ILLUMINATION CHALLENGE 100 — DAY 20
Can You Read the Power of Silence?
An overlooked communication tool
Great communicators not only know how to use silence as a powerful communication tool while speaking, but they also know how to READ it. Do you?
We all have heard how pauses and a long silence can help listeners focus, add emphasis, and reduce the dangers of a monotonous speech. However, how many of us use it to gauge feedback from non-verbal cues? Thanks to high-speed internet, pauses are no longer a lag in a video call as everyone seems to have upgraded during the pandemic! So as a manager, Zoom host and effective collaborator (or parent!) be mindful when there are pauses that “scream” to be heard!
- Is someone hesitant to voice their concerns and fears?
- Is your listener simply collecting his thoughts and digesting information using a pause or are they dismissing it and preparing arguments for responding. (Let’s face it — most of us do not listen; we are only preparing our return responses! )
- Does the silence show a lack of diversity in thinking aka “groupthink”?
Make sure you do watch out for the above reasons, and soon you will be an amazing “silence reader”, and a stellar communicator!
All great leaders have excellent communication skills. Polish up your leadership traits using these techniques.