Got an opinion? Share it

I've got a bit of a challenge on with somebody. I'm trying to convince them that having an opinion and sharing it is a really good idea.

Now you might be in the camp of: "Oh, no way. I'm not sharing my personal opinions anywhere or with anyone because that's the recipe for disaster. That's the road to ruin."

I, however, believe you absolutely must share your opinions and your experiences and your thinking about things so that people understand what you stand for, who you are, and where you're coming from.

A study by the University of Pittsburg found that people who failed to express their preferences in everyday situations seemed less likeable and even slightly less human.

Often we think about personal opinion as being connected to politics, and that's really dangerous, isn't it? But I'm not talking about that sort of opinion. I'm not talking about bringing back hanging. I don't mean "be opinionated" in a really big way. I just mean share what you believe in or what your passion is.

Workplace Confidence

FREE resources for leaders and people professionals from Penny Haslam and Bit Famous

Sign up for my awesome Workplace Confidence email

Inside the study: what we’ve learned from mastermind groups in police leadership

The power of colleague-led learning

A beginner’s guide to difficult conversations at work

An introduction to difficult conversations at work

How to build confidence when you don’t have the answers

Bit Famous – Finalist, Learning and Development Supplier of the Year 2025

“I’m no good at that” – challenging limiting beliefs and negative self-labelling at work

Making space for real confidence at work

The value of val-yous: why reflecting on personal values can boost your colleagues confidence and sharpen decision making

Is your town hall meeting in trouble?

Why presentation skills training isn’t always the answer

Great Job! Why recognition needs a rethink

Workplace Confidence Podcast

Where people professionals share the great work they do!

The Impact, Influence and Confidence Programme

A four-part programme that enables your talented women to communicate with impact and build self-belief. Discover group executive coaching for women from Bit Famous. Finalist: Personnel Today L&D Supplier of the Year

Let's talkBook a no-obligation discovery call

The person that I'm dealing with is shy of doing that, she says it's not right. She doesn't want to be in the spotlight sharing her opinion, but she is the head of a really big organisation that has a job of sharing what it's up to.

Her job is to enthuse people, excite them, inspire them, and encourage them, what leader doesn't have that job?

Sharing your opinion might feel a bit exposing, and I think if you've tried to share your opinion previously and been shot down. You might not be too quick off the mark to repeat that.

However, let's frame it differently. If I was to say, look it's okay to share what you believe in, what your passion is, what your thinking is. In other words, what is the comment you would like to make? It then becomes much easier to justify sharing your opinion.

If you sit with both buttocks firmly clenched on either side of the fence not sharing your belief and your experience, then I think you shortchange people.

They'll never understand who you are and what you stand for, and you become a bit bland as a result. That's not exciting. That's not enthusing and inspiring people, that's just bland.

In this scenario, you end up falling back on corporate key messages, and you get yourself tangled up in all of that.

Yes, key messages are great. They're really important to get across. But the only way in which you will get a feeling of humanity across is if you share your beliefs, your ideas and your passions.

Also, think about some of the people around you who do share their opinions confidently. I'm sure they're not bad people, and therefore, if you do the same, you're not going to be seen as a bad person.

Yes, we might expect a little bit of criticism, but it depends where you hang out and what you say. I mean, if you go on Twitter talking about fox hunting, you can pretty much expect strong opposition to that from certain quarters.

But if you're trying to infuse people and bring them along in a positive way, it can really work.

If you're positive and light touch about it and enthusiastic and passionate, then you can convince other people to come along, or at least to hear you out.

Otherwise, you're a bit boring and no one wants that, do they? The world is stuffed to the gills of boring stuff, isn't it? So let's think about how we can inject a bit of, you know, delight and joy. It's just all there for the taking.

Finalist! L&D Supplier of the Year

Bit Famous has reached the finals of the prestigious Personnel Today Awards 2024. Our nomination recognises the success of our Impact, Influence and Confidence Programme with Shawbrook Bank. About the award nomination.