Hate it when you are not taken seriously?
When I started working as a 24-year-old woman, I struggled. How to command attention? How not to be dismissed for my size, gender, and lack of wrinkles or gray hair?
I’ve learned hacks to be more assertive. To be more influential. Within two years as a product manager, I was promoted to lead a team of product managers. And I’m now an MBA student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
These communication hacks can also help you be more assertive and more influential.
1. Speak slower than what feels natural
When we speak fast, it’s as if we’re worried we’ll get interrupted otherwise.
I rush when I worry my thoughts aren’t worth listening to. But how do we slow down… in practice? Speech coach Jamie Chapman says that telling ourselves to speak slowly zaps the energy out of our speech.
Instead, Chapman suggests:
(a) emphasizing select words, and
(b) deliberately pausing.