Using your voice and getting heard

Maybe it’s the distracting noise in the background or the big open space you’re trying to speak in. Perhaps it’s the many faces staring back at you blankly or the one person in the team who loves talking so you’re finding that there are limited opportunities for you to talk. 

Whatever the reason, you can sometimes find yourself lost for words or find that when you do speak, your voice is not being heard. This can lead to you feeling self-conscious or nervous the next time you want to say something or share your view. 

You’re definitely not alone in this. Being comfortable with speaking in different situations is a common challenge that most of us face many times in our lives. It’s important to know that there are many different ways to get your voice heard, and it’s not necessarily about increasing the volume of your voice.

We’ve put together a useful guide to help you use your voice to your advantage, and make sure others hear what you have to say.

Be confident and value your voice

Whether it’s talking with friends or speaking to a room full of strangers, be confident in the space and know that you have something to offer. You may have personal insight into a topic or specialist knowledge on a certain area. So, share what you know with others and direct the conversation in a way you feel comfortable.

If you don’t know much about what’s being discussed, don’t shy away. Try and be brave and ask questions and respond to the answers to show you’re engaged. Perhaps others in the room are also feeling the same as you but didn’t want to say anything either, so you may also be helping them by speaking up.

Be clever with your vocabulary

Using the right vocabulary for your audience is key to keeping their attention.

Big vs. small: It’s usually best to communicate complex ideas in a clear, succinct way and be the person who can make even the most abstract of concepts easy to understand. Using short sentences can help with this.

General vs. technical: Using everyday language to express your idea allows you to adopt a conversational tone that can make you appear more approachable in comparison to someone who uses technical language and is perceived as too academic or authoritative. Not using jargon or abbreviations can help with this as some people may not be familiar with these and so find it hard to understand what you are talking about.

Emotive vs. restrained: Stirring the emotions can sometimes be a good way to get people invested in what you’re talking about. However, when choosing your words and tone, it’s wise to consider how you might be perceived by others when talking about a topic that may be controversial or provoke strong opinions. Every person will have different circumstances and experiences which can affect how they react to certain situations.

Use your voice but listen to others too

People will often lose interest if they’re listening to one voice over a long period of time. So, make sure you invite others to take part in the conversation. The more you can engage people, the more they will actively listen. Pose questions, let people share their ideas and open up the floor to allow them to share their opinions. Respond to them and make it an open dialogue between you and them. 

For more tips on how to navigate team dynamics, click here.

Take small steps

Learning to push yourself and speak up can be a challenge. However, most of us find speaking up for others rather than speaking up for ourselves a lot easier. So, you could start to build up your own confidence by looking out for other people and making sure that they have their turn to speak. If you notice that someone has been interrupted, you could step in politely to redirect the conversation back to them so they can finish what they were saying. You could also create an opportunity at the end so they can have a second chance to share their view. Whatever action you take, helping others to get their voice heard is a great step towards helping you feel confident in using your own.

Don't be afraid to disagree with others

If you think something is wrong or you view it a different way, it’s ok to say so. A contrary view is simply a different way of seeing the something. By speaking up you may help people understand other points of view. Start and end with conviction. Using phrases like “I’m sorry” or “I’m probably wrong” can immediately weaken your position and could lead to people dismissing things you say in the future.

It’s important to strike a balance here, and make sure that people also feel that you respect their opinion even though it may differ from your view. You could try and use firm but polite phrases such as “I agree to some extent with what you are saying, but I see it slightly differently...” or “I think that is a really interesting point, I would argue however that …” You could also ask more questions to find out the basis for their opinions. After the discussion, if you still feel the same way then try and stay true to what you believe in and respectfully hold your position.

So, what now?

The activities below have all been designed to help you get fully ready to take your next steps - whatever pathway you choose to take. Each set of activities ranges from a short activity which should take no more than 30 minutes, through to portfolio activities, which are longer, project-based tasks. The more time you spend on each activity, the more you'll get out of it, but you should be able to find something each week to fit into your schedule.

Why not start with the short activity first and then work your way through the remaining activities until you’ve completed them all?

Short activity

Find at least two great speeches or talks by individuals you find interesting.

• Write down why you thought these individuals were so effective at using their voice in these speeches. This could be through their use of words, body language, the issue they were speaking about, and so on.

Think about the ways you can start to practice and perfect your own public speaking style, taking into account the qualities you admire from the speeches you chose.

Main activity

Make something creative to represent the influential people in your life who inspire you to use your voice.

This could be a speech, story, poem, piece of art, animation etc. Think about friends, family, public figures, or anyone who inspires you to use your voice.

• Fill the creative piece with key words or creative descriptions as well as visual aids about how those individuals make you feel, this could be respected, listened to, trusted, confident, passionate etc.

Why do they encourage you to want to use your voice?

Portfolio

Using the top tips provided above, draft a 2–3-minute speech on an issue you are passionate about.

It could be any social issue that means something to you, from education, to homelessness or the environment.

If you can, practice the speech out loud to yourself or record yourself giving it on your phone, watch it back and think about the following:

• Are you clear and confident?
• Are you calm and collected?
• How may you be perceived by others?

Next, find an event or forum where you can deliver your speech. This could be a virtual assembly, a local community group or council meeting, Sea Cadets, or even the debate class at school.

Delivering your speech will help to increase your confidence and learn how to effectively use your voice in a public setting.

PSHE lesson

Ask the group to think of around 20 different words to write on small pieces of paper (these could be a mixture of everyday objects, social issues or subject specific information).

• Next, split the class into small groups and have each group pick a word out of a hat.

• Each group has to prepare a persuasive speech, around 2 minutes in length, convincing and inspiring the rest of the class that their issue or object is the most important.

Have the class give positive feedback to the group. Focus on how they used their voice effectively and which parts of the speech inspired them.

This exercise should encourage students to develop confidence speaking in front of their peers, while starting to use the skills they've learnt on this page to really start getting heard.