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Hello and welcome to biz your work life sorted. Last week we covered the essential workplace hacks you need to know for twenty twenty five. It was those foundational skills to set you up for success. But now it's time to level up because we all know that the second half of the year is where things actually get really intense. Tax time is looming, performance reviews are on the horizon, and your to do list has more dues than done.
That is for me personally. So today we are hitting you with Part two, the exact strategies you need to finish twenty twenty five strong when everyone else is burning out. Like always, no fluff, just practical hacks to maintain momentum when your motivation has completely ghosted you. We are covering how to sound more confident by simply saying less, the exact phrases to shut down condoce sending colleagues without getting fired, networking techniques for people who'd rather be anywhere else, and
why your mental strategy might need a complete overhaul. But first, let's tackle the number one skill for the second half of any year, how to stay motivated when motivation has completely left the chat. We've all done it. Your boss asks a simple question and suddenly you're delivering a ted talk, complete with the backstory, three examples, and a disclaimer about why your answer might be wrong. And then you see their eyes glaze over and realize that you've completely lost them.
Over explaining is the silent killer that most of us don't even realize we're doing. It's a nervous tick. The next hack completely transformed how I communicated work, and it all comes down to one brilliant metaphor.
There is one tool that I teach when it comes to over talking or over explaining, and it's this mindset, be a waterfall, be a well. So rather than feeling like they have to give you have to give all the information, there's this feeling we have to give all the context. What happens when we over explain. It's almost the opposite effect, this idea of the more words it takes to tell the truth, the more it sounds like
a lie. The more you explain, the longer it takes you to get to the point, the more it sounds like you may not know exactly what you're talking about. So instead you want to think of yourself as a well. That means short responses, and if somebody else has a question, they will ask. I teach this to when I prepare my clients through depositions and cross examinations. I say, when you answer, only answer the question. Keep it short and brief and sweet, because the longer your answer, I can
be rest assured the more questions they're going to get. So, rather than being a waterfall, be a well.
My god, it's so true, especially when you are communicating with any leaders. We feel nervous. They ask us a question after our presentation and will want to talk for like three paragraphs. And really they wanted like it's launching in June, you.
Know exactly, they wanted three words, that was it.
Less really is more when it comes to sounding like you know your stuff. In a world where everyone's fighting to be heard, speaking less actually gives your words more weight and people instinctively trust your expertise more. This tiny shift in communication style can be the difference between being seen as a junior talent or leadership material. Okay, can we please talk about those colleagues who speak to you
like you somehow miss the adult orientation day. You know exactly who I mean it's that person who's just popped into your head, who explains your own job to you, or uses that tone that makes you want to change careers just to avoid them. Being patronized at work is infuriating. But before you start drafting up resignation emails, here are some brilliant responses that shut it down without making you the office villain.
Example, some things you can say is like a lot of young people get patronized for being young right in the workplace. So it might be like someone might say, oh, because you learned that at UNI, and you can be like, I did learn this at UNI, but why did you say it like that? So you can just want to ask them a question, and if you can get a tone that is genuinely curious, like I'm genuinely curious as to why you said it that way, that can be
really good. Then you can go a little bit stronger and you can kind of give them an opportunity to course correct if they maybe didn't mean it that way. It sounds like your colleague did intend to be brud to you, though, But you can say something like, the way that you said that actually sounded a bit patronizing. Is that how you meant it to sound and then people might be like, oh, no, I didn't mean it
to sound like that. And one you've let them know that, like you're onto them, even if they did mean to say it like that, but it can give them an opportunity course correct. And sometimes people will do that. They'll kind of know when they'll stop if they keep doing it. So for example, if someone's like really in the workplace, patronizing you about you're so young, whatever, say they're like over explaining something to you a lot, and you you can kind of say, you know, it's cool. I am
actually pretty familiar with this topic. I'm keeping up with what you're saying. You don't need to over explain it. Or it might be something like, you know, I'm not sure you know this, but I have actually got a year of experience doing this in my previous job. Is there something in the way that I'm doing it that makes you think that I don't know how to do it or something like that, So you can kind of just like start to bring in language.
That's so good. I also have one that I think it's a bit sneaky, but I've used it a few times now and it's worked every time. If someone makes a snarky comment towards you in like a big meeting or with a group of people, I pretend I didn't hear it, and I ask them to repeat themselves. I'm like, sorry, what was that? And they never do. They always change up the language. These techniques are gold professional but powerful. I especially love the sorry what was that?
Move?
