How to silence your critics without saying a word

CRITICISM - the word in itself is enough to give chills to the spine of an employee. Criticism is the necessary evil, which we all have to face. Even the smartest of brains have had their fair share of criticism in life. But they all managed to conquer it and win over their critics in flying colors.

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That’s the whole point - winning over the criticism. But what’s the secret? How to silence your critics? In this post I am going to talk about some tried and tested tips to deal with criticism at work, or any other facet of life.

Let us have a look at those points -

Rephrase, repeat

What’s your first response when someone disapproves your idea? If it is counter-arguing, then you are making the same mistake that almost every person makes. And you need to stop doing it.

If someone disagrees with your idea, think of it as an opportunity to elaborate it in a better manner. Rephrasing what you’ve already put forward can be a great way to do it. Who knows maybe the language you used in the first go did not make any connect with the listener. Or perhaps it was too complex to be understood in one go.

To get rid of this first reason for criticism, try to keep your language as simple as possible.

Pro Tip - Avoid using technical jargons so that even a layperson can connect with what you are trying to say.

Is it really criticism?

When you are sharing your views or ideas about something, you are going to get both positive as well as negative response. As it is said “whatever you do, good or bad, people will always have something to say about it.”

It’s the way you handle people’s response that matters the most. First of all, don’t think of someone not agreeing to your idea as criticism. Their disagreement could be because they don’t have much knowledge about it. Or perhaps they have some other point of view about the topic.

This is where you need to play smartly and listen carefully to the point, which the other person is putting forward.

Pro Tip: It won’t be a big surprise if some point arises that you had completely ignored during your integrations and permutations. Don’t think of every feedback as criticism.

Verify your facts

In the worst case scenario, when the clouds of doubt have started to rise in your mind about your point thanks to the criticism you’ve faced, it is always the best idea to verify your facts again.

There are chances of you having missed a certain important, which got rightly raised by the critic. And even if you are 100% certain of your point there is no harm in fool-proofing your idea. After all, prevention is always better than cure. You must not leave any scope of last minute errors in judgement that could give someone else an opportunity to find flaw in your work.

Pro Tip - Always a last minute reassessment of what you are trying to put forward. If needed, discuss it with someone whom you can trust before making the final presentation of your idea.

Be open to it

As the quote by Winston Churchill goes, “ Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body.”

You don’t always have to take criticism in a negative way. Think of criticism as an opportunity to improve. As a matter of fact, think of it as an achievement that people are showing interest in your ideas, they are paying heed to what you are presenting.

And this can be an opportunity to impress the seniors, top-management and others in the top-tier at your office. You never know from where the door of opportunity might pop-up.

Pro Tip - Always be open to criticism. If you are not open to constructive criticism, you are not open to truly growing as a person.

On parting note, all I’d like to say is ‘be open to criticism but don’t be affected by it. Criticism is meant to help you be a better person. Learn from it.’

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Vartika Kashyap is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. She currently runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

Also like our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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