Permission to Speak
LaDonna Witmer
Associate Writing Director
Finding—and using—your true voice can be a really difficult thing to do. Many of us have been conditioned from a young age to silence ourselves. “Permission to Speak” is a talk about breaking through that silence. Not about polishing a glossy façade, but about digging deep into the core of who you are and what you care about so you can unleash the power of your own voice. You’ve got to be brave enough to crack yourself open and see what’s inside. Because there is a story inside you that no one else can tell. It’s time to set it free. --- After listening to this talk, people will understand why their personal voice matters. They will know how to recognize the things, people, or situations that silence them. They’ll have to the tools to identify their true voice (not the auto-tuned social media version). And they will be inspired to stand up and say their piece, or sit down and write it, draw it, paint it, design it.
More than anything else – love or logic or power or internet rants – LaDonna Witmer Willems believes that stories are the things that change the world. When humans get real enough and vulnerable enough to use their true voices and share their real stories with one another, that’s how hearts are won and minds are changed. As one of the editorial gurus on the Dropbox Brand Studio team, LaDonna helps create and facilitate the best and most powerful expression of the Dropbox voice in all its forms. Along her personal journey to own her voice, LaDonna has been a journalist, copywriter, copy director, and poet. She currently lives by Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California, with her husband, daughter, dog, bird, and fish.
