Communicating Youth vs. Experience

Act Wise Beyond Your Years

By Stephanie Nora White

Guest commentary: Millennials can be some of the smartest, most energetic people in the workplace today. But since they don't have years of seniority, dealing with clients and executives can be intimidating. Tips on how to project a confident image.

Millennials are some of the smartest twentysomethings in the workforce today. They personify the term “the best and the brightest.” They hold advanced degrees from Harvard, Wharton, Booth, and Beijing University. They’re fluent in Spanish, French, Farsi, and three dialects of Chinese. Their free time is filled with such eclectic pursuits as mountain climbing and ultramarathons.

But put them in a room of successful businesspeople 20 years their senior and they stand out like sore thumbs. Why? Because you simply can not pack 45 years of life experiences into 25 years of life. It just doesn’t compute.

And yet society—including the business world—values and rewards youth.

So, what’s an ambitious Millennial to do? Below are some critical communications behaviors that will enable younger professionals to project gravitas in the business world long before they may actually have it:

Eye contact is our single strongest nonverbal cue. Unless you’re operating in certain cultures where direct eye contact is regarded as rude or unseemly, not looking into the eyes of your audience or colleague sends the absolute wrong signal. It broadcasts that you are insecure, or worse, fearful. Be friendly, but look 'em straight in the eye.
Movement and energy are part of our individual "human punctuation." Younger professionals are often less secure in their presence and may think, "If I don’t move much, no one will notice me." But movement and your personal brand of energy is what makes you human—and interesting. When you don’t go with your natural instincts to gesture or use facial expression, it’s actually harder to put sentences and thoughts together—and your messages can lack credibility. Get in the game and move.
Pauses, or what I like to call "conversational white space," make it easier for your audience to absorb what you say and actually increases credibility. For some—and in my experience, often younger professionals—even a brief public silence is regarded as a fate worse than death. But contrary to some thinking, pauses don’t signal awkwardness or lack of preparation. A short pause implies that you’re comfortable in what you’re saying and the way you’re saying it. And pauses are one of the best ways to gain or regain attention.
A strong voice implies authority and believability. Lack of volume implies timidity, fear, and a lack of confidence. If you want to send the signal that you’re a professional with a contribution to make, choose your words thoughtfully, but project them when you do.
Junior professionals within an organization often are charged with doing the heavy lifting: conducting due diligence, field research, and getting to the real crux of a problem. When addressing senior leaders, that hard work needs to be displayed in the form of “credentialing.” Storytelling like “We walked 31 of the 33 properties, and what struck us was…” or, “We met with the leading authority on alternative fuels, and she told has that…” adds credibility. It also makes your message much more memorable for the audience.
Just because it was your mother who told you to “stand up straight” doesn’t mean it’s not excellent advice for the work world. No matter how junior you are and no matter how senior the audience, if you’re speaking, you’re leading at that moment. If you’re standing, suck in your gut and use your best posture. If you’re seated, maintain that good posture, keep elbows off the table, and be physically engaged in the conversation.
Colloquialisms have a place in everyday conversation, but not in the board room. You may think using “you guys” or similar phrases is a legitimate attempt to be “one of the guys.” However, it assumes familiarity that may not be reciprocated by the audience. In fact, it can put some people off. Especially when interacting with senior executives within the company, keep your language formal and to the point.

No matter how accomplished a young professional is, addressing senior executives within an organization can be daunting. But with a little effort and discipline, you can learn how to project well beyond your years and become known as the “go-to” person among your company’s up-and-coming crowd.

Stephanie Nora White is a partner in Wixted, Pope Nora, Thompson, Ltd., WPNT, a national business communications, training and strategy consultancy that has worked with Fortune 500 companies to prepare executives and employees to plan for and respond effectively to corporate crises.