Speaking up
How to speak up with an idea in a meeting
You’re talking to Priya, your team lead. The goal: jump in and pitch your idea in 3 sentences.
Your first line
Priya starts with “Okay, unless anyone has anything else, let’s wrap up.”
“Before we wrap, one idea. Thirty seconds. I think we should move the weekly report to a shared dashboard so nobody builds it by hand.”
Take the floor: naming how little time you need makes it easy for Priya to say yes. Then open on the point, so the idea lands before the room drifts.
What Priya might say, and what to say back
Priya: “We’re kind of out of time.”
You: “Totally. Ten seconds: it would save us about two hours a week. Can I send a one-pager by Thursday?”
Priya: “How would that work with what we already have?”
You: “It pulls from the same spreadsheet we use now, so nothing else changes. The only new step is setting it up once.”
Priya: “Send me something and I’ll look.”
You: “Will do. I’ll send a one-page plan by Thursday. Can we take five minutes on it next meeting?”
Two things that trip people up
- Opening with “This might be dumb, but…”Start with the idea itself. Your first line is the point.
- Listing four or five reasons it’s a good idea.Give the point, one reason and one benefit. Three sentences, then stop.
Now say it out loud
Reading the words isn’t the same as saying them. Practice this one with Priya pushing back like the real person would. Then your coach, Lee, fixes your exact words. The move to focus on: Take the floor.
Practice this one free3 free reps a day. No sign-up. Out loud or typed.