In the workplace, you need to be heard.
Your success depends on your ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and confidently in order to build relationships, lead initiatives and advance your career. But oftentimes we struggle with being heard. We are nervous, lack confidence, or are too timid to speak up. Sometimes we’re unsure of how our colleagues will respond or feel about what we have to say, which makes us reluctant to speak up. In a small meeting, it may not matter much but in a large meeting, it could mean the difference between getting noticed for the next promotion or staying stagnant in your current role. Here are some quick tips for making sure you get heard at work:
Know Your Goals
Knowing your goals and how to achieve them is the first step to being heard above all the noise. Be specific, and realistic, and know what you want to achieve and why. Know your audience; this will help you ensure that you are communicating effectively with them. Do they speak the same language as you? Are they familiar with the topic and/or context? What is their level of knowledge on this particular topic?
Knowing your topic from an expert perspective will also greatly increase your chances of being heard above all the noise because people want to learn from experts who can provide them with valuable information about a particular subject area.
It’s important for marketers and communicators alike to understand how culture influences communication preferences within different audiences—from slang usage (e.g., “My bad!”) or even punctuation habits (e.g., using exclamation points). By knowing these cultural nuances it will allow them to make better decisions when crafting content for specific audiences across various channels such as social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook Messenger where there may not be much room left over after adding emojis!
Focus on the C’s: Communicating Clearly, Concisely, and Confidently
The most important thing you can do to ensure that you are being heard above all the noise is to focus on communicating clearly, concisely, and confidently.
This means being clear about what it is that you want to say, being concise in how you present it, and conveying confidence in your message. If you don’t feel confident about what you are saying the majority of the battle is already lost
Situation. Action. Result.
This can be a struggle because when we get caught up in the emotions of what happened, it can be hard to see the situation objectively. This is why it’s important to take a step back and think about how you would describe what happened if you were telling someone else about it.
Imagine that one day your boss asks for an update on some work that’s been taking longer than expected. You could respond with: “I got caught in traffic on my way here and had to rush through everything because I knew I was running late! Then my computer crashed while I was writing up my report! I really wish other people weren’t so inconsiderate! They don’t care about deadlines at all! And then when I finally finished writing out the report, he said…[insert rant here].”
This is just an example of how even though this situation may have been frustrating or stressful (which we’re sure it was), there are better ways of communicating with others than throwing out excuses or making assumptions about their behavior or intentions. You’ll notice there’s no mention of results or impact from your actions—just a list of random events that happened together but isolated from each other without any context provided by how they fit into your larger goal or project at hand.
Watch Your Body Language
You might be thinking that body language is about how you stand or sit, but it’s actually about what your body does.
- Make eye contact when speaking to someone. You can maintain eye contact by looking into the other person’s eyes and then glancing away at regular intervals. Don’t stare at them!
- Stand up straight and keep your hands visible, which will make you look more confident and in control of yourself. If you need help with standing up straight, try placing a book on top of your head while sitting down so that it always stays upright. This may seem silly but it works wonders!
- Don’t fidget (moving around in an anxious way), slouch, or cross your arms over your chest – this can make people feel uncomfortable around you because they think that you are trying to protect yourself from them or hiding something from them – neither of which are good things for making friends with new people who could help advance careers through connections made during networking events such as job fairs where many companies come together under one roof where all employees need jobs too!!
Insist On Being Heard
You need to be heard.
It’s not enough for you to have a good message; you need people to hear it. And if they don’t hear it, then all the other great things about your project won’t matter. So here are some tips on how to insist on being heard:
- Be confident in your message. There are many ways of conveying confidence or strength—it could be through posture, word choice, facial expression, and tone of voice. We want our audience members to feel that we’re confident in what we’re saying (even if we aren’t!). When we feel this way ourselves, then our little universe vibrates at a higher frequency and energy flows around us like electricity! It’s pretty amazing! Just try standing up straight with an open chest when next speaking at a podium or lectern…you’ll notice how much easier it is for people listening closely because there is less static between them….or maybe not? At any rate, this works especially well when coupled with…
- Be persistent: If something doesn’t work once then try again until it does work out; success usually comes after many attempts rather than one big win all by itself! Persistence pays off eventually since nothing succeeds without the effort put into making sure it succeeds first; so keep trying until success becomes inevitable -and never give up hope.”
Conclusion
The key to being heard is knowing what you want to say and how it will benefit others. You also need to know how to get your message across clearly and concisely in a way that makes people want to listen. Once you have these tips down pat, you’ll be on your way to being heard above all the noise!