Dileta Carhill

A co-worker once told me, ‘If you don’t ask, there’s a 100 percent chance the answer will be no. If you at least ask, you have a fifty-fifty chance of it going your way.’ I think this statement is relevant to speaking up and having your voice heard. I think sometimes when we are in meetings with dominant or strong personalities, we shy away from speaking out, afraid of saying something wrong or looking foolish. When speaking in a group, speak with confidence, using personal knowledge and experience—and speak with passion about your ideas. And that strong personality in the group, they just might speak up and say, ‘I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective,’ and it can totally open up the conversation to more possibilities.