How to get Airtime in Meetings

This question was sent through to Professionelle:

At work, I raise a possible solution to an issue which is brushed over, only to be raised the next week by a male counterpart and suddenly it's a good idea. This happens often. How can I change this - I'm not sure. But if anyone else knows I would value the information.

As luck would have it, when this question came in, we were exchanging emails with Lee Wilkinson of Communicate about an article she might write for us. I mentioned this query and Lee volunteered to write about how to gain airtime in meetings as an important part of the solution to getting ideas heard and appreciated.

Here's Lee's answer:

This is a common issue we get asked in our programmes. We believe that the 'getting heard' problem may be more common for women; but men definitely experience it too. A while ago a man who faced the airtime challenge told me: 'When I start talking, people get up and go make themselves a cup of coffee'!

So what to do about it?

Part of the solution has to happen before the meeting: Good preparation matters. Make sure you know your objectives for the meeting and plan a few key ideas to contribute. Get to the meeting early, so you can break the ice with any people you don't know. If possible, choose a seat opposite the meeting leader. In this position, every time the leader looks up, she/he has to see you!

Now for the meeting itself:

1. For a start, don't politely wait around for people to magnanimously turn to you seeking your profound thoughts. Expect to have to TAKE your share of the conversation.
2. Make sure you speak up early, so your presence gets noticed. The longer you leave speaking, the harder it is to become part of the conversation.
3. Speak fairly often, so the group gets used to including you.
4. Use a conversation bridge to create a link into the conversation. A 'bridge' helps you connect the previous speaker's words to what you want to say. It will help you feel more polite! A good bridge example is where you agree with what the last person said and then sail right on. 'Yes, I agree with Rangi and also we need to include….' Active listening is also a good bridge tool. You can use it to summarise what the last person said and then move into your brilliant thoughts.
5. Use signalling to get a hold on to your airtime. As you start, let people know that you plan to do more than just grunt. Say something like: 'I have several thoughts on this' or 'There are pros and cons to the plan'.
6. Be prepared to fend off interruptions. Techniques include pitching your voice deep, keeping talking and saying that you will come back to their point later. Although it sounds weird, you can sometimes stop an interruption by holding your hand slightly up in a subtle stopping position.
7. Support other quieter people in their speaking attempts. This helps build an expectation of wide contribution. You could say: 'Hold on, I didn't quite get what Kim was saying.'..or.. 'I am interested in hearing what Chris's thoughts are on this.'

You can see that there are a lot of tools to solve this invisibility. Try some and see what works for you. Watch the people who have no trouble getting heard and figure out which of their techniques you could borrow. There are many more fascinating aspects to this challenge. You can read more tips on this and a wide range of other aspects connected with personal presence on my communicationz blog.

Your feedback

Dear Lee! Thanks for the very helpful comments. I've just come from a Her Business Networking meeting and reading your article again reminded me, that women have a lot more issues to address. Learning to speak in public generally, not putting their hands in front of their faces, not speaking loudly enough, talking too fast, so that the content sounds like one long ribbon word, which only the closest to the speaker will possibly understand. Too many ums. Maybe looking at the audience instead of down at the table, etc. etc. I feel there could be a few workshops on this subject. I do EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), which helps to build up the confidence, eliminating any kinds of insecurities we might have and being confident. I see lots of potential for fielding seminars on this whole subject. If we are to become  impacting people, we have to know how to "hold our own" either when standing up/around and talking. How to hold general conversation to network with others and build bridges etc. Kind regards.

Acknowledgement

The above article was contributed by Lee Wilkinson who works for Communicate in Wellington. Communicate provides a broad range of communication programmes to individuals and groups that are highly interactive, based on proven techniques and that use international research.

Lee gets a buzz out of helping people make real and useful progress as communicators. She has a post-graduate degree in Economic Geography, which provides a useful background for building an understanding of a wide range of client issues. She is accredited to the DiSC Behavioural Style Inventory and is an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation. Lee has served on a number of school boards.  Her membership of Rotary has led to involvement in mentoring for participants in the Victoria University Skilled Migrant project.

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