May Busch* has advice for naturally quiet people who sit through meetings worrying that they have not made a contribution.
If you find it easy to speak up in meetings, then congratulations, but for many of us, it’s a struggle.
Maybe you wrestle with this challenge like one of my readers who asked: “I tend not to say much in meetings since I’m introverted and lean toward the quieter side.
“I think this holds me back from a growth perspective in my current middle-management role.
Any suggestions on how I can speak up more?”
To advance and succeed in your career, you need to be seen and heard, and meetings are a crucial time to show up and demonstrate your value.
Here are five ways to make it easier for you to speak up in meetings.
Reframe the ‘why’
Reframing the purpose of why you’re speaking up is especially helpful if you don’t like self-promotion.
I found that if I reframed speaking up in meetings so that it wasn’t about me but rather about representing a group that’s counting on me to speak on its behalf, it made it easier.
The more visible and respected you are, the more you can help your team, your clients or your colleagues who are in other groups or working for you on a project.
By speaking up and giving the project visibility, you can pull your team, clients or colleagues up along with you.
Prepare the ‘what’
Preparing ahead of time is especially helpful if you find it hard to come up with smart comments and are feeling nervous.
There are two ways in which you can contribute to meetings.
The first way is to share, convey or update people on something you’re an expert in.
I recommend preparing three main bullet points ahead of the meeting.
If you’re not the expert in the meeting, you can still contribute by asking a question.
For example, you can ask a question that shifts the whole direction of the conversation.
Or you can ask a question that helps to link the presenter’s topic with what you and your group do so you can find a way of working together to create even more value for the organisation.
Think about ‘when’
There are three times in a meeting when you can speak up.
At the beginning, which is the perfect time to introduce a new concept or go over something you’ve already prepared.
In the middle, when you can add to or support somebody else’s point, ask a question, or add something you’re knowledgeable about.
Or at the end if you’re great at summarising conversations and synthesising themes — doing so can make you sound strategic and suggests you have gravitas.
Practice out loud
This can be helpful and even essential if you get nervous.
It’s much easier to sound authoritative, confident and at ease when you’ve rehearsed the points you want to make.
However, rehearsing in your head is never the same as speaking the words out loud.
Just as actors practice their lines out loud, you can do the same to feel confident in your delivery.
Then, when the opening comes up to speak during the meeting, you can jump in with confidence.
Start off strong
This means saying something within the first 60 seconds of entering the room to break the ice.
This strategy is helpful if your worries sound like: “What am I going to say? How am I going to say it? What if I say the wrong thing?”
Back in the day, I would sit in meetings and worry: “It’s been 10 minutes.
“I haven’t said anything.
“The meeting is half over and I still haven’t said anything.”
By the time I got up the courage to say something, somebody else would have made my point and everyone would be acknowledging what a great point they’d made.
That’s why I always like to hear my voice in the room in the first 60 seconds.
Or it could even be before the meeting has starts while you’re waiting for people to arrive.
As you’re pouring coffee for yourself or just chit-chatting, sitting around the table, you could say: “Hey, Greg, great to see you. How is project X going? You were just starting it when I saw you last month.”
Hearing your voice in the room early breaks the ice.
Why not give yourself the benefit of that head start?
The world benefits when you share what you know and what you’re curious about, so stop holding back.
*May Busch works with smart entrepreneurs and top managements to build their businesses. She can be contacted at [email protected].
This article first appeared at maybusch.com.
