Why You Go Quiet in Meetings (It’s Not About Confidence) | Imposter Syndrome at Work.

Impostor syndrome, public speaking anxiety, and performance under pressure

By Meagan Yarmey, PhD, MA, MSW, RSW

Imposter Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome as a Performance Signal

Impostor syndrome is often described as a lack of confidence. In practice, it functions differently.

It reflects a system monitoring for:

• risk

• status

• certainty

• belonging

  
  

When these variables feel stable, behaviour is direct.

When they do not, behaviour constrains.

What gets labelled as impostor syndrome is often this constraint in action.

Why You Go Quiet in Meetings

In moments where impostor syndrome shows up, the issue is not lack of knowledge.

In many cases, the individual is clear on what they want to say.

The interruption occurs at the level of execution.

Speaking becomes conditional:

• Is this precise enough?

• Is this the right moment?

• What is the likely response?

The question shifts from what is the point to whether it is acceptable to state it now.

That shift introduces delay.

In live conversation, delay functions as silence.

Rethinking Impostor Syndrome at Work

Impostor syndrome is frequently treated as cognitive distortion.

In many professional contexts, it operates more accurately as calibration.

A system attempting to determine:

• the acceptable margin for error

• the level of certainty required

• the degree of visibility tolerated

When those parameters are unclear, hesitation follows.

Not as a failure of confidence,but as an adaptive response to ambiguity.

Why Advice About Impostor Syndrome Falls Short

Common advice:

• “be more confident”

• “trust yourself”

• “speak up”

  
  

assumes behaviour is governed by intention.

Under pressure, behaviour is governed by interpretation.

If the perceived cost of being wrong remains unclear or elevated,effort does not meaningfully change output.

A More Relevant Question

The useful question is not:

Why do I have impostor syndrome?

It is:

What is my system trying to resolve before I speak?

• What is being evaluated?

• How defined is the standard?

• What is the cost of being wrong?

As uncertainty increases, monitoring increases.

As monitoring increases, execution declines.

The Shift

This is not resolved by eliminating impostor syndrome.

It changes when the transition from evaluation to action becomes more direct.

That does not require certainty.

It requires a reduction in internal delay.

References

Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Attentional Control Theory

Hanin, Y. (2000). Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF).

Baumeister, R. F. (1984). Choking under pressure.

Rosenberg, J. (2019). 90 Seconds to a Life You Love.