The loudest certainty in a room may belong to the person risking the least.

Confidence is cheapest for whoever will not have to live with the outcome. The person who has nothing at stake can hold a position firmly, because being wrong will cost them an afternoon of embarrassment. The people who will carry the consequences tend to hedge, qualify and think aloud, and in a meeting that sounds like weakness. Volume often tracks exposure in reverse.

Before you weigh an opinion, find out what happens to the person giving it if it turns out badly. And when you are the one with nothing at risk, say your view once and then make room for the people who will live inside it.