It forces people to either own their rudeness or backtrack completely. These responses work for everyone, from man explaining colleagues to condescending leaders, letting them know you won't create drama, but you also won't be spoken down to. Let's talk about that moment when your manager drops another quote unquote quick task to your max out plate and somehow you still hear yourself saying yeah, sure, no problem. We have all been there. That cycle of taking too much on isn't
just exhausting, it's actually hurting your career. Quality always suffers when quantity takes over. So how do you say no without looking uncommitted? This technique completely changed how I managed to workload conversations.
I think a lot of people think it's up to my manager to prioritize my work for me, and it's actually not it's everyone's responsibility to protect not just their focus, but to protect the focus of their whole team by pushing back and saying no. So this is sort of the whole point of the thing that I'm going to share with you. Let's bring it back to our gen z and millennial friends listening to You're sitting there thinking, so, how do I actually do less? How do I say no?
And how do I push back? So internalize this. People are going to keep piling work on top of you until you can't take it anymore. It's not that they're trying to hurt you. It's just human nature. And I think it is harder when you're more junior because you've just got all this stuff coming down and you're not in that position to sort of be pushing back in and making big decisions. So learning to protect your focus and push back is like top three core skills that
you need to learn, and it is extremely hard. But come with me. I'm going to give you one really simple thing that you can start doing today that's going to help you. So that is saying no to your manager with respect. And here's the secret. You might actually be better placed to make decisions about certain things than
your manager, because you are closer to the work. You're the person on the tools, you're the person in the details, and you actually know how long things take, how much time, and how much effort tasks actually take, and your manager doesn't always know that. So it's not like they're trying to overload you with tasks. It's just that they don't have that information. So it's sort of your responsibility and it's in your power to push back. But it is
really difficult. So you know, has this ever happened to you? Your manager says this should take about twenty minutes, it should be easy, right, and in your head you're thinking like that actually takes two to three hours. But then out loud you're like, no, worries, I can do it. What you want to do instead is you want to position it as a trade off. And that's the thing, right. It's not like the ideas and tasking your manager is
giving you are bad. It's just that there's a lot of other things in your plate and everything, in a way is a trade off. So this script I'm going to share. It's from a global work expert and entrepreneur. Her name is wes Ko. I don't want to give her credit. She's brilliant and this is her favorite way to say no to a manager. So imagine your manager has just like throwed another bloody idea of task you. So thanks for the idea. I've added it to my list quick heads up. A task like this usually takes
two to three hours. We had talked about prioritizing this other task because it was going to help us hit this big goal of block. I can refocus on the new task, but we'll probably need to make some trade offs, and you drop those in, for example, some other things that you're going to delay. My recommendation is that I work on the new task after the other task is done. Let me know if that sounds good or if you're thinking about it differently. And that last point is really
important because you are showing respect to your manager. You know more details about the time and effort, but they might be more exposed to some of those conversations withining your leadership or other types of priorities. So if they say, well, actually, yes, I do see it differently, you do need to respect them and it's a conversation, but this is a way to do it that's going to make you feel good and it's not going to feel like you're saying I'm not going to do that.
I love this approach. It refrains saying no, from confrontational to strategic. The surprising truth is that managers respect this thoughtfulness more than blind agreement, and people who master this boundary setting actually gets promoted faster because they deliver excellent work, not rushed work. Next up, networking for people who'd rather be doing literally anything else. Okay, let's talk about networking
events aka my personal nightmare. For years, I used to break into a cold sweat literally just receiving the calendar invite. I'd end up either stuck in endless conversations with the wrong people or awkwardly clutching my drink like it was a life raft. But I've learned this actually a science to this madness, and it all comes down to where you actually physically stand in the room. So get ready, grab a pen and paper, because this is a really good one.
So if you know someone at the event, and it can feel so natural to just go and seek that person out and find comfort in that existing relationship, but it's going to hold you back. So a good idea is to if you see someone you know, be like, hey, great to see you. I'm just going to go and chat to this person. I'm going to come find you later, and just like park those ones and give yourself the best opportunity to meet new people. The third zone, and
this is where you want to be existing. There's two options. The first one is by the bar, so she says that as people are leaving the bar, they've got their drink, they're feeling settled, and they're ready for a conversation, and a really easy in can just be like cheers, cheer someone, introduce yourself and that's a good opportunity to start a conversation where you're probably both ready. The second good zone
to be in is near the host. So going up to the host, introduce yourself, thanking them for inviting you, and then you could even ask them, is there anyone here that you would suggest I speak to, and then maybe they can help introduce you to someone else who's in a similar space to you or someone that they think might be a good connection for you. But by the host, they're also going to have a lot of people just around them, so it's also a good zone to exist in.
