You know that person who doesn't say much in meetings, but when they do, everyone listens. That's low key, loud. And if you're introverted, awfully quiet or just tired of performative career advice, this one's for you. I.

So I wanna start by sharing a little anecdote from my personal career about the sentiment of Low key, loud. I'm a senior brand manager at a global CPG company, and as you can imagine in the corporate world, there is often this expectation and this sentiment of hitting the ground running when you start.

Into a new role. And I often struggled with that sentiment because hitting the ground running to me is such a loud, actionable force, forcely, so actionable, intrusive sentiment of like coming in and shaking things up. And I often thought that that sentiment fell short of. Somebody really coming in and doing some of the groundwork, truly listening to people, shaping their perspective, coming in with fresh eyes, and then.

doing work that is a little more profound than just hitting the ground running and being, you know, helpful immediately being fully functionable. I immediately, and I do get that that is often a corporate expectation and it's something that is often being praised. I often heard colleagues talk about new joiners and saying, oh, they hit the ground running, they're fabulous.

And for me. As somebody who has, you know, worked in corporate for, many, many years, I have often felt that pressure myself of joining a new team and wanting to prove myself and wanting to show my value and wanting to be helpful to them, not just being the one asking all the questions and, taking up a lot of time and space, but actually being helpful.

But I often went about joining and coming into a new role in a way that I would. Listen more than I speak in a way that I would build my own perspective, come in with fresh eyes and not try to judge immediately. Like I think there's nothing worth than somebody coming into a team and sharing their perspective after week one, after week one.

You can't have a solid, profound point of view of what's going on. I think you need to give people a little bit more time. You, you, you. Owe it to the team that you're going to be joining and to the organization and to the role that you're going to be taking on to spend a bit of time and fully understanding the context and fully understanding what you're dealing with, and then deciding.

How am I going to add value to this? What is the unique perspective that I can bring? What are some of my experiences that are going to be helpful here instead of rushing to be actionable? Just really giving yourself the time to bring an energy to the table that is going to be more valuable in the long term.

And I once actually got a feedback from a colleague, a peer at the time. Who said that, that they found that extremely refreshing and they said that they felt like I did not try to hit the ground running, but I tried to listen. I tried to take things in, absorb things, and it was extremely refreshing for them and helpful to work with because you can kind of sense when somebody comes in.

So focused on trying to prove themselves. So focused on, you know, leaving a good first impression instead of just coming in, trying to understand, asking questions, making it more about the team than it is about yourself. And that person sends the difference. And that always stuck with me and that always told me, well, this, I'm actually onto something.

This not trying to hit the ground running, coming in low key. And putting the focus on the team and the role at hand. Trying to understand, not trying to prove myself. And this is why I want to talk about the sentiment of low key, loud today, because there is so much power in not being loud right away in not coming in and bulldozing or people, you know, forcing your opinion or perspective onto somebody.

And. There is so much power in that, and I wanna dissect that with you today. So let's dive in.

So let's start with why do we even think we need to be loud? I think it goes back to this conditioning from school performance, culture, hustle culture, the LinkedIn grind, that being loud means being seen. And being successful, and we see so much proof that that actually works. We see so many outgoing, charismatic, extroverted, loud people in the workplace, in corporate that are really successful because they are being loud.

Now, the problem is that for. Most of these people being loud works because it is who they are. It is part of their nature. For somebody who is highly extroverted, who is outgoing, who is extremely charismatic, being loud is just what they live for. It's just how they thrive, and it works really well for them.

For somebody like me. Who is introspective quieter, it just doesn't work out. And I know because I've tried being loud, I've pulled all the stops because I'm not just quiet. I'm also ambitious. So I wanna be seen at work. I want my work to stand out. And if that meant being loud, I would give it a try, and it failed miserably because it is just not my nature.

When I try to be loud, it's always intrusive. It's always. Out of character, it is visible that this is not who I am and therefore whenever I try to be loud, the messages wouldn't land. Now I've had so many situations in the corporate world where I've genuinely tried and. Just didn't succeed, and I've learned so much about my personality in the meantime that I do now understand that my most aligned way of speaking up and lending my message is actually by being invited to speak, by being asked to speak by somebody asking me for my perspective, and by facilitating the room and saying, you know what?

Hannah, what do you think about that? I would love to hear your perspective, and sometimes you get those rare occasions where a meeting or a big workshop is being facilitated really, really well, and so the person you know really makes sure that everybody gets to say something. Everybody's perspective matters, but all too often you are in big rooms.

