CPD tips - Speaking with confidence how to find your voice

Communication is arguably the biggest soft skill there is in the professional world. More than simply exchanging information, effective communication skills boost productivity and help build strong working relationships. We communicate in many ways in the workplace, the written word and body language, to name a few, but without a doubt, one of the most prevalent is verbal. Here we’ll break down why speaking skills are so important in the workplace as well as offer techniques for developing this all-important form of communication.

Why is speaking confidently important at work?

A perhaps shocking statistic is that in an 8-person meeting, three people do 70 per cent of the talking¹. When you consider stats like this one, it becomes apparent how important it is to find one’s voice and develop confident speaking skills. You may or may not realise it, but the workplace is a competitive arena in which to be heard; speaking more confidently can see you become more employable, improve your performance, and progress faster in your career. 

The rise of Imposter Syndrome

Many people in the workplace experience a lack of confidence in contributing ideas and making themselves heard due to Imposter Syndrome (the belief that you are underqualified for your position). A recent study shows that as many as 65% of professionals experience Imposter Syndrome in some way². 

For the vast majority of Imposter Syndrome sufferers, their self-doubt is completely unsubstantiated and they, in fact, are perfectly qualified and competent enough to confidently drive ideas forward. Developing techniques to speak more confidently is a great way to break through these feelings of self-doubt to supercharge your career prospects and gain more fulfilment at work.

How to improve speaking skills

Take a course

The best way to hone your speaking skills is to take a professional course designed to help you develop your verbal communication. We host a number of certified speaking courses on behalf of our CPD members that can empower you to speak confidently and effectively in such a way that colleagues and peers will have no choice but to listen intently which you can find here.

Improve your active listening skills

The first step to becoming a more confident speaker is to improve how effectively you can listen. Particularly in a meeting situation, this skill is an invaluable way to speak with clear, incisive, and valuable contributions. A great exercise to improve listening skills is to try the RASA technique. This acronym stands for Receive, Appreciate, Summarise and Ask. This means:

Receive

Here, receive means learning to improve how you receive the information. The best way to do this? Look at the speaker and make sure you’re giving them all of your attention. You can’t properly listen and do any other task simultaneously. So focus on who and what you’re listening to completely.

Appreciate

This refers to all verbal and non-verbal cues showing you’re engaged in the conversation. This can be nods to show you understand, those little noises of agreement or surprise or smiling along when the speaker is being light-hearted. All of these communicate that you’re listening intently and help keep you locked into what the speaker is saying.

Summarise

This is another very useful technique for meetings or group scenarios. This is the ability to summarise what has just been said before moving the conversation forward. A key tool in the arsenal for this step is the word ‘so. ’ When an agenda point has concluded or there’s a natural finish to a topic, it’s very helpful if one person takes that initiative to attempt to summarise the key takeaways and ensure everyone is clear on the outcome before moving on.

Ask

The key to the ‘ask’ step is to ask valuable questions. This may seem simple or obvious but it’s not. Asking unimportant or off-topic questions can be highly detrimental to a meeting or to productivity in general. Asking for more detail when an important point isn’t clear, however, is always useful. It’s highly likely that if you haven’t completely understood, other people will be thinking the exact same thing. Equally, if there’s a lull in the conversation but you think there’s more that can be taken from the topic, offer open-ended questions to open the avenues of discussion up again.

Prepare as much as you can

Preparation is a must as it allows you to formulate clear and concise ideas when the time comes to speak up. Don’t be afraid to show that you’ve prepared. The idea isn’t to make it appear that you’ve had a confident and well thought-out contribution on the spot. Valuable contributions are always welcome, and explaining that you’ve put some time into researching or ruminating on a topic shows a willingness to put in the work.

Slow down 

A common reaction to feeling nervous when speaking in a formal setting is to rush through your words. This makes what you’re saying harder to understand and can often lead to making unnecessary deviations or tripping over your words. Slowing your speech down, trying to remember to breathe and relax as much as possible is a key technique in delivering what you have to say clearly and confidently.

Don’t be scared of silence

Not wanting there to be any moments of silence is often a reason that we speed up or rush our words. It’s important to be comfortable with breaks or pauses in your speech or in a conversation. The space between important points is actually extremely valuable as it allows listeners time to grasp what you’re saying before further exploring or moving on from a topic. Getting used to including these brief pauses is also a great technique for ensuring you don’t rush, too. 

Ask for feedback

As with all skills, the best way to improve is to practice. If there’s someone in your team who you think is a particularly confident and impressive speaker ask them for some constructive feedback and seek opportunities to work on the areas in which you can improve.

What are the best CPD courses for improving speaking skills?

Public speaking is arguably the most difficult and daunting form of speaking. Standing in front of a live audience, whether in person or online, is a very difficult skill to master. But like any skill, it can be learned and perfected through practice. To find out more about Public speaking CPD courses, please read our previous article.

Presentation and communication skills CPD courses

Presenting and public speaking are inextricably linked; however, there are a host of different kinds of presentations one may have to give in the workplace that have a number of important considerations to make in order to deliver successfully. As mentioned above, improving other communication skills like active listening is an important step in becoming a more confident speaker.

Within the CPD Courses Catalogue, there are thousands of certified courses, workshops and seminars that match your ability level and learning style to help you get started. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service is the world’s leading and largest Continuing Professional Development accreditation organisation working across all sectors.

We hope this article was helpful. If you are looking to become an accredited CPD Provider, please contact our team to discuss your requirements in more detail. Alternatively if you are looking to record your CPD, please go to the myCPD Portal where you can manage, track and log your learning in one simple place.

References

¹How to neutralize a meeting tyrant, Leigh Thompson, 2013 

²https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/imposter-syndrome-affects-65-of-professionals-new-study-finds-301295516.html