How to Be Heard as a Highly Sensitive Introvert

How to be seen - without pushing, proving, or performing

The moment you enter a room and feel the pace too fast and strong for where you are. 

Where conversations move too fast, and your system is catching up. 

Where voices rise with confidence - and you’re still landing into the space. 

Where speed is treated as a sign of power and authority, and your quiet is misunderstood as hesitation.

I’ve felt it in boardrooms, workplaces, and networking lunches — a subtle sense of being lost, not knowing how to fit in.
The pain of having something valuable to say, and nowhere to say it.
The pressure of waiting for the right time, and then watching it pass by.
The exhaustion of contorting myself into visibility strategies that weren’t made for someone like me.

Not because I don’t have something to say — but because the room was never designed to hear me.

In this article, I share my recent experience of a networking lunch as an Introvert, Highly Sensitive Person, Deep Feeler and Projector. I share my strategies and talk about how you too, can use these and be heard and seen in your own unique way.

Table of Contents

• A Recent Network Lunch Experience

• Lessons of a Quiet, Highly Sensitive Person

• Strengths of the Introvert, Highly Sensitive Person, Deep Feeler, Human Design Projector

• Strategies for Networking

• Invitation to your true authentic expression

• Reflection Questions
  
  

My Recent Experience - Networking Lunch

It was a wonderful gathering of women from different backgrounds - to connect, share, and support one another in business and life.

My outfit is an extended expression of my personality and energy. That day, I wore fuchsia pants, snake earrings, and a funky embroidered jacket over a simple black top. That day, I wanted to feel grounded and radiant.

The organiser commented on my look, which helped me feel seen in a small and important way - for who I am. I sat down. The women nearby were settled in and looking comfortable. They spoke with ease about their businesses, bouncing from one story to the next.

I could feel something happening in my body.

That sensation of gradually pulling back and shrinking. My nervous system started to feel full.

That wondering - where do I fit in? How do I speak?

The Shift

I felt an old pattern rising, "Try faster. Find a gap. Say something before it moves on."

Instead, I did something different.

I sat back and leaned into my spine. I rested my hands on my belly and thighs. I breathed. I inserted my noise-reduction earplugs to soften the café sounds and to stay focused on the conversations.

I reminded myself:

I don’t need to compete.

I don’t need to fight to be heard.

I trust that when the time is right, I will be invited.

I stayed present. I listened. I observed.

And I allowed my presence to be enough.

Eventually, it happened.

One of the women turned to me with honest curiosity and asked, “What about you? Tell us your story.”

Aha! My moment! I leaned forward.

My voice lifted. My energy shifted. I came alive. My body and voice became animated.

I shared how I became a Courage & Transformation Coach.

I could feel the table shift. They were listening. Really listening.

Because I was owning my story. Because I waited until I spoke from my true self, rather than trying to be someone else and perform.

Have you had a similar experience?

Lessons of a Quiet, Highly Sensitive Person

Why Loud Isn’t the Only Way

We’ve been conditioned to equate volume with value and worth. In meetings, classrooms, and online spaces. The one who speaks first, and loudest, is often seen as the most confident, the most competent.

But that measurement is so flawed. It lacks nuance and prioritises speed over depth. It creates room for power and dominance, rather than quality.

There’s a difference between expression and performance. Between clarity and volume. Between taking up space, and being in the space.

When we create spaces for speed, we lose those who are still tuning in. We lose the ones who carry wisdom that emerges in the pause, in the processing, in the present moment.

Loud isn’t bad. But it isn’t the only way.

When we start to reframe visibility from something you do into something you are - we allow leadership to look and feel different. More real. More felt. More sustainable.

Cost of Not Being Heard

Many people think that not being heard is a flaw. This is encouraged in the workplace, social settings - the unhelpful labelling of ‘oh, he’s an introvert’. What this creates is an internalised loop - mistaking silence as failure, developing into an unhealthy thought loop of the pressure to be faster, louder, more visible - constantly.

In my experience, being overlooked in a room not designed for me doesn’t mean I lack presence.
It means the culture lacks capacity.

When quiet, sensitive people aren’t heard, we lose nuance. We lose emotional intelligence.
We lose insight that sees patterns others miss - because we’re often already holding the bigger picture.

And more than that - we lose ourselves.
We shrink. We filter. We shut down not because we have nothing to say, but because the cost of forcing our way in becomes too high.

