Good afternoon, friends. It's Rohan with the latest edition of Coached — your personal mentorship email that takes a few minutes to read, but speeds up your career by years. |
I think you'll enjoy today's Mentor's Corner. It's about how to speak up in meetings — something I've never seen taught formally, but oh so necessary to make sure you're heard and you get recognition at work. Later in the email, I've included resume tips in case you're on a job search (plus, fun memes, of course). |
To my loyal readers: I've been active on LinkedIn lately, sharing bite-sized, candid career advice for quick boosts throughout your week. It's an easy way to stay motivated and keep your career on track. To give you a feel of it, this week I wrote about stuff like how to negotiate and beating ageism on LinkedIn. If you like my writing, follow me on LinkedIn and say hi. |
New here? If you like the sound of getting free career coaching every week — the kind people usually pay a lot for — get my next email by signing up at Coached.com. |
Estimated read time: 5 minutes 45 seconds |
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📈 Mentor's Corner Insights put together by me or coaches who usually charge $750+/hour and mentor senior execs. One practical lesson a week that will make a measurable impact on your career, delivered right to you — for $0. |
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Speaking up at meetings (even if you're an introvert) |
When I started my first job out of college, I was excited and nervous. I wanted to make a good impression and prove that I deserved to be there. |
But one thing held me back: my fear of speaking up in meetings. I've always been an introvert, more comfortable listening than speaking, working independently than in a group. I thought that meant I couldn't succeed in the corporate world, where extroverts seem to thrive. |
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I would sit there, ideas swirling in my head, but couldn't voice them. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing, of sounding stupid in front of experienced coworkers, or saying something that I thought 'wasn't worth it.' |
So I stayed quiet, letting opportunities pass me by. And seeing others get recognition for 'worse' ideas. |
I knew I couldn't let this fear control me forever. |
It wasn't easy, but over time, I learned strategies that helped me find my voice and share my ideas with confidence. |
Let's break down what I would've told a younger Rohan (and anyone else who feels they should speak up but don't know how to): |
🎤 The "Mandela mindset" |
When Nelson Mandela was a kid, he moved to a town to stay with an uncle, where he attended an important town meeting. |
What it was about I can't remember, but what I do remember is this: |
One-by-one, everyone spoke. |
And who was the last person to speak? |
(Who also said the least in the entire meeting?) |
The village elder. |
That lesson - that speaking doesn't always = status - was something that he'd remember for the rest of his life. (And something that stuck with me too). |
So, in our case, here's what I suggest: |
🗣 Don't speak for the sake of speaking |
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Oftentimes, we feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, because if we DO speak, we'll sound stupid, but if we don't, then we get called "too quiet." |
But IMO, the real choice is between: |
Moderating your thoughts and occasionally having nothing to add. Blabbing with no filter, and keeping everyone from going home 5 minutes early
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When you reframe it like that, it's not so bad. |
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But what if you feel like you do have something to say? |
Well… |
📊 Start with the facts |
When you open with, "According to our Q2 stats," you'll instantly make people sit up and take notice. |
Why? |
Because you're not shooting from the hip like the #nofilter crowd spouting the first thing that comes to mind. |
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But to really make your point compelling... |
🎨 Weave stories into your facts (Advanced!) |
Say you want to pitch a new marketing strategy. |
You could just say "I think we should try adding referrals to our app." |
But what if instead, you said: |
"You know, Dropbox tried a unique referral marketing idea that went totally viral and grew their user base by 3900% in 15 months. It worked like this […]. We might think about doing something similar." |
The relatable success story gives your idea weight. |
| | | | …by the way, if you use LinkedIn, go to my profile and hit the 'Follow' button. I share a mix of practical career strategy and mid-week motivation — stuff that makes it easy to keep your career on track.
