A real stage moment
You deliver your talk live at First Stage Live, our mini conference finale, in front of a supportive audience. Not a private practice room. A real one.
See the line-upIn four weeks, you become a conference speaker
From “I think I have something to say” to a talk delivered live, recorded, and on the record.
Trusted by women leaders from global companies
- Speakers trained
- 35
- Women in the community
- 500+
- Most Active Speaker, Sessionize
- 3years running
- Finding voices since
- 2021
The rooms that shape tech careers are missing your voice.
You’re brilliant at what you do. You’ve shipped the thing, solved the hard problem, mentored the team. But the stage, where reputations are built and doors quietly open, still doesn’t look like you.
- You’ve watched less qualified people get visible, and get the opportunities.
- You’d speak if you had a topic, a structure, a deadline, and people in your corner.
- You have deep expertise, but “who am I to get up there?” keeps winning.
I couldn’t get talented, accomplished, highly educated women to speak, even at our own internal sessions. It crushed me. So I built the path I wished they’d had.
First Stage Live is a real line-up.
One slot is yours.
The finale is not a practice run in a private room. It is a live mini conference in the greater Fort Lauderdale area with a ten speaker line-up, a genuine audience, and a professional recording of every talk.
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Ten talks. Ten seats.
Slot 04
Your talk goes here
Ten minutes that belong to you and the thing you actually know. You walk on as a woman with expertise and walk off as a conference speaker, with the recording to prove it.
Claim this seat- A live audience of peers, mentors and the WiTVoices community
- A professional recording of your talk to keep and share
- Live, supportive feedback you can act on immediately
- A real speaker line-up you will be proud to be part of
- The confidence boost that makes the next talk easy to say yes to
Four weeks, one clear path to the stage.
An online cohort that meets you where you are and builds week by week. Sessions run Tuesday and Friday at noon Eastern, and every one of them is recorded.
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Week one
Find your talk
We start with the hardest part: deciding what you have to say. You land on a topic you are genuinely qualified to own, shape your core idea, and structure it so it lands.
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Week two
Build the presentation
Turn the outline into a real talk: story, narrative, and slides that support you instead of competing with you. You leave the week with a complete first draft.
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Week three
Deliver with impact
Now we make it land. Pacing, presence, nerves, and the practical craft of delivery, practised in a safe room with feedback, so the stage feels familiar before you get there.
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Week four
Take the stage
Dress rehearsal, then the real thing. You deliver your talk live at First Stage Live, get feedback, and walk away with a recording and a credential that is yours forever.
What you own by the end.
Not someday. In four weeks.
A finished presentation
A real talk with a clear idea, a story arc, and slides, built from your own expertise with hands on guidance.
A delivery you have rehearsed
Practised techniques for presence, pacing, and impact, so you do not just present, you connect.
Feedback that levels you up
Specific, encouraging, actionable feedback from facilitators and peers, the kind you can rarely get on your own.
Proof, made public
A spotlight post on LinkedIn and a talk on your Sessionize speaker profile, a forever achievement you can point to.
A room of women in your corner
A cohort who started exactly where you did, and a community to keep speaking with long after.
Led by someone who has walked it.
I am Barkha. First generation immigrant, saw my first computer at age 21 after moving to the US. Ended up with a 37 year career in tech. Founder of WiTVoices. Focused on empowerment, growth and joy.
I went from a working mom with no time and no stage to a global speaker whose last three roles came directly from speaking. Years ago at Microsoft I led an employee resource group for technical women and ran straight into the gap, so I built a 5 Day Speaker Challenge that took women from zero to a finished presentation in under a week. First Stage is the fullest version of it yet.
- Global tech speaker
- Ex Microsoft, led the Women in Tech ERG
- Creator, 5 Day Speaker Challenge
- Founder, WiTVoices
Between cohorts, the room stays open.
The weekly letter
Unlock the confidence to speak up, stand out, and get ahead.
Visibility, speaking, and confidence insights for women in tech, delivered weekly. No fluff. No buzzwords. Just practical steps you can apply immediately.
Stop Asking for Permission. Start Pitching the Room.
The podcast
Beyond the Bits
Conversations with women in tech. Real stories. Bold voices. Inspiring journeys from women shaping the future of technology.
Conversation with Lorraine Stoker
Senior Technical Program Manager, Microsoft
Apr 7, 2026
The membership
A community of like minded women.
Personalised, small group coaching and support, and the people who think of you when a stage or a role opens up.
Before you apply.
I have never spoken before. Is that really okay?
It is the point. First Stage is built specifically for first time speakers. You do not need experience, a “speaker personality,” or a perfect topic to start. We build all of that together, week by week.
What if I am terrified of public speaking?
Then you are in exactly the right room. The whole structure is designed to shrink the fear gradually. By the time you reach the stage, you will have rehearsed, gotten feedback, and built real evidence that you can do this.
What do I get to keep afterward?
A finished talk, a recording of your live delivery, a LinkedIn spotlight, and a talk on your Sessionize speaker profile, plus an ongoing community of women who speak.
What is the investment?
The investment is $499, and it is money back guaranteed. The benefits are a lifetime worth of credentials and recognition. If cost is a barrier, reach out. We want the right women on stage.
Built for first timers. Not for everyone.
This is for you if
- You are a woman in tech with real expertise and zero, or barely any, speaking experience.
- You have thought “I should speak” more than once but never had a path.
- You are willing to do the work across four weeks and show up to the finale.
- You want visibility, network, and confidence, not just a certificate.
This is not for you if
- You want to watch passively and never actually get on stage.
- You are an experienced keynote speaker looking for advanced coaching.
- You cannot commit to the finale date. The live talk is the whole point.
What we write about, between cohorts.
Finding your talk, getting it accepted, and standing up in the rooms where technical careers get decided.
The roomWhat an employee resource group can do for your speaking career, and where it stops
Join it. Use it for the room, the introductions and the standing calendar slot, and then stop expecting more than that. An employee resource group han
Read the piece
Visibility and careerIn a slow hiring market, invisibility is the real risk
When hiring slows down, rejection is not the thing that costs you. The problem is that nobody outside your current team can check what you are good at
Read the piece
Visibility and careerAn AI certificate cannot speak for you: credentials versus demonstrated expertise
A certificate proves you passed a timed test. It does not prove you can hold a room, and the people who choose conference speakers have nowhere on the
Read the pieceThe stage has been waiting for you.
You already have something worth saying. In four weeks, the rest of us will finally get to hear it.
- Investment
- $499, money back guaranteed
- Next cohort
- Starts October 13, 2026
- Seats
- Ten, so every speaker gets a real spot in the line-up
- Where
- Online, with the live finale near Fort Lauderdale
- Sessions
- Tuesday and Friday at noon Eastern, all recorded
Apply for First Stage
Ten seats per cohort. Barkha reads every application herself and replies from barkha@witvoices.com.