Reclaiming our way of being heard isn’t just personal healing - it’s a cultural shift.

I’m an introvert. A deep feeler. A highly sensitive person.

A Projector (Human Design).

A Chinese-Australian woman moving through business spaces that weren’t always built for someone like me.

I used to think I needed to adapt to be accepted.

To speak louder. To post more. To stay constantly on.

To match the rhythm of the room, or online space - even when my body is begging me not to.

And I’ve come to see — with tenderness and a little fire — that my energy is not a mistake.

My rhythm isn’t wrong.

My voice doesn’t need to echo others to matter.

I refuse to water myself down to be palatable.

What I’ve Come to Know

As an Introvert, I often observe and sense the room before I step into it.

I pick up on what’s unsaid.

I find clarity in solitude — and that time alone replenishes me.

Sometimes I don’t speak right away because I’m still reading the energy, still finding what feels true — not just what sounds clever.

As a Highly Sensitive Person, I feel the energy of the space before anyone says a word.

I notice the details others miss - the glance, the pause, the hesitation, the energy behind words.

It’s a depth of presence I’ve come to trust.

As a Deep Feeler, I’ve learned that my emotional awareness is a gift - not something to hide.

I don’t always speak first. But when I do, it comes from somewhere real.

I’ve noticed it often lands with unexpected resonance, as if I’ve voiced something that others didn’t know they needed to hear. I feel it in their bodies, in their faces, in their eyes.

I’ve also learned that my emotions aren’t a weakness to be controlled - it’s information, it’s data.

They tell me when something is out of alignment. They let me feel what others can't say.

As a Projector, I’ve come to respect my energetic blueprint.

I guide best when I’m recognised — not when I’m reaching out for attention.

I’ve wasted so much energy trying to push through conversations or prove my worth.

Now I listen for the real invitation — the one that feels like an opening in my heart, a buzz in my womb, not a demand in my mind.

I used to think that success meant speaking louder and faster.

Now I know that my impact lies in being intentional.

When I honour these qualities, and move at my pace -

I say less, but it lands deeper.

I do less, but I connect more.

I no longer perform. I let my truth do the talking.

Does this Feel Familiar?

Maybe you’ve walked into rooms and wondered if your softness was a liability. Maybe you’ve sat at tables where the loudest voices got the most attention, while yours stayed locked in your throat. Maybe you’ve left conversations not because you didn’t have value,  but because you couldn’t find your way in.

If any of that resonates with something in you, here are some practical practices that may help you navigate spaces that feel too fast, too loud, or too much — without abandoning yourself in the process.

Lessons To Help You Stay Grounded

What’s helped me most is learning to work with my body, not against it.

Being in Your Body

Before and during a gathering, connect with your body - hands on belly or thighs.

Breathe.

Have something that calms your system and anchors you - for example, I have a hot mug of water or tea that I sip and hold - it’s like my little fireplace.

Scan your body quietly: How does your tummy, shoulders, neck feel? Are they contracted or soft? Do you sense an armour around your body, or does your body feel soft and open?

These gentle check-ins can help keep you from abandoning yourself.

Don’t Compete

When I try to jump in, or override my own timing, it drains me.
Even when I have the perfect line in my head - if the moment isn’t right, I feel it in my body. Like a sense of pushing.
And when the moment passes unacknowledged, it hurts my confidence.

My suggestion for you:
Don’t force your voice into the conversation. Allow your voice and body to find its time.

You know the brilliant one-liners that you brew in your head - the ones that will stop everyone in their tracks and bring their attention to you? Well, sometimes they land, some times they are brushed past, misheard, or missed entirely.

Each time this happens, it can take a hit on your confidence.

But have you considered this - perhaps you are offering your depth to people who aren’t ready to receive it? 

Ouch. It stings.

So what’s the antidote? 

I invite you to sit in your energy by waiting for the right moment - the one that’s open and inviting. Like that turning of the head with genuine curiosity about you as a person.

Remember - your contribution is most powerful when it’s invited, not chased.

Embody Your Radiance and Brilliance

Lean back into your straight, yet supple spine. Soft belly.

For others to see your brilliance, it is important that you first see and feel it yourself. Feel your strengths - perhaps it’s the ability to see what others can’t, or your ability to create a calm space simply with your presence. 

Allow your light to slowly shine.

Trust that you don’t have to sell yourself to be magnetic.

