How to confidently use your voice and deepen connection at work - and in life

Do you struggle to sometimes use your voice?  

Do you find yourself at a social gathering, a meeting or in a relationship and feel challenged to speak up or thinking to yourself that no one cares if you do so you just sit quietly on the sidelines?

I was speaking to a friend recently on how she really struggles to share her opinions and perspectives when in group settings.  When I asked her what is her internal dialog that holds her back, she shared “I don’t know that I have the same experience as people at the table, so my opinion may not matter.”

Here’s the thing…

Your opinion matters.

You matter.

I’ve seen this time and time again both in professional and personal environments.  I’ve been there too.  And that’s how I know from first hand experience what it took to overcome this fear, stop only listening to everyone else’s opinions and needs at the sacrifice of my own, and speak up. 

So today, I’m share a few ways you can take simple steps towards owning your power and making your voice heard more in conversation:

1.   Be Confident in Your Value

I know this is easier said than done, but it’s honestly the truth in the most important step to cultivate and it is fully within your power.  

You control your own mindset!!!

Let’s say you are in a business meeting…even if you don’t have the same level of experience on a particular topic as someone at the same table as you, you clearly have a strong perspective that you want to share from your own unique experience.  

• Trust your intuition. 
   

  You have a gut feel for a reason.  Go with it.

• Get back up. 
  
  

If you feel you have less experience and the audience values that in order to make decisions, perhaps do some research and have some external data points to back up your opinion that will give you more confidence in sharing.

• Be transparent.  
  
  

If you don’t know something, don’t fake it.  Confidently and vulnerably telling people that you have a certain hypothesis but know you don’t have the same level of experience to fully validate it and would like to learn from them to fill in the gaps, will earn you props and get people listening.  Which brings me to #2…

2.   Ask Thoughtful Questions & Listen Mindfully

If starting to share your own thoughts, opinions or stories is really nerve-wrecking, then take some time to ask really thoughtful questions that will give you sound and clear insights from others.  This will help you then better navigate what you share in a way that will be more impactful to those who receive it. 

Don’t take answers at face value and you may need to go deeper to understand what is driving their answers underneath by asking…”that’s interesting, tell me more about that.”  

And then just sit back and listen without interrupting.  Doing so will allow for you to really hear what resonates the most with you, and find those connected threads easily.  

This will then give you more confidence that you will strike accord with that person when you are ready to share.  

3. Speak Up & Share Confidently with Brevity 

Oftentimes I hear people say they are waiting to speak up until they feel they have a lot to say.  Here’s the thing, that’s a connection detractor in general! 

Most people don’t have a long attention span.  When we ramble on about an opinion or experience, it feels like it’s a soliloquy and not a two-way dialog.  

If you need a little confidence booster to share, just think to yourself, “how will I feel if I don’t share?...what might be possible if I do share?”  Usually the benefit outweighs the fear.  And then just assert yourself into the conversation with something like…

“I’d love to add something…would that be alright?”

“I have been intently listening and I’d welcome sharing some perspective to the conversation…”

You’ve got this!  The more you practice, build trust and cultivate safe spaces so that you and others feel comfortable sharing without judgment, the easier it also is to confidently use your voice. 

***

And if you need support in learning how to strengthen this skill personally or to enable a more safe and trusted work environment, I’ve got you!  

I am deeply passionate about unlocking this for individuals and teams.  I support clients privately 1:1 or companies in groups through my signature Connection Hour experience that will lay the foundation for strong, deeply connected relationships.  

This immersive has been proven to see up to 80% increases in participants feeling:

• More comfortable sharing opinions and emotions
• More confident to share their opinions, beliefs and backgrounds with 
• More confident sparking meaningful conversation

What People Are Saying…

Click here to watch this 2 min video to learn how Rebecca helped level up the communication skills of the Marketing Leadership team at Cisco Meraki to foster stronger connectivity and empowerment.

Live & Work Connected,

Lisa

P.s. 

If you want to head into the remaining Summer gatherings or Fall business planning meetings feeling confident using your voice or strengthening that of our team members, I am opening up a few spots on my calendar this week and invite you to book a call, on which we can explore and you will walk away with at least one clear step you can take immediately to help!