Smart, Not Loud
How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
*A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read of 2024*
*Longlisted for the Non-Obvious Books Award, 2024*
Ever wonder why the “loud” people at work get noticed, rewarded, and promoted? Do you worry that you need to be loud to succeed at work, too?
When Jessica Chen entered the workforce, she felt like everything she had been taught growing up in a Quiet Culture household—where deference, humility, harmony, and dogged hard work were praised—failed to set her up for success in the “real world.” Her ingrained values were in direct contrast with what was actually needed to stand out in a Loud Culture workplace. The result? Feeling underappreciated, passed over for opportunities and promotions, and completely stuck.
Building on the lessons she learned as an award-winning TV news journalist, Chen—who now speaks at Fortune 100 companies and whose LinkedIn Learning courses have been watched by over 2 million people—introduces a new way of getting noticed at work, without being loud, aggressive, or boastful. In Smart, Not Loud, Chen teaches readers how they can look within, to the values they already hold, to more effectively show up. Through instructive anecdotes and research-backed principles, readers will learn to:
speak up at meetings using the 4A Sequence (active listening, acknowledging, anchoring, and answering); advocate for themselves with tact;build strategic relationships to enhance credibility and get picked for the best projects;and master the five elements of voice—pitch, rate, intensity, inflection, and quality—to be the kind of communicator others want to listen to.
Packed with actionable tips, Smart, Not Loud unveils a new path to getting noticed and getting ahead at work. This is the road map readers need to authentically show up in the workplace and truly feel seen.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sensible debut from Chen, CEO of the communications training agency Soulcast Media, explores how people from "quiet cultures" (which privilege humility, listening, and avoiding conflict) can thrive in workplaces with a "loud culture" (which values outspokenness, directness, and open ambition). Chen describes how her Taiwanese immigrant parents raised her to value " ‘quiet' traits," which led bosses to overlook her during her former career as a TV news reporter. Her "quiet capital framework" offers advice on how more reserved employees can garner recognition for their work, encouraging readers to establish a "career brand," or reputation, by identifying what tasks they excel at and pitching projects that allow them to demonstrate those strengths. Anecdotes from Chen's career illustrate the guidance, as when she emphasizes the importance of advocating for oneself by recounting how she successfully petitioned her boss to let her fill in for the news station's usual anchor whenever they called in sick. Useful suggestions for improving one's communication skills dig into the nitty-gritty components of speech, entreating readers to talk "at a higher pitch when showing enthusiasm" and a lower pitch when "we want to convey authority and seriousness." Introverts will appreciate the guidance on standing out.
