Your willingness to speak up in meetings at workplace is crucial for your career trajectory. Win over your managers and colleagues with fine preparation and a plan of action for great career growth.
Do you feel a sense of dread when you hear about a meeting? Do you often find yourself confused about what to say? Do you find it difficult to present yourself confidently and comfortably, even during virtual meetings? Do you find it tough to leave any visible impression on participants in the meeting?
Meetings at the workplace can be stressful events. Everyone wants to make cogent and thoughtful contributions and not embarrass themselves in front of others. According to my experience, even as a listener, you need to have a distinct sense of responsibility. You need to comprehend the proceedings in a meeting genuinely and offer your opinion while being respectful.
Excellent Tips for Impressive Meetings at Workplace
If you find it difficult to speak up during office meetings, you are not alone. You can get better by making certain mindset shifts regarding meetings at the workplace. Here are a few valuable tips extracted from my vast experience as a professional coach and assisting 200+ professionals to accelerate their career growth.
1. Prepare in Advance
One of the most effective ways to save yourself from any embarrassment during a meeting (or any endeavour) is to prepare for it in advance. Preparation for a meeting is not just about preparing slides and talking points already mentioned in those slides; take the necessary steps to make your meeting concise, pleasant, and productive. Use practical preparation techniques to make sure you make the most of the time spent in a meeting.
2. Fix Pre-meeting Anxiety
Pre-meeting jitters often make your hands shaky and your stomach gurgle. You suddenly start doubting your ideas and opinions to be put in the meeting. These are a few common pre-meeting anxiety symptoms. It’s normal to experience such stress but instead of conceding to it, determine ways to resolve it. Take deep breaths, meditate, or do relevant self-care practices to bring your best to the meeting.
3. Know Your Role and Contribution
You have to be clear about the reasons you are attending a meeting. Determine your value, understand your role, and find out how you can contribute in the best way before stepping into the meeting room. The more clarity you gain in these regards, the more impressive and confident your presentation will be.
4. Commit to Speaking Early
It often gets tougher to enter any conversation as it progresses. The longer you wait, the more your anxiety will build. Push yourself to speak up early. Set a simple strategy to say something in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the meeting, even if it’s just to welcome attendees. Getting an early start is an effective way to gain confidence and ensure you contribute.
5. Listen to What is Being Said
Practise active listening skills to become a better communicator. It is one of the most important communication skills you can have to refine your meeting experience. It involves absorbing the information, ideas, or instructions someone conveys to you and reflecting in sincere ways. That approach enables you to contribute more impressively.
6. Believe in Your Answers
Your self-belief is key to your self-confidence and your self-confidence is crucial for an impressive presentation at a meeting. Believe in the answers or opinions you are going to put before others during a meeting. Learn to accept and appreciate yourself instead of putting pressure on yourself to appear perfect just to impress others.
7. Know When to Hold Back
Avoid any embarrassing act that can harm your quest to make a long-lasting impression in a meeting. Knowing when to hold back is just as important as knowing when to speak assertively. Don’t say anything if you’re only trying to show off or empower others. Determine if your comment would be better left for a one-on-one conversation and act accordingly.
8. Finish with a Strong Call to Action
If you impress your colleagues and managers successfully in a meeting yet leave without a call to action, you forgo a great opportunity to make your meeting highly consequential. Put the call to action near the end of the meeting and convey to the participants how they should act or what next steps they should take. The call should be concise, memorable and logical to the desired outcome of the meeting.
By following these simple strategies during a meeting, you will have a better chance of drawing your colleagues and managers’ attention and respect. Along with leaving a long-lasting impression, you will be in a better position to persuade them to take desired action on your initiatives and goals, aligned with the objective of the meeting.
Conquer your fear of speaking or presenting yourself in the meeting with strong self-belief. You are there because you are qualified, you are effective, and you matter. Seize the moment and deliver efficiently to ascend your career ladder quickly and successfully.
Do you communicate smartly or need help to enhance your communication skills? Take the Free Communication Skills Assessment to take the first step to speak with confidence.
Smita D Jain is a Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach and NLP Practitioner. Smita’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Performance Enhancement Coaching Programs enable introverted executives to speak with confidence and communicate with impact so that they emerge leaders sooner than envisaged.
Prior to her journey as a coach, Smita had extensive experience of 14 years as a corporate and business strategy professional with Fortune 500 companies. She is also a TEDx speaker, a panellist cum speaker at various public forums, a published writer, and an Amazon bestselling author.
You can learn more about Personal Empowerment Life Coach and Executive Coach Smita D Jain’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Coaching Programs by visiting www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com and book a strategy session at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/booking.
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