Reframing genderlect: how vulnerability in public speeches builds emotional capital

Purpose This paper aims to address a gap in the literature concerning how gender-based communication patterns relate to expressions of vulnerability and their role in forming emotional capital. The study has two objectives: first, to examine whether significant differences exist between speeches delivered by men and women in terms of vulnerability; second, to explore whether these traces of vulnerability contribute to the formation of emotional capital. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a three-phase methodology. Sixteen YouTube videos (TED Talks and speeches) were selected based on relevance, credibility, quality, transcript accessibility and viewership. Transcripts were segregated by gender (male and female). Phase 1 analysed speech patterns using Genderlect Theory (GLT); Phase 2 applied Emotional Capital Theory (ECT) to explore how vulnerability contributes to emotional capital; Phase 3 involved manually revisiting the videos to validate and calibrate text-based findings. However, they acknowledge that only binary gender categories (male and female) were included in the analysis, which remains a methodological limitation of this study. Findings The authors find that with time, the gender-based differences in expression are decreasing. Therefore, there are evident violations of the assumptions of the GLT, exposing several vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities, propelled in the positive direction, lead to the generation of emotional capital under the rubrics of ECT, which has strong implications for psychological safety. Such emotional capital builds trust through emotional contagion, leading to emotional resonance. Practical implications The implications are particularly relevant for leadership, organisational trust and communication practices. Originality/value They have explored the linkages between GLT and ECT. This is limited to two genders, male and female. However, this paper’s findings are likely to apply to other gender identifications, which can be further researched to generalise the study.