Usually everyone gets cornered with these causalities and often face such situation when there is loads of work and peer pressure. When there is too much of pressure from all the sides such as your boss, supervisor, colleagues and etc, these things will lower down the self confidence and as gradually the day goes by the self confidence, self image, self integrity, self respect will diminish in just a poof and then you will feel that the whole life is tearing apart. But it is not the end of the world when this happens there is a chance of getting back once again and changing the outlook and changing the perspective about everything.
When this happens life automatically will fall on its rightful place and everything will go alright.
Following will be the points on how to be heard or how to make people listen:
I. How to Make Yourself Heard at Work:
1. Pay close attention to the surrounding:
As we grow up we learn a lot of things of how to get into a conversation and also how to get out of an awkward conversation. For everyone it hasn’t been a smooth roller coaster, it has been a bitter truth lesson for everyone of how to make you present in a group conversation. Therefore, it’s the same thing with work, one has to learn by learning the scenario of the situation and accordingly should act on that. If it’s a sad conversation then one should be serious and not joke in such situation. But being serious all the time is also a mood killer. According to a situation the person should react.
2. Hasty Action will always be Hasty reaction:
Overexcitement sometimes gets to a person and by that it leaves that person always in an awkward position with its peers. Therefore that individual is always ignored and not included in social event or get together. By being calm and waiting for the right chance to bounce back in the conversation is the right choice. By doing this, that person is left with an awkward situation but with moment of connecting with people and increasing professional communication skills and interpersonal skills.
3. Never compromise:
It often happens that when a new person wants to reconnect with its peers and supervisors, especially when junior when they start their venture with a company. They often face such situation where they are insulted because of their shortcomings or a small mistake and thus this de-motivates them not to associate with anyone and at the end their existence is not so recognized. Therefore if anyone tries to showdown or insults, its better not to tolerate and to take action by gently making that person understand that it was not right to do so.
4. Be Firm and upright:
By sticking to the point and being confident in his own views and perspective, that person is usually admired and respected the most because of his truthfulness to its self and others. A person with a strong withhold point will always be preferred to lead instead of a person who is not at all confident and will change its sides and not stick to the point. Therefore, one should be vigilant about being very particular so that people will automatically start respecting and that individual will be heard and get noticed.
5. Self integrity:
A person with a very poor self image will never learn to confront a situation and a conversation. The people also surrounding will try to not give any respect and not even think about getting the person into the circle just because of his/her poor personality where people will dislike. Such individuals with such low self integrity will always be ignored and will be not involved decision making. Therefore one should have a very high positive self image about him/herself and automatically the colleagues and also the boss will start recognizing the talent within you.
6. Keep the conversation interlinked:
Before speaking first, it is advisable to first hear what other people wish to say. Respect should be shown to the people who want to express themselves. Each others views and expressions may be different from the other, but must be heard and understood in a better way by each other. And at this time they can both complement as well as encourage one another. Even certain comments regarding their views can be conveyed to one another.
7. Speak Better with Conviction:
This refers to both men and women, if they want to be heard in the work place, they need to speak with conviction. This doesn’t mean for a person to start effective speaking by raising their voice or speaking loudly. But before introducing their ideas and their views, they should do it in a soft and polite way being modest at all times. But certain comments which can cause the person to overlook or not pay attention to the thoughts and ideas of a person shouldn’t be done at all.
8. Keep Insisting:
Insisting on being heard in the workplace may be technique which has to be used at some point as there may not be any other alternative remaining. If the person isn’t getting any opportunity to say anything, then they need to let the people around know about it. And if this insisting has some conviction also added into it, then it may help a lot. So during any ongoing conversation, if such a situation ever arises then it is advisable that the person begins and continues talking loud about their views to the people around.
II. How to Make Your Voice Heard in Meetings:
1. Stick to the point and No sudden surprises:
Surprises only work well in birthday parties but not in formal places such as office conference meeting, etc. Before the meeting formalities are taken place, one has to keep all the documents ready as to how the meetings requirement is. If even one thing is with a fault the blame will come on the person who was keeping things ready. The setup should be done in such a way that the boss itself will be so impressed that he/she starts recognizing the worth and will start giving higher responsibilities and also promotion.