It can be tempting to match others’ tone, pace, or mannerisms. When you catch yourself, come back to yourself - your strengths, radiance, brilliance.

Being quiet isn’t being invisible - it’s power.

Wait for Invitation

As a Projector, I recognise the “yes” in my body when an invitation is real.
If I feel a buzz, a warmth, an openness — I respond.
If I feel dull or constricted — I lean back, and let it pass.

It might feel different for you. Notice how your body responds when the right invitation comes along for you - whether an invitation to dinner, or invitation to a collaboration. It has a lightness to the invitation.

There’s a wonderful sense wellbeing in waiting for the aligned invitation. I’ve learned that when I push too soon, I spend twice the energy for half the impact.
But when I speak into an invitation that feels true and aligned, something opens up in me.

I invite you to trust the right timing. It’s about spending less time forcing doors open, and more time waiting in the light for the right one to unlock.

Your Own Unique Expression

Clothing is an extension of expression. It can help to feel visible without performing.

Even one accessory - a necklace, a lip colour, a bold jacket, creates your own sanctuary. 

It whispers: I’m here. I am me. I’m not trying to be anyone else.

It doesn’t mean investing in a brand new wardrobe, but simply putting more intention into what you keep and wear can help shift your energy and allow another expression to flow through.

Reflection

Perhaps you’re no longer interested in adapting to spaces that weren’t made for you. Perhaps you’re done contorting yourself to fit into spaces built for noise and dominance.

If so, then my invitation to you is to be fully present — to create spaces that feel spacious and easeful. Being curious about what happens when you show up as you are - fully present, sensing, open.

This is how the quiet change things — not by noise, but by presence. Not by pushing — but by being just as they are.

How does this resonate in you?

Questions for Your Reflection

• What does it feel like in my body when I’m truly present?

• Where do I feel pressure to perform in order to be accepted? 

• What would shift if I trusted my timing?

• When do I feel most magnetic, without needing to try?

What Quiet Power Really Sounds Like

Being heard isn’t about being the most animated or articulate or admired. It’s about being grounded in your body, your truth, and your courage not to perform.

The world is filled with too much noise. The truth is, when we equate volume with value, we silence the quiet wisdom. We lose nuance. We lose depth. We lose voices that speak through presence, not performance.

Visibility doesn’t have to mean constant exposure. Leadership doesn’t have to mean constant movement. The people I trust most are the ones who speak less, but say more. Who lead not from the front, but from alignment.

My Invitation To You

As an Introvert, your invitation is to stop measuring your voice against the volume of others. Solitude isn’t hiding - it’s how you recalibrate and stay clear in spaces that move too fast. 

As a Highly Sensitive Person, your invitation is to reclaim your emotional depth as a strength. Your sensitivity is not a burden, but a finely tuned compass - one that guides you to truth in subtle and powerful ways. 

As a Projector, your invitation is to wait for the invitation! Your energy is not here to hustle. The invitation you are waiting for is consent. A sacred agreement that says, “I see you. I’m ready for what you offer”.

When we build spaces that honour slowness, timing, and presence - the quality of what’s shared deepens. We don’t simply hear more voices. We hear more honest voices.

So if you’ve ever walked away wondering if you should’ve pushed harder or talked louder — what if you didn’t miss your moment? What if the moment just wasn’t meant for the real you?

This is not about shrinking. It’s about no longer shape-shifting to earn your place. It’s about creating the space where you, and others like you, no longer have to audition for belonging.

I think back to that lunch. The noise, the shifting conversations, the slow build in my body before I spoke.
And what I remember most isn’t what I said — it’s how it felt to speak when I was fully in myself.

Present. Grounded. Unrushed.

That moment reminds me what’s possible when I stop trying to force belonging — and instead, allow it to find me.

We need new role models of visibility — ones that honours the nervous system as much as strategy. 

Ones that don’t burn out the nervous system. 

Ones that honour discernment. 

Ones that let the quiet be felt, not just heard.

You don’t have to rush.

You don’t have to hustle. 

You are magnetic.

What’s next after reclaiming your voice as a sensitive leader?

When you’re ready to reclaim your strengths as a Highly Sensitive Person, Introvert, or Projector, here are a few ways I can support you:

• Read more articles like this on my Blog

• Watch and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for inspirations to live with courage

• Join my self-paced 1 hour workshop, Rebels Rising - for the Sensitive Souls who feel a deeper calling

• Work with me 1:1 to explore this even more deeply