Being Visible, Listened to and Respected

Joanne Lockwood

Being Visible, Listened to and Respected

Susan works with very successful clients who have received feedback relating to how quiet they are and them needing to them to being more impactful.

Susan from an early age has been an introvert. Through her own life experience and client work she is aware that introverts tend to be underestimated and not as visible as they could be so can miss out on opportunities and be overlooked for promotions. In corporate culture it is not always the person that works the hardest that gets rewarded, it may be the person that is most vocal and seen.

Published: 21.01.2021

Recorded: 02.12.2020 Episode Length

Duration: 1:08:27

Downloads: 83

Shownotes:

The way we were raised can have a huge impact on how we are perceived. We need to expose our merits, as this gets you recognised and remembered. Often, we need to escape our programming to be able to self-promote ourselves. It is a British trait and perpetuated by the media that we easily judge those doing well and try to drag them down. The rise in social media can bring out our ‘green eyed monster’.

Susan works with very successful clients who have received feedback relating to how quiet they are and them needing to make more impact. Inevitably these people are just more reflective and take time to consider what they want to say, before speaking. Culture in the corporate world seems to value those that are speaking up, over those that are speaking with high quality content. If a person is perceived as too quiet they are easy to be left behind or passed over. Susan believes if you are at the table in a meeting then it is your duty to share your opinion.

There will always be polarised opinions that become very divisive and do not allow any room for centralised discussion. We need a forum to allow people with different views to express themselves, without fear of being shouted down or ridiculed. We should be able to ask questions, learn other viewpoints and in that way either reinforce our own beliefs, or perhaps change our stance. This can be difficult to do as our ‘group’, the people we surround ourselves with tend to share our values/beliefs, so we are not challenged on our views. With rise of popularism and the internet, the unquestionable authority of professionals, medical etc is no longer believed as we can find research online that disagrees, despite this often having no supporting evidence.

Susan has created her own spoken communication model based on 5 key areas she has identified as being essential to speak more effectively with impact. The areas are; audience, content, preparation, performance and voice. She says you need to consider your audience in any communication, ensuring that your talk pitched at a level where people are engaged and will not switch off. Speaking to be understood and recognise if you are not being and adapt your style.