When you are speaking up at a meeting, it is absolutely critical that you appear to just be speaking. If you seem like you've memorized something, and you're kind of following a script, and you're not really focusing on people, it's not gonna seem like you're totally there, it's not going to seem like you're incredibly confident. It may seem a little artificial state. Now, I'm not talking about when you've been asked to give a 10 minute presentation, it's fine to be prepared for that to have notes. But to simply ask a question, or to weigh in on a particular issue of the day that's being discussed in your group. You need to sound conversational, you need to sound like you're thinking and talking at the same time.

Now, it's okay to have thought about the ideas that you want to convey in this meeting, whether it's a dissenting opinion on a new product release, but it shouldn't sound memorized. It should Sound canned, you need to sound like you're just thinking and talking. The same as if you bumped into a colleague in the hall, someone you've known and worked with for a long time and you're having a casual conversation. That's how you need to sound when you're talking in a meeting. Now, this can be a major trade association meeting and there's 2000 people in the room and you have to stand up for the microphone, it's still going to come across better when you have a completely conversational tone. So that means don't try to memorize.

Now the problem, of course, is it's easy for me to say this. But if you're already nervous about public speaking, you're already nervous about speaking up at meetings. The natural inclination is to try to give yourself a crutch to give yourself cover. And that can mean trying to give yourself a whole script that you're reading and hand holding up. For that you've memorized. I'm warning you to do it.

It doesn't matter if you stumble over a word occasionally. I've stumbled over words in nearly every lecture in this course. But I don't obsess over it. I don't apologize. I don't look like I'm ashamed or guilty. And chances are, you don't even notice it.

It's not important that your sentence structure is perfect. That your grammar is even perfect when you're speaking. people's ears don't catch mistakes, the way their eyes do. What is important is that people perceive you is just talking, thinking and talking and displaying a confidence in your ideas. That's what I want you to think about and confidence is where we're going next.