Strategies for Empowering Yourself Professionally (and Personally)
Hi there!
March was all about female empowerment – and rightly so.
At Connect, with 58% of our team of facilitators and coaches now being women, we’re fully aware of the importance of diversity in the workplace.
We want to follow up on last month’s empowering energy with a few practical tips on ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.
The simple fact is, we all communicate best in relaxed conversation
Have a half hour chat with a colleague over a coffee in Starbucks, and you find yourself remembering most of what was discussed. The key things stick. For months. Even years.
But that same colleague (or perhaps yourself?), puts on a PowerPoint in the Boardroom for half an hour, and there’s every chance most of that will be forgotten come the rising sun next day.
Things happen in a relaxed conversation. Things of which most people are totally unaware. And they are things that need to be reproduced whenever we are speaking, be it on the phone, in a meeting, giving a presentation, speaking at a conference, or being interviewed on TV.
Here are some of them:
If it’s important, if we’re interested, we talk fast, with energy, with passion.
It’s a two-way process. But driven by the listener (nodding, acknowledging), not the speaker
No one – absolutely no one – worries about their body language
But presenting is not a relaxed conversation
It can be extremely nerve wracking for some, and, unlike that chat in Starbucks, it’s accountable. Best not to say the wrong thing, or to ramble on.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t be conversational.
Here’s how:
Talk fast, like it matters
Pause constantly – to think what to say, to give listeners time to remember, to emphasise key points, to look for reaction
Forget about body language. Simply approach every presentation with the right attitude: respect your audience, be totally focused on the moment. Your whole body has spent your entire life practising to be in tune with your voice. It knows exactly what to do. And besides, we’re all different. Different, cultures, different personalities.
Be authentic. Just be yourself.
New on the blog:
How to Win Someone’s Undivided Attention
As the Roman philosopher, Lucretius, said over 2000 years ago: “what is food for one may be poison for another’. We’re all different. No one size fits all.
But when it comes to winning someone’s undivided attention, there’s one thing we do all have in common…
Read full article here:
How to Win Someone’s Undivided Attention
New on the blog:
3 of our own Super Women in the Spotlight!
A Scottish weightlifting champion, a former BBC presenter and a wilderness expedition leader! What do these 3 super experienced women have in common (apart from all being mums)?
Read full article here:
3 of Connect’s Super Women in the Spotlight
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Until next month!
Warmest regards,
The Connect Family
