adminWhen I heard about the comments of Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, I was appalled. Mr. Mori said “When you increase the number of female executive members, if their speaking time isn’t restricted to a certain extent, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying.” I have had the opposite experience at many meetings I’ve attended.
I read a great article by Adam Grant, who is an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School. I’ve seen what Dr. Grant points out many times in different meetings at work and elsewhere. My tendency has been to not speak up as I don’t want to be seen as aggressive or bitchy. I’m sure doing that held me back. Check out the research in Grant’s article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/02/18/men-interrupt-women-tokyo-olympics/
As the presenter, you obviously have to speak up. How do you get the courage to do that if you are in a room of powerful men who may want to ‘manterrupt’ or ‘mansplain’? Obviously not all men do this. Many do.
The most important thing is to be confident that you are there for a reason and to know that you have done the work and you know your stuff. What can you do to boost your confidence?. One thing you can do is to strike a Power Pose (make yourself as big as possible with arms and legs wide). Amy Cuddy did research that showed if you held a big position for 2 minutes you would feel more confident. If you instead made yourself as small as possible, you would feel less confident. I often hold a Power Pose for several minutes before I present.
What do you do to boost your confidence before presenting?
Brenda Benham
Principal
Memorable Presenter Consulting
www.memorablepresenter.ca
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