Prepare for Your Next Meeting in 5 Steps - A quick guide for Women in Business who want to speak up with more confidence
You’ve heard this famous Alexander Graham Bell quote before: “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success”!
And when it comes to communicating and presenting yourself with confidence, this couldn’t be more true. When I speak to women in business about speaking up with more confidence, these are the 3 most common challenges I hear:
My nerves are in control and I come across shaky or scattered
I don’t know what to say, so I end up rambling or talking in circles
I don’t know how to say it confidently, and others can tell I lack confidence
If this sounds familiar to you, I want you to know that you are not alone in this. I experienced these challenges myself for 10 years in both my corporate life and once I started my business, and every single one of my coaching clients experiences at least one of these, if not all 3, when they try to speak up and share their message. It was such a common theme that I actually built my coaching and education practice around helping my clients overcome these 3 challenges through my Self-Assured Speaker method which looks at managing your mindset, simplifying your message and mastering your method of delivery, and it has helped so many women start speaking with greater confidence and authority.
Speaking Up at Meetings
Interestingly enough, one of the common questions that comes up is HOW can this be applied when I go in a meeting. This seems to be a common pain point for women in business, which I believe to be rooted in our own versions of imposter syndrome. For various reasons, our imposter syndrome tells us stories about how we are not qualified enough, smart enough, successful enough, etc. to be sitting at the table and/or sharing our ideas to begin with. But whatever the reason is, it never fails that a lack of confidence can be managed with greater preparation. So in this article I wanted to share with you my 5 Steps to Confidently Prepare for a Meeting that always helps me speak up with greater confidence.
Once I put this process in place I started feeling SO much more confident and in control and I still use this process every single time I’m going into a meeting, whether it’s a sales call, a discovery meeting, a client meeting — ANYTHING.
It takes MAYBE an extra 15-20 minutes and worth EVERY second 👌🏼
Before I jump in, you should know that one of the KEYS to this preparation is my Clear Concise Message (CCM) Model, and I created a free guide and template for you, so if you want to follow along, you can grab yours here for free!
Ok, let’s jump in!
My 5 Steps to Confidently Prepare for a Meeting
Step 1: Review the Purpose of the Meeting: always start by reminding yourself who you are connecting with in this meeting, What is your goal and what is their goal? This is a really important first step because it allows you to stay focused on the outcome you both want to achieve, and tailor your speaking notes around that outcome. When you go into any meeting or interaction being mindful of who you are speaking to, you are likely to create a much greater impact with them.
Step 2: Map out Your Key points: This is the most important step! Here’s where I use my CCM Model. This is so important for me, because I have always had a tendency to ramble or go off track, and as a communication coach I know that being clear and concise are the keys to speaking more confidently. For this reason, it is so important to be prepared with clear and concise points of exactly what you want to say so that you are staying concise and on track, and avoiding rambling. I also encourage you to take a moment to anticipate any questions that might come up, so you can prepare for those as needed.
PS. If you haven’t yet, you can grab the free guide and template for my CCM Model here and try it out for yourself. I promise you, it’s a game changer! ⭐️
Step 3: Rehearse Your Key Points out Loud: Yep, out loud! I know it can feel awkward, but hear me out – Rehearsing out loud is great practice for moving into a more confident voice prior to the meeting, and it can really help you articulate yourself clearly and smoothly when the time comes. Now, listen, I know sometimes you simply don’t have the option to be rehearsing out loud. In which case, still review them in your head so you can get into the flow of how you will say them, again, helping you to articulate yourself clearly and smoothly.
Step 4: Get grounded: Right before the meeting, take a few minutes (I set a timer for 2 minutes on my phone) and take a few rounds of deep breaths to help you get present, grounded and ease any nerves that might be coming up. It’s so easy for our nerves to take control of the situation, and grounding through some deep breathing exercises (even just a few rounds) is proven to activate your parasympathetic nervous system and promote a state of calmness.
Step 4: Do a Visual Check: Take yourself through a head-to-toe check to make sure that your body language, clothing, accessories, etc are reflecting your confidence.
And you are ready to Roll!!
If you found this helpful, you will love my self-led digital course Speaking for Success. This is a roadmap to take you from self-conscious to self-confident in business, the boardroom, and beyond, and we cover proven strategies and tools to get you on the path to speaking with greater confidence. Check it out here!
In the meantime, don’t forget to grab your free guide and template for my CCM Model to start practicing simplifying your message for your next meeting!
And remember, I am always in your corner!
Your Coach,
Elisa
