In some cases, the less said, the better

I was reflecting this morning about how we communicate with one another and the thought arose that in many instances our silence says volumes.  Alison Krauss sang “You Say it Best, When you Say Nothing at All” in 2002 and the entire video of this song is below:

Many will wonder what the point in this post is.  Here is where I am going:

In many cases our silence, or pause, can say much more than we can ever communicate by responding immediately.  Here are some instances where silence can be valuable:

• Group settings where you are trying to draw out input from those who are reluctant to engage
• Settings where some have a tendency to “over-participate”; getting the noisy members to say less, or nothing allows more air time for those who say less
• Situations where you want the person you are speaking with to come to their own conclusion without pushing or guiding them to your result
• Instances where reflection is the goal-it is hard to reflect with constant bantering or chattering from others

Silence can be a valuable tool, and you can say a lot when you say little or nothing.

Another adage may sum this up well:  Silence is Golden (or it can be)