Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

How Ivanka Trump Brushed Up On Her Speaking Skills

Ivanka’s first segue into the media arena was by way of her father’s status. At first, she was known as the daughter of real estate tycoon and TV personality, Donald Trump. But when she established her eponymous brand, Ivanka Trump, she created a name all her own, in true Kardashian-like style. As she became more and more accustomed to the public eye, she started forging her own opinions in both fashion and politics. Ultimately, with great power, came great responsibility — to brush up on her speaking skills.

And that’s exactly what she did.

If you tune into her appearances on The Apprentice, or the 2003 documentary, “Born Rich” — where she expressed how proud she is of her family name — her voice sounds flatter and much weaker than it does today.

But things have changed since her days as a 21-year-old brunette, dreaming of going into real estate development. Anett Grant, CEO of Execute Speaking Inc., attributes the change in the businesswoman’s voice to a transformation in her confidence. “Everyone has a natural voice. Her voice itself has not changed. What’s changed is the way she’s using it,” Grant told Refiner29. She adds, “When you’re young and less secure, you have a tighter sound.”

A few years after she appeared in the documentary encapsulating her life as an heiress, she took the renowned hot seat on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” in which her voice is notably more at ease, sort of smoky and sensual.

Years later, when she introduced her father at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump’s voice sounded much more polished and annunciated, as she waited for the audience’s applause. And more recently on Fox News, when she responded to “Full Frontal’s” Samantha Bee calling her a “feckless c—-,” she sounded more prepared than ever before. Unlike her father, she doesn’t say anything off the cuff. Instead, her commentary is well-rehearsed and poised — to the point of being pretty boring. The First Daughter took a deep breath and said calmly, “For me, I never forget the extraordinary privilege that I have to serve this country and I try to stay focused on that and the long term. I made a conscientious decision a long time ago that I would not get into the fray.”

Yesterday, Ivanka stood before the Cabinet of the White House in a pink suit where she announced her father’s new executive order to instill vocational schools across the country, “to prioritize and expand workforce development so that we can create and fill American jobs with American workers.”” The Express said she looked nervous, but if you ask us, she’s come a long way since her days where her sole title was described as: “Daughter of a rich businessman.”

Bonnie Azoulay is a Lifestyle Intern at The Forward.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.