How to Speak Up in Meetings | Christine at Work

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0:35The versatile Equinox tackles your entire day. The spacious Traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend. And tracks bring style with value you can count on. All infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right chord. Chevrolet. Together, let's drive. Okay, meetings. I love collaborating with my colleagues, but sometimes meeting and the dynamic of speaking up can be really awkward. April, that way, bro. They pushed to November. They were like, we're not even... I don't know when I'm supposed to chime in, or I don't want to speak over anyone, and I'm just waiting for the right moment, and before I know it, sometimes the meeting's over, and I'm like, wait, I didn't say anything.

1:18I just feel a lot of pressure to make sure that what I say is like worth it. By that point, I've already kind of psyched myself out of saying anything. I just want to speak up at a meeting. I mean, it seems so freaking simple, right? And I want to be the person that people know that can bring ideas. I don't know. Can I improve? This is what I want to know. I've been confident in my life before, but being confident about speaking up, no. So I just shrunk when I was faced with that kind of moment. That's Justin Hale from Vital Smarts. He's a speaker, master trainer, and the host of One Productive Minute.

1:51I look stupid. I have no experience. So yeah, I can completely relate to that. It was so reassuring and honestly really refreshing to hear even a guy who is like literally paid to be good at this. Wow, I just spit on myself. Okay. Even a pro sometimes has trouble or has like human feeling. So when I spelled out the problem to myself, I just want to speak up more in meetings. It seems so simple. Can you explain why that is? Like, why does it feel harder than it should be? It's either a lack of confidence in your own ability to be able to do it in a way that you'll be heard, or it's a lack of confidence other people are going to make it safe for you to say it.

2:32Maybe it's both of those things and that makes it even harder. How do you judge, oh, maybe I really shouldn't say that in this environment or in this meeting because it'll look bad. Ask yourself, how can I say this in a way that I can be 100 % honest and at the same time be really respectful? What's a good opening move or example? A move. That you think are good. Yeah, just to get things going. Facts, story or conclusion, and ask is such a great way to break right in. Here are the facts, things we can actually see, hear, and observe. Here's why I care about the facts or my proposal or my concern.

3:10and then end with some really nice open-ended, what do you guys think? I'd love to hear your views. If there are other people that see it differently, please let me know. Theoretically, really simple. However, in real life, things don't always go to plan. So what if I start talking and I lose track and I don't have the framework, I'm lost. What you shouldn't do is talk more. That's what most people do, is they try to double down on their words to get out of it. Don't do that. How can I summarize what I'm trying to say in one sentence? Just very simple. Just say the one sentence and then stop talking.

3:47Practice what you're going to say beforehand to increase your confidence. Don't make the first time you say it the most important moment. So Justin's advice was to definitely practice before the actual moment. Luckily, I do have a meeting coming up. It's about HBR, TikTok, and brainstorming. I really want to try posing an idea regarding international content on our platform and getting feedback. All right, so hey, um, yeah, like I have, okay. Wow. Okay. This is practice thing. It's really helpful. So here's what I have to do. I have to think about the framework. When you start with facts, you get a buy-in.

4:23You want to start with data or something that you can measure. I was looking through the TikTok demographics. Next, bring in your story. This is your perspective. This is the meat of it. And most people make the mistake of leading with this story. I love learning about things outside of my purview on TikTok. If you lead them with facts, then the story will be a natural progression and they'll really listen and be like, oh, okay, I see where you're coming from. Did a little digging and it looks like we're 72 % U.S., but that means 28 % international. I love learning about things outside of my purview on TikTok.

5:00And then the third step ask is crucial. You want to say, hey, this is my point of view. I'd love to hear what you guys think. You just want to ask a question that invites engagement and invites real talk. Should we and can we use our international editors to use TikTok as a platform to share global and international insights that might be interesting to our audience? OK, here we go. I practice and I think I'm ready for showtime. Let's see how this goes.

5:33doesn't follow me with the intrinsic yeah that was a good intro

5:44actually i have something that might kind of touches upon um sort of like light not not even controversial but like oh that's different from me and i was like digging into the analytics It was interesting to me that 72 % were US audiences, but the rest were international. So that's like a, you know, that's like a big chunk. I love TikToks that take me out of my everyday, like street fashion in China or Turkish cooking. And I love learning about different languages or words. I'm wondering, are there people in our HBR network, including Vasundra and Rakshita, that could share just like, oh, here are interesting things about work life or school?

6:29Is that something that we could try? And then like, are there people in our network that could like authentically talk about the international cultural lens? Yeah. I think I did okay. It wasn't the best performance of all time. I was just doing my best. And I just know that the next time it's going to get easier and it's going to get easier. I mean, I feel a little bit more confident and isn't that the best thing? So speaking up in meetings, it's not the biggest problem you'll probably encounter at work, but it's real and it is one of those small things that happens all the time every day. So conquering this little thing can actually create a big impact.

7:14If you're still watching, one, thank you. But two, I'm really curious. Like, what do you want me to explore? Like, what problems do you have at work? I'd love to solve them. Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you have any other ideas, throw them my way. All right, peace out.