Your ability to improve people’s lives with your ideas, products, and solutions is reason enough to speak out. Stop critiquing yourself for not being perfect the first time. Pushing everyone to jump on board with your innovative mindset is frustrating, which leads to self-defeat. The world needs to hear the value you offer; the value of YOU!

On the daily, people have difficulty sharing their ideas and engaging in reasonable debate with those who won’t agree. Some qualities of the art of communication seem to be left in the distant past, including:

• Accepting others’ opinions and unsolicited advice
• Staying present and actively listening when something is completely incorrect
• Speaking your mind with total confidence when you know others will not agree

If you were born in Generation Y and Z, you may question how people were ever adept at managing a discussion that didn’t go as expected. Since many people have lost the art of communication for listening and open discussion without hurt feelings, it’s typical to shut down. My advice: Power up!

Tips to consider when you find yourself in a conflicting communication scenario.

Realize your value

Don’t play small for fear of not being good enough.  When you play small,  your body and voice will be small.  And yes, your audience will perceive you as not being good enough.

Technique: Open up! Be loud and proud of your value! Make yourself big! Those with big, beaming, genuinely confident personalities are always noticed. Being distinguished for your openness and presence gets you in the right places and in front of high-value people! While your ideas may fall flat, your presence is what others generally notice first anyway. I highly recommend The Definitive Book of Body Language. It is equally as important to master your nonverbal communication as it is to become closely aware of how to interpret others’ body language cues.

Always remember it’s not a failure if you keep trying. Learned helplessness, avoidance of speaking your mind, and giving up only hurt you. Conversely, being overly aggressive and antagonistic to force what you want from others only hurts you and others, too. As you keep trying, you will eventually find a balance and your communication confidence to convey your ideas and build connections will soar.

Your success likely will be determined by how well you speak, by how well you write, and by the quality of your ideas, in that order.” Quote by Patrick Henry Winston

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