Silence is golden. Perhaps not literally, but those pauses and periods of quiet within or between conversations are of value. This Inc. magazine post, “Best Interview Technique That You Never Use” by Jeff Haden, points to silence as an interview technique and the potency of the pause in drawing out interviewees. Within the limited scope of Haden’s article, I welcome the advice to pause and allow the conversation to develop further. The larger opportunity, of course, is to learn to embrace and use silence as part of your art of conversation.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, such as this one about photography as conversation, we communicate in various ways. Long pauses or quiet enable time for reflection and help develop our capacity to be aware of where a conversation wants to go. Silence frees a conversation to move to spaces and depths that are unconstrained by our tendency to hem them in by our swift vocal interruptions.
Take time to talk. Take time as you talk.