Vanessa Van Edwards shares tactics for speaking up in meetings: volunteer to go first, introduce new ideas to shift the conversation, use downward inflection instead of apologizing, and time remarks for the beginning or end to leverage memory effects.
It's time for you to speak up in meetings. Here are a couple of tips for you. First, try to volunteer to go first in a meeting. So this is a really, really powerful tool for introverts. If you go first when you speak will last longer. Second, when you do talk, try to bring up something new. When you do talk, it becomes more memorable and also it shifts the conversation to a new topic. Third, speak with a downward inflection and don't apologize. Don't accidentally use a question inflection on your idea, say your piece, say stated. Fourth, we tend to remember the first thing in a sequence and the last thing in a sequence. So if you can reserve your comments for the very beginning of a meeting or the very end of a meeting, those little times at the start or end of a meeting still count for the actual meeting, but they're a lot less pressure. It's much easier to have a casual one on one conversation or chit chat with a colleague as opposed to presenting in front of the entire room. Don't discount talking to someone having a little bit of rapport right at the start and right at the end.