With a lot of people, and it's the same two, three people talking to each other because everybody else doesn't really get a foot in the door, doesn't really get away into the conversation. And for me, I've tried before, I've tried to speak. It's not that I'm not courageous enough, I have tried to speak up, I have tried to be loud, I try to cut in and like get my, because my opinion does matter and I have a strong opinion.

And so I always felt like, well. I need to say it, but whenever I then did cut through, whenever I did speak up and in a loud, intrusive way, it just didn't land. Yeah. I was, you know, I was, I always regretted speaking up in that way because I knew that my point didn't land because it was just not the right energy for me to speak up whenever I feel like my opinion is not really asked for or is not really in invited.

It didn't feel genuine and then my point didn't land, and so I might as well not have said anything at all, and so I know that. Great facilitation and everybody getting a fair share of voice is not always the reality in corporate or in the workplace. And this is why I wanna give you some great examples or little tips of how you can speak up in a room that is not setting you up for a success in a room that is loud in a room that does not invite you to speak.

And. I wanna give you some low key ways to speak up in a way that are going to make you feel not out of character, but in tune with yourself and feel like your quiet ways are actually going to be helpful for you and it as an, an advantage for you. Let's dive in.

So this is what low key, loud actually looks like. I have a couple of points here for you. The first one being ditch the try hard energy. You do not need to join a meeting and speak up in the first 10 minutes. I know that that is advice that is. Often given to anyone who struggles to speak up. And if you struggle with, you know, not being courageous enough or feeling slightly anxious or nervous to speak up, it can be great to get that tick in the box early into a meeting.

But if you feel like you wanna speak up with impact, you really wanna lend your message, you want quality over quantity, then. Ditch the try hard energy. It is not about speaking up first. It is not about speaking up the most often. It's really about shaping your point of view first, and I think you will always stand out by the content of what you say.

Rather than how you say it or how often you say it. So you wanna make sure that you shape a strong point of view first, that you shape a strong perspective first, and then you go about speaking up. The second thing I wanna mention here is I. Think about your presence and the way you demonstrate and visualize that presence.

This is about calm eye contact, a grounded body language, really signaling to people in the room that you're listening, you're open, you're there, you're fully present. You're absorbing what is being said in the room. You're thinking about it. Maybe you're taking notes. This is such a game changer, and my personal opinion is you could only do this, like sit there silently.

Take your notes, listen, you know, build the right cues, open body language, really showing people that you're there and you wouldn't have to speak up at all. And people would still say you were present. They would still perceive you as somebody who, who participated in the meeting without even saying a word.

I think this is often something as introverts or quieter people we're so comfortable. With our cameras of being on mute, but what we're missing is. This showing presence and being there and sickening to people. I'm here, I'm listening. I'm interested in what you're saying. I'm shaping my point of view and without even saying much or speaking up a lot at all, this is.

What is low key, loud in a meeting? And then the third point, I wanna land with you, and this sounds a little bit mainstream, right off the bat, and I've mentioned this earlier, it's quality over quantity. It's not about the amount of times that you speak up, it's not about overexplaining or. Ranting on and on and on, but sometimes it's about asking a really punchy question and like articulating something really well, or just kind of shifting the room with a single sentence or with a single question.

I know that this is something that feels. Unattainable or that feels really hard. But if anyone's going to ask a punchy question, that's going to shift the whole room. It's going to be a quiet person. It's going to be somebody who was sitting there following along, thinking in silence, and shaping a really great perspective.

And. Then asking the question, this is what I want you to be known for. This is, at the end of the day, I would not want you to be the one who is known to speak up all the time or be the loudest in the room, but as somebody who has great perspective, as somebody who always has value to add, and if it's just in being there and being fully present, listening, and then.

Asking a punchy question that's going to make all the difference. This is what I'd love you to be known for, and this is what Loki Loud actually looks like.

What I really hope came through in all this saying, less but better, I. It can be such a power move. Low key. Loud is a sentiment that holds enough space for you to stay true to who you are, while also being aspirational enough to make you really influential at work. Give it a try and if this hit home, share it with a friend or a colleague who would love this.

And if you ever feel quietly powerful in a meeting after using one of these, please let me know in the comments. Thank you for tuning in, like, and subscribe to not miss the next one, and I'll see you there.

What I really hope came through in all this. Saying, less but better can be a real power move low key. Loud is a sentiment that holds enough space for you to stay true to who you are, while also being aspirational enough to make you really influential at work. Give it a try and if this hit home, share it with a friend or a colleague who would love this.

And if you ever feel quietly powerful in a meeting after using one of these. Let me know in the comments. Thank you for tuning in, like, and subscribe to not miss the next one, and I'll see you there.