Being ignored at workplace meetings? Tips on how to make yourself heard

Being ignored at workplace meetings? Tips on how to make yourself heard

Transcript¹

Meetings, love them or hate them, when it comes to the workplace, they're really important. NPR's Life Kit² has tips for how to be heard at work. (Story originally aired on ATC on Nov. 13, 2021.)

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Love them or hate them, when it comes to the workplace, meetings are a necessity. It's often where details are sorted out and new ideas are born. But it can also be where politics and power dynamics³ play out, a stage where some people are interrupted, ignored or otherwise made to feel disrespected. Research confirms it's a frequent experience for women, people of color and LGBTQ and nonbinary workers. Stacey Vanek Smith researched this for her book, "Machiavelli For Women," and she did this report for NPR's Life Kit.

STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE⁴: Getting interrupted happens to everyone, including Supreme⁵ Court justices. In fact, this made news a few years ago as part of a study of Supreme Court transcripts⁶ published in the Virginia Law Review. It found that female justices were interrupted three times more often than male judges, even though they spoke⁷ less often. The study cites many examples. Here is one that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The sound is courtesy of Oyez, and the person interrupting Ginsburg is a lawyer arguing a case.

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RUTH BADER GINSBURG: But when...

KENNETH STEVEN GELLER: Court simply concluded...

BADER GINSBURG: ...You take what the president undertook, which was just to use best average, that doesn't sound like...

GELLER: Under the supremacy⁸...

BADER GINSBURG: ...They had much to - well, didn't...

GELLER: Well, Justice Ginsburg, I think it's the operation of the supremacy clause here.

VANEK SMITH: So if you are getting interrupted at work, you are in truly excellent company. But why is this happening? What is going on here?

TINA OPIE: Well, what's really going on is power.

VANEK SMITH: This is Tina Opie. She has a Ph.D. in management, teaches at Harvard Business School and is the head of Opie Consulting Group.

OPIE: So when you interrupt someone, you're trying to see who is at the top of the pyramid and who's at the bottom.

VANEK SMITH: Opie says this can be very tricky⁹ to deal with. Don't say anything? Your ideas don't get heard. Speak up? Well, that can have consequences.

OPIE: For example, the word strident has been used to describe me, and I think it comes because I correct people when they interrupt me or take credit for my ideas.

VANEK SMITH: Opie says she has thought a lot about this issue, and she's come to a conclusion.

OPIE: And what I'm asking myself is, is this leading to the kind of influence that I want to have in this particular team? If it is, go for it. If it's not, then I'm just suggesting that there's a little bit more nuance¹⁰ to this conversation than simply saying, whenever someone interrupts you, correct them in public in front of the group, right in the moment.

VANEK SMITH: One solution Opie likes - a technique called amplification¹¹. So Opie first read about this in a Washington Post article written about the women in the Obama administration. They were having trouble feeling heard in White House meetings, and so they developed a tactic¹².

OPIE: Before the meeting, they would talk with each other. And they might say something like, OK, Stacey, when I get into this meeting, I'm going to talk about cellphones. So when I get into the meeting and talk about cellphones, I need you to say, Tina, I love your idea about cellphones. And then, Janet (ph), I need you to come right behind Stacey and say, Tina's idea about cellphones is amazing.

VANEK SMITH: Opie says this way, instead of having to smack¹³ someone down if they talk over you, you have a colleague affirm your idea and then another colleague affirm their idea. You're not getting accused of being strident, and you're finding a way to be heard. Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR News.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

3 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

11 amplification   

n.扩大，发挥

参考例句：

• The voice of despair may be weak and need amplification.绝望的呼声可能很微弱，需要扩大。
• Some of them require further amplification.其中有些内容需进一步详细阐明。

12 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

13 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。