Mind blown that is epic advice.
Yeah, it's so simple, but for someone who's a bit scared, I also feel like by the host is also a nice icebreaker as well, like this is someone who's there to welcome you, is going to be down for a chat. But she does make a point actually like only if they're looking available, like you don't want to loiter around them. So yeah, by the bar or buy the host. That's how you're going to nail where you stand at a networking event.
I love it, and one super quick build. If it is a sit down dinner, often the people or like the two people that you're chatting to write before everyone goes to sit down will be the people you end up sitting with. If it's not like a named they haven't decided where people are sitting, because you'll end up walking sort of into the seating area with those people.
So very strategically, if there's a particular person that you really want to sit next to at dinner, try to make sure that you are talking to them or close to them right before they say okay, everyone come and sit down.
The zone strategy is brilliant, such a simple lift, but it completely transforms networking from random chance to strategic connection. No more hiding in the bathroom to avoid talking to people. We need to talk about work mentors because I've always wanted one, but I didn't know where to start or where to find them. Everyone would just tell me just
connect with people who inspire you. As if it was so easy, I'd spend literal hours crafting these lengthy, overly formal emails that I'd never actually send because I'm so embarrassed. But you actually don't need some perfectly polished message it makes you sound impossibly impressive. You just need these five honest lines.
Step one is to really ask yourself why am I doing this? So what am I trying to get out of it? And I thought it might be helpful to give you a live example. So let's use the example of someone who they currently work in sales and maybe they want to go and work in marketing and they're kind of thinking like do I do that now? Or should I just say in sales a bit longer and work my way out? So Step maulble one is asking yourself, what am I trying to get out of it? And
why do I want to have these chats? Step number two is to actually build yourself a short list of people. So to do that, you're going to be looking at, Okay, I'm trying to pivot my career from sales to marketing. Let me maybe try and find some people that have done that. So you can first look at your internal network. There might be people within your company that have done it. You can then go and do a bunch of LinkedIn stalking,
so people have so much information about their careers. It's actually so easy to find people who have done something similar to what you're trying to do, and then also just ask you around. You want to try and land on three to five people who have done something similar to what you're trying to do. Now on too. Step three, which is the very simple five line email that you were going to send them. So I wouldn't normally read out an email live, but because it's so simple, actually
just wanted to share that with you. Now, if you're up for it, love it. Let's go the five lines. Line one is HI, person's name. I know you're busy and you get a lot of emails. Part two you're going to start with them. This is very important. So you want to show I have spent time researching you, I know something about you. And you're going to start
with them. So an example of that might be I admired the way you pivoted your career from X to Y. Or it might be I've been following your career for a while now and I love the way you talk about topic X. Part three you're going to link to you and why you actually want to have that conversation. So an example might be the reason I'm interested in this is because I'm also trying to pivot my career
from sales to marketing. And you know I'm currently working in this role at this company and it would really help me to understand your process. Line four. It would have a huge impact on my career if you're able to give me twenty minutes on the phone or zoom for a career chat so I can learn from your experiences. And five give them an out so you say, I know this is a long shot, and I understand you might need to say no due to bandwidth. Even getting a reply from you would make my day.
I love this. Networking isn't just about perfection, It's about being specific and brief. I wasted years not reaching out because I was terrified of rejection, when actually most people are just happy to help if you make it easy for them, keep it short, be genuine, and suddenly those intimidating career connections actually feel possible. That is it. You are now officially equipped with every workplace hack you need to absolutely dominate the second half of twenty twenty five
while everyone else falls. Apart from pushing back on your manager without getting fired to mastering the strategic networking zones, You've got the complete toolkit to smash those ends of your goals and glide into December as the only person who is in drowning in deadlines and burnout. In huge news, we are launching a fresh new season of BYZ with two new hosts at the Helm, bringing you a completely
new perspective and wealth of expertise. Keep your eyes glued on our Instagram at Beiz by Mamma Mia this week for the big host reveal, and remember our biz Inbox episodes dropped this Thursday, where we solve all of your professional dilemmas, So drop us your questions through the link in our show notes. Mamma Mia Studios are style with furniture from Fentin and Fentin. Visit Fentinanfentin dot com, dot au. All of today's info is waiting for you in our
very free newsletter. If you want to jump in there and sign up, there is a link in our bio to do so, same time, same place next week for our new season of BYZ. Until then, go forth and do less the better.
Bye.
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