WHAT to Say When It's Time to Speak Up

Welcome back to our coaching series on "Using Your Voice Effectively."

Last week, you learned when to speak up.  As we discussed, it's important to know when to use your voice.

Once you've identified when to talk, you must focus on what to say.  Getting the message right is a critical part of being heard - how you organize the information you communicate will make a difference - you must tailor your message into a package that makes sense to others.

Your audience is #1.  I can't emphasize this point enough.

Whether it's an audience of one or one hundred thousand, your message must make sense to them.  Yes, it's true that you are going to speak about your ideas, opinions, and suggestions.  The ideas are yours.  However…if the ideas are not packaged in a way that makes sense to the person(s) you're speaking to, they will not land well.

If it isn't important to them,  or you can't figure out how to communicate why it matters to your listener, you can still proceed.  But more than likely, the conversation will not be effective.  You will speak.  They will listen.  And that will be the end of it.   It won't be an effective conversation - the type that leads to the outcomes that you hope for.

The listener may react  - but pay attention, and you'll notice that they're not responding to the points you made. They're talking back to you and articulating their ideas but not in a way that will resonate with you or reflect what you were communicating.  You won't be heard.

To tailor the message appropriately, put yourself in their shoes.  Who is your listener, and what do they care about?  Why is what you have to say relevant to their work or life?  What will change for them once they hear you?  What critical piece(s) of information do you have to offer that will make a difference in a decision they're going to make or an outcome they want to achieve?  In short, why is what you have to say important to them?

How do you make your ideas relevant to your audience?  Please take a moment to think about who they are and what they care about.  Then, use what Peter George, in his book _The Captivating Public Speaker_ calls the "So What Test."

Think about what you have to say, and include why it matters.  Answer the question, "So what?" Two examples outlining this technique are below.

Example #1 

You (to your boss, Cindy):  Cindy -  I want to talk to you about our sales team.  They're not using the cross-sales techniques that we trained them on consistently.  This is a problem.

Cindy: Yes, I've noticed that too.  But…it's peak sales season.  They're meeting their numbers, and I'm worried about adding one more thing to their plate.

 You: I realize we're in the middle of our peak sales season, and this sounds nitpicky, especially since we're meeting our sales targets.  But if they don't use these techniques now, we will not be able to meet our annual sales targets.  Once the peak slows down and volume decreases, we will not be able to meet our numbers.  We have to get on this now while we still can.

Example #2

You (to your peer, Kyle): Kyle, I wanted to talk to you about the project template that we put together last month.  I saw your recent report, and you didn't use the template.

Kyle: Yeah, sorry about that.  I was in a rush, and I was trying to get the report to Cindy on a tight deadline, so I used an old format that I was familiar with.  I knew I could get it to her on time if I used the old format. 

You: I understand we're on a tight deadline.  We created that format to speed up the time it took to make the report that Cindy wanted every month.  The template will take a little bit of time to learn, but once we know it, we'll be able to turn the reports around much more quickly than we can with the old template.

Kyle: I get that, but as long as Cindy got the information she needed, I think we're good to go.

You: Cindy came back to me with several questions on the report - her questions would have been answered had we used the new template.  Now, you and I will have to spend time mining the data to answer Cindy's questions in detail.  This is going to take time  - it's putting us behind schedule.   Let's plan ahead so we have time to use the new template for next month - it will save you time and energy over the long haul.

Okay, it's YOUR turn.  Where do you need to use your voice effectively?  Who is your audience, and what do they care about? How will you tailor your message so that the audience is #1?