Many leaders need to be coached to speak up. But, as Harvard Business Review reports, what if you have the opposite problem: You can’t seem to stop talking? If you suspect you may be monopolizing the conversation in meetings, experiment with these methods to help get your message across:
Measure how much you’re talking—Take time to reflect after meetings. If you feel like you have been sharing too much, look back and consider who else contributed. Estimate how much of the meeting you were speaking.
Find other ways to share your ideas—If you excel at creativity you may come alive in a brainstorming session and quickly generate a wealth of ideas. However, if you tend to ramble when describing those ideas, you could come across as scattered and ill-prepared. Consider other ways to organize your ideas and communicate them to audiences. For example, can you keep a running list of your brilliant insights on your computer so you’re better prepared to share them in the next meeting?Â
Practice capsulizing your thoughts—When speaking, make sure that what you’re saying is necessary and impactful. You can even think of your sentences in tweet form: How would I communicate this idea if I were tweeting and facing a character limit? How can I cut my message down to its essence?
Build in pauses—Are you giving your colleagues enough time to digest what you say and to ask questions? If not, give yourself a signal to pause.
Ask for help—It may be hard to know in the moment if you’re oversharing. A fresh perspective can offer insight. Ask a trusted colleague or adviser to provide insights into how you’re meeting your goal of talking less and listening more. Read the full story.
