7 easy ways to speak up and be heard.
By Assertive Way
Do you find it challenging to speak up in meetings (both in person and virtual)? Do you find it hard to express your opinions, views, and ideas?
Have you ever gone into and come out of a working meeting completely silent?
Have you noticed that there are always those who speak a lot and dominate and those who are almost invisible in meetings?
PROBLEM
If you don’t speak up, they will stop inviting you to meetings
I have seen meeting organizers deliberately remove regular participants from regular meetings and committees because they don’t speak up. Guidelines for efficient meetings usually suggest reducing the number of people in meetings. Who do you think meeting organizers will remove from the meeting list? The silent ones!
I’ve also seen people who were not part of a committee be invited just because they regularly express their opinions.
You can’t add value to a meeting if you never speak up. And you can’t get better at adding value if you are not in the meeting and don’t regularly speak up.
You can’t get better at adding value if you are not in the meeting and don’t regularly speak up.
BENEFITS
Speaking up in meetings can help you thrive
Speaking up in meetings increases your visibility, justifies your presence in the meeting, and promotes your strengths. This can lead to opportunities, referrals, and even promotions. When you are known for sharing your views, meeting organizers will invite you to more meetings.
Sometimes meetings are the only place you have access to more powerful people.
Meetings are also one of the best self-promotion platforms at work without explicitly needing to promote yourself. Therefore, use it!
Meetings are one of the best self-promotion platforms at work without explicitly needing to promote yourself. Therefore, use it!
CHALLENGE
Find what part of speaking up is hard
If you struggle to speak up in meetings, then you miss the opportunity to promote yourself and influence others. You will become anxious, stressed, and less confident.
Find what part of speaking up in meetings is the hardest.
Do you believe you do not have anything worthwhile to share? Find out 15 easy and thoughtful things you can say without bragging here.
Do you have a perspective to share, but find it hard to speak up at the right time and to be heard by others? That is what we will talk about here.
Do you struggle with these situations in meetings?
- Speaking up in virtual meetings
- Speaking up in meetings with many people
- Speaking up during heated conversations where many people speak at the same time
- Speaking up in unfamiliar meetings
- Being polite to get your message across when others are not as polite
- Missing the opportunity of making a point before the topic moves to something else
- Missing the opportunity of making a point, just to hear someone else make the same point later in the meeting
- Not being heard when sharing a view
I felt I was constantly in a battle when I was in a meeting with 10 or more people and knew I had to speak, I had something to say, but couldn’t find the right moment to join the discussion.
HOW TO SPEAK UP IN MEETINGS
Here are 7 ways to confidently join the conversation in meetings and to contribute with your message.
1. Speak to the meeting host in advance
Let the person running the meeting know you have some points to cover in advance. That way the meeting host can bring the attention to you during the meeting at the right time.
2. Be visible in the room
In a virtual meeting, keep your video on. Remember that the more you speak, the more you’ll show up on the screen of others.
In an in-person meeting, sit somewhere where everyone can see you. This way you can better read the environment and easily make eye contact when you start to speak. This will bring the attention to you and help you feel more connected to others.
Sit at the center of a rectangular table, sit somewhere you will be facing the people who are either conducting the meeting or who tend to talk the most.
3. Speak first or early on
Why wait? Great conversationalists speak first. They dictate the theme and bring it to something they are comfortable speaking about and have experience in.
You can use the same trick to gain certain control of the meeting. The start of meetings is usually lower in energy. If you already have some ideas to share, this is the easiest time to be heard because others are not yet absorbed in their ideas.
Every time I shared comments at the start of the meeting I would end up feeling more comfortable during the entire meeting and contributing a lot more. That early participation built my confidence and caused others to make more eye contact with me while they spoke. This then make it so much more natural to join the conversation.
Early participation will build your confidence in meetings.
4. Don’t always wait for silence, give yourself permission to interrupt
If you are in a meeting where people are constantly interrupting each other, you have 2 choices to speak.
You can ask the meeting host in advance or even during the meeting to create a more structured process to allow everyone to have a chance to speak. That could be as simple as raising the hands before speaking or going around the table for comments.
Or you can play the game and speak up when you notice the person speaking is wrapping up their thoughts.
Remember that many people feel uncomfortable with silence and will speak just to fill in that void.
When you notice the other person is wrapping up their point (that is when their volume tends to go down), quickly start speaking at a volume slightly higher than theirs. This will shift the attention to you in a natural way. Don’t think interrupting in this form is confrontational.
You can also start by acknowledging their contribution for example saying, “that was a great perspective Joe” and then moving on to your comment.
There were around 60 students from all over the world in my MBA classroom. Part of our grade was based on how much we contributed in the classroom. The Asians in our classroom always raised their hands to contribute, but rarely had the opportunity to speak because those from outspoken cultures would shout out their comments without raising their hands. Be aware of these cultural differences.
Ask to change the rules or learn how to play well by the rules!
Ask to change the rules or learn how to play well by the rules!
5. Speak a little louder
With in-person meetings, speak without hesitation. You will notice when other people want to be heard they increase their volume in their first words to bring the room’s attention to them. That simple volume increase signals confidence.
The secret here is to speak just a little louder than whoever is already speaking at the start of your first sentence.
6. Speak with your body
Your body can signal engagement and urgency. Use it to command the room. A change in body language can be an early sign to others in the meeting that you have something to say. Lean forward, raise your hands, and make eye contact.
In virtual meetings, invest in good lighting and frame the video so others can see your face and upper body language. Look at the camera to simulate strong eye contact.
7. Rewind the conversation to make a comment
What if people move on to another topic? You can and should open a parenthesis back to an earlier point if you didn’t have the chance to say something you wanted to share. Rewind the conversation.
Just say “about that previous point, I would like to add that …”
This change in attitude during a meeting takes some practice. The easiest change you can adopt as a starting point is to speak first or speak early on, in the first 5 minutes of the meeting.
Which technique will you apply in your next meeting? Remember that stress and anxiety will reduce as you continue to apply these tips.
And more importantly, remember that your voice matters. You matter. Honor yourself by sharing your perspective with the world.
Want to learn more about what you can say in meetings? Here are 15 easy ways you can participate without being the know-it-all but still looking thoughtful.
SUMMARY
Speaking up in meetings is a natural way to promote yourself. To speak up in meetings try these 7 strategies.
- Notify your intent to the meeting host in advance
- Be visible
- Speak first or early on
- Don’t wait for silence, give yourself permission to interrupt
- Speak a little louder
- Speak with your body
- Rewind the conversation to make a comment
Comment below how you find the courage to speak up in meetings.
“Speak your mind even though your voice shakes.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
What is the hardest part for you to speak up in meetings? What technique do you think works the best?