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Showerthought: a manager told me I sounded like a robot reading a script, and it fixed my whole work life
Two jobs ago I was giving weekly updates in these team meetings, and I would basically read my notes word for word in a flat voice. After one meeting my manager pulled me aside in the hallway and said, and I still remember this, "You sound like you are reading a phone book, people stop listening after your second sentence." It stung but she was right. I started doing this thing where I write down just three bullet points on a sticky note and force myself to say them out loud in my own words. First couple times I stumbled and said "um" a lot, but by week three I noticed people were actually nodding and asking me stuff instead of staring at their laptops. Then something weird happened, people started asking me to run the bigger client calls because I could explain things without sounding like a manual. My old habit was hiding behind the notes, and dropping them made me way better at my job. Has anyone else gotten feedback that felt harsh in the moment but turned out to be the most useful thing a boss ever said?
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