In the latest episode of "The Traveling Introvert," the issue of being labeled as "too quiet" in professional settings is explored. The feedback of being too quiet can have various interpretations, such as communication style, engagement level, or visibility in the workplace. It's crucial to ask specific questions to understand the real concern, whether it's a matter of not speaking up in meetings or not being visible enough in projects. The episode encourages a curious and non-defensive approach when seeking clarity on feedback, emphasizing the importance of understanding the expectations and measurements used at work. Constructive conversations can then lead to a compromise that allows introverts to communicate authentically while meeting workplace expectations.

Hello, and welcome to the travelling introvert. Today, I wanna talk about something that a lot of clients come to me about, and it's when your boss says you're too quiet you know in your performance review and you're getting feedback and the piece of feedback you get is you're too quiet. So here's the thing, it happens a lot but it can mean so many different things because being told you're too quiet can mean so many different things depending because it's all about perspective and what a person's expectations are and so this might come as feedback about a meeting, it might come back as feedback during a project, might come back as feedback, just in general in a work situation that you are too quiet and so the question is does this mean it's about your communication style? Is it about your engagement at work? Or is it about visibility? And it could be any of those things, simply because someone's expectation that you should speak in every meeting whether or not you have something to say or that is useful or contributes to the meeting if they don't hear you speaking up in that meeting they might think that you are disengaged Or it could be that you don't speak up for what you've done in a project. And so for that, your visibility might be low. You might not get praised. People might not even notice what you contributed to the project. Or is it that your communication style is just you're better at written communication than verbal communication and therefore you are seen as quiet. It really does depend and it really does depend on your boss, your supervisor, the person who's giving you that feedback.

So thinking about that, when you have to navigate that feedback, what you need to do is ask questions, be curious without sounding defensive and ask for what the person's expectations are but also what they specifically mean. So ask them to expand, ask them to give you examples of when you've come across as too quiet and that should help you figure out if it is because their expectation is for you to speak up or the expectation is for something else because you can't combat that feedback or work constructively on that feedback unless you know specifically what it is that that person is looking for or expecting or asking for. And even then, when they give that feedback of oh you don't speak up enough in meetings, you could question even further the importance of speaking up in the meetings, what the expectation is for speaking up in the meetings, why that is an expectation, and how does this work towards your cape your goals or, whatever measurements they're using for you at work because it could be that it is something that is measured and if so why is it measured that way is that a good thing bad thing whatever it might be but the idea is for you to be curious without feeling attacked and asking those questions what is it that you know gives comes across this way? What would what would success look like? So therefore, okay, if you want me to speak up more in meetings, what would that look like? Does this mean, you just want me to give my opinion? Does this mean you want me to write my feedback in a different way? What does that mean? Because then you have a target to hit. You then know what you are aiming for and what that person's expectation is. And so also thinking about this, why looking at being told you're you're quiet might hold you back and so how to communicate your thoughts in meetings without compromising sort of your authenticity and what that looks like having a cheerleader knowing what's going to happen in the meeting in advance making sure that if someone interrupts you that you stop them and continue with what you are saying. And you know your your communication levels will need to be adjusted in different contexts just like a volume dial Depending on where you are and what you're doing, how you come across and how you communicate will need to differ in that way. And so you just need to think about how to nurture what it is that you're doing and making sure that you are visible in a good way and you get to the root of what someone is saying when they say that you are too quiet. I'm not saying you should change yourself, but, you know, ask the questions and then figure out what you can do maybe in a compromise or explain what why you are the way you are and what works for you and then come to a compromise and then go from there.

So thank you for listening. This is Janice at the career introvert helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.