Following on from my previous blog on How to Talk to Anyone and Start a Conversation, I thought it would be relevant to discuss the Power of Silence.
Silence is very much like the ugly sister in the house of communication, misunderstood and underrated. Many people are uncomfortable with silence and view it as hostile and unpleasant. In the words of Charles de Gaulle “silence is the ultimate weapon of power” and maybe this is what disconcerts people. Or perhaps we are so used to being surrounded by noise like TV, cars, phones etc that we are just not accustomed to silence.
So how can silence be used in communication? Silence has many functions; it forces people to think, act, gather their thoughts and emphasise a point. Our thoughts may seem loud in our minds (it’s those voices again!) yet we can control when and how to verbalise them.