what we need to do if we want to do our part to change the world with authenticity, creativity, and courage.
During this interactive presentation author and leadership coach Lauri Smith will show you how to use your perceived ‘flaws’ to your advantage and channel your sensations into the fire that fuels transformation.You will learn how to step into your voice, unleash your presence, and connect with your audience on a deep and powerful level.
You'll learn how to:
You climbed the ladder by doing it "right" — polished, professional, in control.
So why does your voice still feel disconnected from your truth the moment it matters most? Why do you walk out of high-stakes rooms feeling like you performed, instead of led?
Industrial speaking taught you to manage the room — to suppress what's true in favor of what's safe. But the leaders who actually move people aren't managing anything. They're present.
In this session, leadership coach Lauri Smith will show you why "doing it right" is quietly costing you the very presence your leadership depends on.
You'll learn how to:
This is how you stop managing the room and start transforming it.