Topics coming up this week: how to get promoted faster than others, how to build instant rapport with people (even senior leaders) and how to sound more confident (even if you're an introvert). See you there. | alright, let's get back to my essay… |
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You can use this for all kinds of ideas... |
In a team meeting: "...this reminds me of how Google gives employees 20% of their time to work on passion projects. Some of their biggest innovations like Gmail came out of it... |
"What if we tried something similar to boost creativity and motivation?" |
When pitching a process change: "...it's just like how Toyota revolutionized manufacturing with their lean production system. By reducing waste and continuous improvement... |
"I think we could streamline our workflow and cut costs with a few key changes." |
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👏 The "Agree & Add" |
Here's a neat trick to build rapport with colleagues and give you an "in" for making your point: |
When someone says something you agree with, compliment them, and build on it. For example: |
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Complimenting people not only obviously makes people feel good, it also makes your suggestion feel like a collaborative build, rather than a topic change. |
🏋️♀️ Prep, prep, prep |
Write down your key points before the meeting: |
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Having this outline preps you to speak up clearly and confidently when your turn comes. |
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📧 Be heard after the meeting |
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we don't get a chance to speak. |
But you can still be heard! |
After the meeting, send a follow-up email recapping the key points. Then add your take: |
"One additional idea: [Your suggestion]. This could help us [benefit], similar to how [company] used this tactic to [result]." |
You've made your voice heard, even if you didn't say it out loud. |
And we're done! I hope these tips give you a blueprint for your next meeting. The more you practice these techniques, the more natural they'll start to feel. Remember, your contributions are worth it! |
These emails take me freakin' forever to put together and cost a lot in email sending costs. But I keep the whole thing free, without sleazy 'pay to read the rest of it!' type of stuff. So in return, here's the 'fee': |
If an email changes the way you think, opens your mind to a new perspective, or gives you an insight you get value from, do one of these: |
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Stuff like this helps and makes all the efforts feel worth it — thank you. |
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 | correlation IS causation |
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 | PSA |
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🔎 Speed Up Your Job Search One actionable piece of advice to help you hack your job search. |
How to show a promotion on a resume |
Read the full article here. |
When hiring managers read your resume (or LinkedIn profile), they're looking for more than just an overview of your experience. They're also looking for growth, specifically: |
📈 Career progression. Experience is one thing, but if you've stayed in the same role for the past 10 years without moving up, hiring managers ask questions. |
No career growth = a possible red flag. Being promoted or taking on different roles at the same company shows that you're capable of professional development and learning new skills. |
🌱 Increased capabilities. It's not just about a linear escalation of job titles. Recruiters want to see signs that you've learned new skills along the way. |
I'd recommend using a tool like Score My Resume to find out if your resume is effectively highlighting your leadership and career progression. Plus, you'll also find out how your resume scores on 20+ other key criteria hiring managers look for. Try it now. |
(Btw, don't forget to try out the Magic Write feature within the tool, which will use AI to rewrite your bullet points and make them a whole lot more impressive to recruiters). |
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If you're new here, let's get the intros out of the way. |
I'm Rohan. Six years ago, I found myself frustrated with the sea of misleading career advice online, so I started Resume Worded. The goal was simple: provide guidance that actually works. |
But resumes were only the tip of the iceberg. There was a lot of clichéd, generic career advice out there. So, I started this email series, Coached. Each week, I talk about real career strategy, informed not only by my experiences but by my conversations with industry leaders, senior coaches who train CEOs, and people with way more experience than I have. |
Every email you receive is written by me, not a ghostwriter. I'm here, on the other end, reading your replies. |
Until next time, |
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Rohan @ Resume Worded |
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What'd you think of today's edition? |
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Here are some reviews of last week's email. Leave one here. |
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I really appreciate it, Xand and Emma — thank you so much for reading! I hope today's issue had a good deal of fresh perspectives to take away :) |
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P. S. To make sure your career never goes off the rails, don't miss my future emails. A simple way to make sure you get each email is: |
If you're using Gmail, hit the 3 dots at the top-right corner, and choose Move to -> Primary. Or drag this email to Primary if you're on your computer. If you're using Apple Mail, tap on our email address at the top of this email (next to "From:" on mobile) and click "Add to VIPs.".
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