229. The Hidden Cost of Minimizing Language

Hello everyone, welcome back to the Visibility Factor podcast.

This is Sue Barber, your host.

Have you ever left a meeting thinking, how come nobody seemed to get the idea that I just shared? How come nobody understood what I was talking about? Or maybe someone else said the same thing you said in a slightly different way, and then everyone thought it was brilliant.

Definitely has happened to me.

I've watched it happen to other people.

But what you need to understand is sometimes it isn't the quality of the ideas that holds us back.

It's how you're presenting it.

It's how you're helping people see that idea and be able to connect the dots to recognize its brilliance.

It's how you present them.

Many capable leaders unknowingly use language that minimizes their expertise, might soften their message, or gives other people permission to overlook what they're saying.

These are habits from many years ago, from some kind of situation that happened to you that caused you to believe something that wants you to play smaller and not recognize your value.

It's not always a lack of confidence, but that language creates that perception with other people.

And perception influences credibility, trust, and opportunities.

They go hand in hand.

So I want to talk about ways minimizing language quietly works against your leadership and what you can do instead.

Hello everyone, welcome back to the Visibility Factor podcast.

This is Sue Barber, your host.

Have you ever left a meeting thinking, how come nobody seemed to get the idea that I just shared? How come nobody understood what I was talking about? Or maybe someone else said the same thing you said in a slightly different way, and then everyone thought it was brilliant.

Definitely has happened to me.

I've watched it happen to other people.

But what you need to understand is sometimes it isn't the quality of the ideas that holds us back.

It's how you're presenting it.

It's how you're helping people see that idea and be able to connect the dots to recognize its brilliance.

It's how you present them.

Many capable leaders unknowingly use language that minimizes their expertise, might soften their message, or gives other people permission to overlook what they're saying.

These are habits from many years ago, from some kind of situation that happened to you that caused you to believe something that wants you to play smaller and not recognize your value.

It's not always a lack of confidence, but that language creates that perception with other people.

And perception influences credibility, trust, and opportunities.

They go hand in hand.

So I want to talk about ways minimizing language quietly works against your leadership and what you can do instead.