Message of the Day - The Power of [ ]

Good Morning,

 

The other day I was privileged to listen to a live interview of Seth Godin by Tom Heck. Seth recently released "Lynchpins" a book I highly recommend.

 

During the interview, Seth mentioned something that really grabbed my attention. He said that one of the greatest powers in the world is the power of silence. That using silence in the right way can have a greater impact that any number of words or other communication tools to make a point.

 

Think about it.

 

A silent response garners more reaction than many heated responses. One of the reasons is silence infers a whole range of responses to each member of the audience. Some people may feel the silence was positive, some see it as negative. Some see it as it truly is, a non-response. In any event, silence makes people think.

 

Silence forces people to look introspectively into themselves. Something some people have a great trouble doing, and for good reason. Superficial people often hate looking inward. Those who cut others down often do so because they are afraid someone may look at them and see them for who they really are, so in defense they shift the attention to others with verbal attacks, insults and derisive humor.

 

When you ask someone how you did in something, and you get silence as the answer, you are forced to look within yourself for that answer.

 

Silence is also freaky in that getting the silent treatment, or giving it for that matter, can ruffle the feathers of the most stable of people. Humans are communal creatures and by nature we live for human interaction. Silence is a break in that interaction. Silence forces us to be alone with ourselves. In our hyper-interconnected culture, silence generally only happens when we sleep or during a blackout, without internet or cell phones, etc. Too bad, as silence can be used to reduce stress and calm us down.

 

Silence can be used as a strong pause to create an impact in a message. It can be used to prepare an audience for the right message. In a speech or presentation, we can lead up to our point and stop, go silent. The audience waits. They are eagerly looking for our next sentence, but its not coming. After a few moments, people's minds wander. If we let them wait too long, they will get distracted, but while we stand there, silent, they will wait, and the power of our next words are amplified when they come. And when we then speak, the audience listens and hears.

 

Silence is a powerful tool, and should be used more often. Maybe practice it a little bit each day and you too may learn the power of

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
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