Sometimes it is difficult to get your ideas heard at work. This could be in a meeting, talking with your manager, or even in a conversation with your coworkers. However there are a few ways to make sure you can get your ideas out there. It’s all in your preparation. These 5 ways will definitely help you be heard.

#1 Asses the commitment

Without telling your ides just yet, poll the room and see which people would seem to be open to your ideas and which ones would not. Do as they do in the elections, focus only on the people who are open to hearing your ideas, do not waste any energy in trying to convince other who would never give you the light of day. Once you know who would be open to your idea, start thinking about ways how to present this to them.

#2 Know your data

A great idea or projects lives or dies because of data. Make sure your data is correct and that you can answer any question coming your way with clear, objective data.

#3 Understand your audience

Try to ask yourself why people would love your idea. What would trigger them to be on board and support you along the way. If you need to create a team, try to figure out what would get people motivated to join the team and deliver good results.

#4 What’s the plan

Make sure your idea is solid. That it is clear, understandable and ready to be started work on. Make sure you know the boundaries and risks of your plan and how you can overcome those. Have a clear goal path or milestones on what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it, this makes it easier for people to understand what you are saying and what you are going for.

#5 Start doing

Sometimes it’s good to start before you have approval, just to have something to show. Just make sure that in this starting-phase you do not invest any money or man hours. Go solo until you have a clear view of how, what and to whom you will be presenting your idea. And most important be ready to embrace other opinions, arguments and discussion into your ideas. You might have started, but the finished result will probably be a team effort, so make sure to leave room for other vision and ideas. Who knows, maybe what you started will become huge.

Point is, don’t be afraid to share ideas, just make sure they are well prepared and have a focus.