How to Speak Up in English Meetings

Are you a non-native English speaker who finds it challenging to speak up during meetings, often staying silent unless directly prompted? If so, you might feel that your colleagues are not seeing the best of you and this can cause frustration.

The ability to confidently contribute ideas and actively engage in meetings is crucial for career progress. However, for many non-native speakers, the thought of speaking up in English during meetings can be scary, leading to missed opportunities for demonstrating their expertise and potential. Fortunately, there is a way to overcome your hesitations and contribute more in any meeting setting.

In this article, we explore four strategies about how you can confidently contribute to meetings, showcase your expertise, and shine.

1. Connect with the Importance of Speaking Up

Meetings serve as platforms for collaboration, decision-making, and knowledge-sharing within organizations. By actively participating in meetings, individuals not only demonstrate their competence and intelligence but also position themselves for career progression. However, remaining silent during meetings can hinder professional growth and obscure one's potential from colleagues and superiors. Therefore, the starting point in your confidence-building journey is to connect with the reasons why you need to speak up more during meetings.

Use Self-Coaching Questions

Self-coaching questions can help individuals deepen their understanding of the importance of speaking up in meetings and clarify their motivations for increasing their participation. Consider asking yourself these questions:

• How do you think your level of participation in meetings aligns with your professional goals and aspirations?
• How do you envision your role evolving within the team or organization as a result of increased participation in meetings?
• Imagine yourself actively contributing to meetings with confidence and clarity. What does that look and feel like?

2. Prepare Your Mind for Success

Your state of mind before the meeting will determine the quality of your participation during the meeting. So how do you prime your mind for success? Well, it's all about preparation.

Understand the Meeting's Purpose

First, make sure you understand the meeting's purpose. Begin by gaining a thorough understanding of why the meeting is being held. Is it to brainstorm ideas, make decisions, provide updates, or discuss specific projects? Clarifying the meeting's purpose enables you to align your contributions with its objectives.

Plan Three Key Points

Second, plan three key points. Based on your understanding of the meeting's purpose and agenda, identify three key points or ideas you intend to address during the discussion. These points should align with the meeting's objectives and reflect your expertise or areas of interest. Planning ahead empowers you to enter the meeting with a structured approach, ready to contribute meaningfully to the conversation.

Additionally, I encourage you to explore 'speech frameworks'. These help with clarity and overall structure. Click here to learn more about speech frameworks.

Visualise a Successful Outcome

Third, visualize success. Before the meeting begins, take a moment to visualize yourself actively participating and confidently sharing your insights. Picture yourself articulating your key points with clarity and receiving positive responses from your colleagues. Visualization can help alleviate pre-meeting nerves and bolster your confidence in your abilities.

3. Support Colleagues' Ideas

A powerful way to gain speaking space in meetings is to support colleagues' ideas when they speak up. Acknowledging and validating their contributions not only fosters a collaborative atmosphere but also provides opportunities for individuals to transition into sharing their own thoughts and perspectives.

Acknowledge Contributions Verbally

You can begin by acknowledging contributions verbally. When a colleague shares an idea or perspective during the meeting, acknowledge their input by offering praise or appreciation for their contribution. Highlight the value it brings to the discussion. Simple phrases like "That's a great point." or "I appreciate your insight." can go a long way in boosting your colleagues' confidence.

By acknowledging and validating your colleagues' ideas, you help reinforce their confidence in their contributions. This positive reinforcement creates a supportive environment where team members feel empowered to voice their opinions without fear of judgment, and this will indirectly help you feel more at ease to voice your ideas.

4. Ask Good Questions

Asking strategic questions is another effective way to participate in meetings. Whether prepared in advance or formulated spontaneously, well-placed questions demonstrate engagement and can significantly enhance your participation while showcasing your active listening skills.

Prepare Questions in Advance

Consider preparing questions in advance. Review the meeting agenda or anticipate the topics that are likely to be discussed. Based on this, formulate relevant questions that align with the meeting's objectives. Preparing questions beforehand allows you to proactively contribute to the discussion and demonstrate your preparedness.

Seek Clarification

Seeking clarification on points that may be unclear or ambiguous is one of the primary functions of questions. If you encounter an idea that you don't fully understand, don't hesitate to ask questions to gain clarity. By seeking clarification, you not only enhance your own understanding but also provide an opportunity for the speaker to elaborate on their points, benefiting other meeting participants as well. If you would like to learn some useful expressions for seeking clarification, check out this article.

Conclusion

Confidently speaking up in meetings is a skill that can be cultivated through preparation, engagement, and practice. By working on your mindset, preparing strategically, and supporting colleagues' ideas, you can quickly build the confidence to voice your ideas and unlock opportunities for professional growth.

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