Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to a BRG within the tech space. Their employees are all virtual across the globe and we were discussing how to create a powerful presence given those parameters. 

One of the things I discussed was speaking up in meetings, which is often a challenge for many for a multitude of reasons. But here is the question we need to ask ourselves: “If I don’t ever speak up in meetings, am I really there?” We can argue the answer is, “No.” If I’ve said nothing, then I haven’t created any career capital, I haven’t shown my worth, I haven’t improved my reputation, I haven’t increased my exposure—all I did was fill a seat.

If you find yourself remaining silent in some or all of your meetings, then today consider giving it another look. Could you be brave and confident enough to speak up? Could you think, in advance, of some valuable questions you could ask? Don’t wait until the end of the meeting to ask your question—fear is at it’s peak then and it’s highly unlikely you will be able to over come it. And whatever you do, don’t speak for the sake of speaking; that will be detected as disingenuous by all. Speaking up is scary, but I know you can do this!

Let’s GO! WE GOT THIS!
Beth
P.S. If you want some more tips for speaking up, simply email me. I am happy to help you!