How to overcome your fear of sounding dumb in a meeting
Hey Buttercup,
Do you suffer from Fear of Sounding Dumb in a Meeting? If so, you're not alone. I have been wondering what exactly keeps women from speaking up in a meeting. I took a Linkedin Poll and 60% of the responses were "Fear of Sounding Dumb." So, today's post is about four powerful ways to overcome this fear and speak up, buttercup! The world needs to hear your brilliant insights.
Four keys to speaking up in a meeting:
Remember, it is risky to always be the silent party in the room. Women are scared to speak up because they might say something dumb and there is a chance that will make them look bad. It seems safer to say nothing, but it isn’t. Yes, if you say something dumb, you might look bad. But if you don’t speak up, you will for sure look bad because you sat there like a dud and added nothing of value to the discussion. So, either plan on contributing value, or, if you really have nothing to contribute, decline the meeting. It is also ok to say “I’m here to learn” or “I don’t know a lot about this topic so I’m here to observe.”
Start noticing how stupid the things everyone else says are. This one works wonders. Once you start to notice that people are frequently saying uninformed things and not really losing credibility, you will realize the bar is not as high as you think. Men tend to say whatever is on their minds with no filter. This could either be because of excessive arrogance or because they are willing to look stupid to advance a discussion and learn something new. By not wanting to look stupid, you are holding yourself to an overly high standard and also relinquishing your chance to learn something new-very bad!
Say part of it, but don’t say the whole thing. Start small. If you have a whole spiel you want to say, try saying just a small part of it, and work your way up. Incremental progress is good! You don’t have to drop the whole TED Talk at once. Just try to aim for saying more than nothing.
For a few more great tips on how to overcome your fear of sounding dumb in a meeting, check out my Youtube video “How to Overcome Your Fear of Sounding Dumb in a Meeting.”