How to get your voice heard in a meeting

When you are a person who is dedicated to creating value for your organization because you have a passion for your work then it is very important for you to be a contributor to the organization’s success. One of the toughest challenges that workers face is that there is so much competition for people to get their voice heard that they are sometimes lost in the crowd. This is even truer when there is a meeting which is scheduled to take place with several different stakeholders in attendance. Meetings have the ability to bring the best and worst out of people. We have seen meetings in which people speak with nothing to contribute just to feel that they participated in the process and to satisfy their own egos.

We know that we are making some tough statements but a meeting is expensive. Think about all the people that are attending a meeting and the length of the meeting. If the average consultant is charging the client 100 dollars an hour and there are 10 people in the meeting then the client is paying 1000 dollars to have that meeting. If you as an individual were paying someone 1000 dollars for a service then you are expecting the best possible service. This concept needs to apply to meetings as well because of the cost and the importance of communication and collaboration that meetings bring to an organization.

The people that work hard and have the necessary knowledge to contribute to the conversation which would create real value for the company need to learn to speak up to get their voices heard. This is of the upmost importance to get the right people contributing towards a solution that will benefit the company. There are some strategies that you can employ to better help you get your chance in getting your voice heard from some major corporate stakeholders in your next meeting.

An important strategy is that you need to find your timing when to speak in meetings to provide your thoughts. This may not be a very easy thing to accomplish, especially when there may be several people that have their own thoughts on what a proper solution should be for the problem. If this is the case then you may be interrupted when you are trying to speak several times. This is why it is truly important to have an effective facilitator in a meeting to manage all the participants effectively.

Another strategy is that you may want to communicate your thoughts to the team facilitator and others team members prior to the meeting. This would plant the idea in their heads that you have a good solution and that you should be heard. They will then open the doors for you to be heard in the meeting by helping to facilitate the conversation to give you your chance to be heard. Getting your voice heard in a meeting is truly an art form and eventually with a little practice you will be able to be a solid contributor in meetings.