Show Notes

So far in the first 6 episodes we’ve covered overall career approaches: the care and feeding of your careeravoiding the career sagaforward motion in your career, and creating and communicating your career vision.

For the next several episodes, we’ll shift to focus on some individual skills, starting with today’s topic: finding your voice and speaking up. 

Why Women Engineers’ Voices Need to be Heard

Why is this an issue for women engineers? And why is it a skill you should have and improve?

Many engineers are introverts. Most engineers are men. And most men are louder than most women. Because of these facts, if you’re a woman and an engineer, you may notice some communication challenges in the workplace.

It’s not that we don’t have anything to say or that what we say has no impact. It’s that we don’t say it. Or what we do say is not heard, is ignored, or is claimed by someone else.

How about you? Is it difficult for you to be more visible in your organization? Have you been in meetings where people talk over you? Have you ever presented an idea that was subsequently attributed to someone else?

By the way, if so, you may be a perfect candidate for my signature program. These are the types of things I work on with my clients. Check it out!

If you’re like me, you have a tendency to sit back and observe or wait to be called upon before you add to the discussion. Some of us don’t want to say anything until we’re sure of ourselves, until we know more, have more data, or until we have the exact “right” thing to say.

This cautionary approach is occasionally the best one. But only occasionally. It’s definitely the exception and not the rule.

You should speak up because your engineering perspective is needed to optimize the innovation of your organization. That’s why you’re there! 

You should speak up because all ideas and approaches are needed for best business performance. 

How Speaking Up Benefits Your Engineering Career

Speaking up is the means by which you can contribute, share your insights, and make your perspectives known. And it is so much more.

8 Ways Women Engineers Can Practice Speaking Up Daily

Instead of falling back on your tendency to wait for the perfect moment, take the opportunity to speak up. It’s a skill that needs to be developed for a successful engineering career. Here are 8 simple ways to practice every day:

  1. Engage in formal and informal conversations.
  2. Greet people and check in with them to stay connected.
  3. Add your insights at meetings.
  4. Participate in brainstorming and ideation.
  5. Set up collaborations within and across teams.
  6. Call out biased behaviors or unfair practices.  
  7. Make suggestions for changes and improvements. 
  8. Provide honest and helpful feedback. 

These are simple ideas, but they’re not always easy. Be proactive. Train yourself to be more vocal. You will have to put yourself out there and be vulnerable. Practice so that it becomes more natural for you. 

Once you find your voice, you’ll notice more ease in your performance and a boost in your confidence, enabling you to move farther and faster toward your career goals.

How Women Engineers Can Make Their Voices More Audible

So far we’ve been talking about finding your voice and speaking up in the figurative sense: referring to saying something when something needs to be said and so that, figuratively, you can be heard. So that you can contribute and people will listen to you.

Finding your voice and speaking up can also refer to putting power behind your voice so that you can literallybe heard. That is, be heard in the audible sense.

Many people have soft voices. Some people have timid voices. Some have a voice pitch that is hard to hear. Some are non-native-speaking and struggle with being heard because of their accents or dialects. And more often these people are women.

My own story is a lifetime of struggling to be heard. My voice is soft. And it has a difficult-to-hear pitch, such that even if I shout many people cannot hear me, especially if there’s a lot of background noise. 

I tend not to like loud. I like silence. Loud noises bother my ears. I’m much better with quiet order and not so good with loud chaos.

My frustrations are: not being heard and often being asked to speak up or repeat. Sometimes I have to focus so much on volume and projection that I lose the point of what I’m saying. Even today’s voice recognition systems just can’t pick up my voice.

It’s always been harder for me to chime in on a discussion, and it’s not uncommon for people to talk on top of me. This happens when someone is ignoring you, discounting you, or cannot hear you. They’ll just start talking as if you’re not talking at all. 

If you also struggle with being heard, literally, here are a few suggestions:

Recap: Today’s episode is all about finding your voice and speaking up. We started with why this is an issue and why women need to hone this skill. We then discussed some ways that speaking up can benefit your career. 

Next we reviewed 8 simple daily practices for finding your voice. And finally we discussed some things you can do to make your voice heard in the audible sense.

Next time on Her Engineering Career Podcast we will build on the skill of speaking up and discuss how to ask for what you need and want. An important skill for all women engineers! I hope you’ll join me for Episode 8.