What Women Want: What Every Ally Needs to Hear

In the 2000 movie What Women Want, Mel Gibson gains the ability to hear women’s inner thoughts and discovers they want something completely different from what he assumed. This talk works the same way, but with fewer questionable early-2000s gender politics and hopefully better workplace advice. Co-presented by {Speaker 1}, an Engineering Manager and part of the Canva’s Women Collective, and {Speaker 2}, Senior Manager, Tech Business Analysis, bringing an ally perspective, this session gives you a practical look at what allyship can mean in everyday workplace moments. Through fictionalised personas based on familiar patterns, we’ll introduce you to some of the women you probably work with: the woman who gets talked over in meetings, the capable teammate quietly opting herself out of opportunities, the person doing invisible glue work, and the beginner who wants to learn something new but does not feel safe asking basic questions. For each scenario, we’ll unpack what commonly happens, what might be going unsaid, what allies often miss, and what practical support can look like in the moment. This talk draws on lived experience, the Women Collective work at Canva, and honest conversations to move allyship from good intentions to useful action. If you’re a manager, team lead, mentor, teammate, or simply someone who works with women and wants to support them better, this talk is for you.