Becky Taylor, speaker and founder of Tech Returnersis creating a six-part documentary series called Breaking the sound barrier – voices are releasedchronicling the journey of 10 women in tech as they master public speaking skills.
The Sound Barrier program featured in the documentary helps participants gain confidence and “find their voice,” and each woman will participate in an event where, at the end of the program, she will speak publicly for the first time and share her stories.
The participants' documentary will be a rare opportunity to see the time, effort and challenges that powerful people face, according to Taylor, who noted that many focus on the role model in front of them without taking into account the path they took to the top.
Taylor said: “If I look at Becky as a young adult, I don't think I would stand in front of hundreds of people to talk about my experiences or be called a professional speaker.”
She admitted that her early opportunities for performing involved “knocking her knees.” [and] holding onto the pulpit,” adding, “I think what people are seeing now is [the Beckie who is] confident, able to articulate her position and able to engage an audience – but what people don’t see is the journey.”
Many in the tech sector believe that providing young people, especially girls, access to visible and accessible role models will encourage them to pursue a career in the technology sector, but there is often a large gap between these young people and their role models. leaving these positions feeling unattainable.
“We need to focus on real women in tech,” Taylor said. “It's great to have great role models – CEOs of large corporate companies – [but] what I'm trying to get out of the whole documentary is getting really close to people. There needs to be more real influencers in tech demonstrating the reality of an industry that is growing rapidly and has so many amazing opportunities.”
The current diversity of the tech landscape is “disheartening”, Taylor said, which has pushed her “more than ever” to highlight female talent in the sector, adding: “It's still very important to promote and really needs to be promoted more than ever.”
A recent report showed that thousands of women leave their technology jobs every yearand in many cases stated that their career path had not turned out the way they expected or that they had difficulty breaking into more senior positions.
Taylor said women lose confidence in having an opinion after a certain point or sharing what they have, so she decided to help Sound Barrier participants learn public speaking skills – “sharing women's voices” at a time when DEI Conversations Are 'Suppressed'.
“Instead of women saying, 'I'll never do it because I'm too scared.' Who wants to listen to me?’ I want women to understand that everyone has a story and you will be attractive to people if you share that story,” Taylor said.
The program is currently funded by Taylor, who hopes to find sponsors to continue the program in the future.
The first group will be presented at 11 November 2025 at an event in Manchester.with the documentary released in 2026.