2. Everything should be Particular:
One has to be very particular about the meetings. If that person is a Public Representative then that person has to talk to the point because he will be laying an impression on the other party and also the overall reputation of the company and also the reputation of the associates will be in his hand. Therefore, that individual should talk to the point which is necessary and should not deviate from the point. One has to master the tactics of how to bring the conversation in the meeting to the right track. The business meeting conversation shouldn’t be about something which is not at all linked to the topic which has to be discussed in a meeting.
3. Time management:
A person who masters in segregating the time does not waste time and the one who makes the best use of time is the most admired and respected person. If you are not sure about the time then try reschedule the time again in such a way that everyone gets a chance during the meeting to share their perspective and ideas. Because a bad time management will only make everything a mess and it will conclude to a very frustrating conclusion. Therefore, this will only pull down the self image and self confidence of a person. Time management is very essential during meetings.
4. Try to keep the meeting interesting:
Sometime the meeting goes a flop because of not much interaction between the associates. The boss may not to be so in his mood to entertain people therefore one has to make sure to bring work related conversation into the discussion meeting with interesting topics so that everyone participates. This will not only make the meeting go successfully a hit but it will also make all the hard work in setting up the meeting not go as a waste.
5. Place, Location matters:
Location sometimes plays a very vital role in setting up a meeting. If a meeting is about building up something then if the meeting is held near that site then it is a best choice so that the people present in the meeting does not has to travel much which will create a little discomfort and also waste time. Therefore the meeting should be held in such a location so that everything is available and there is no tension of things going missing or rescheduling the meeting to complete the final task which is remaining.
6. Stay in the middle of the table:
Though this statement can be taken as a metaphor but it can also be literally followed by the individuals. If the person is sitting at the edge or end of the table, they may be left out of the conversation as a whole. So if the person is in the centre of the table and in the middle of the ongoing discussion, then they can take part in the discussion effectively well. They can also cast in their views or any kind of suggestions at any appropriate time when the discussion is ongoing in the meeting.
7. Jumping in the conversation:
At the time when a conversation is going on before jumping directly into it, people wait for a while. The same can be said during a meeting and a person should approach such a situation in a tactful way. The person should wait for their chance first before talking rather than interrupting someone. If the person shows such an attitude of interruption, then they will suggest rude behaviour on their part. When they are speaking, none of the people present would want to hear what views they would like to share.
8. Speaking Confidently:
The more the confidence and belief that a person shows towards their ideas, the more likely would be the chances for the other people present to hear them. Practising before speaking about the ideas and not basing anything on assumptions is one way to gain or have confidence in speech. There shouldn’t be any doubts in the speech of the individual. While showing their confidence in the speech, they should also see to it to get other people’s suggestions during the meeting and allow them to speak.
9. Watching Body Language:
A person having the good body language during the meeting gets the other’s attention present. But first, the individual must observe the other people’s body language present in the room and then carry it out. See how they are seated, how their posture is, how their hand gestures are while they are explaining etc. And when the individual speaks, they can imitate or mimic the same laying a positive impression on others present. Also bad habits such as slouching or fidgeting should be strictly avoided.
10. Don’t be interrupted by anyone:
Once the person has finally got the attention of the others present in the meeting, they need to hold the floor while they are talking out loud. This means that if anyone is trying to interrupt them, then at first the individual can act in a polite manner. But if it is happening too often then they can tell the person that they can speak clearly after the individual has finished sharing their thoughts. Getting the opportunity of effective listening at a meeting is difficult and getting someone not to interrupt at the time of making conversation is even more difficult. So the individual should ensure that this doesn’t happen too often.
III. Getting ahead in Life:
Once a person stays confident while speaking in their workplace or in any meetings, then only they can be confident in their life. Being heard in a person’s life is very difficult in today’s time. But as time goes by and the person gets experienced regarding their effective communication skills in the work place, then only they can see a change in their life of being heard whenever it is relevant in nature.
