THE POWER OF SILENCE…
Today I am talking about something that you may have never considered before. The absolute power of silence and pauses as a communication skill.
What made me think of this, sadly enough, was a show I watched about Adolph Hitler. Yes…he was an evil guy, I’m not a fan. However, evil or not, this 5’8”, or 173 cm, kinda weird looking guy was able to captivate an entire nation with his brilliant, impassioned oration, he was a genius communicator, I don’t think we can deny that.
One thing that he and several other well known master communicators like Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Barrack Obama and many others all have in common is their use of silence and perfectly timed pauses in their speech.
Those are all fairly recent guys I just mentioned. There is no way of proving it, but I bet if you went back in time that almost all the great leaders of history were also great communicators…it’s hard if not impossible to be one, without the other.
There is something about silence. Standing in front of someone, making eye contact, not saying anything until the moment is perfect. There is something about that, that rivets people to their seats. They want to know what you are going to say, they need to know. This is the power of silence. It commands attention.
All the presidents and leaders make many speeches, but what good are words if nobody is listening?
Barrack Obama has a very unique cadence to his speech. He pauses often, and then proceeds with a particular rhythm that transfixes his listeners.
What all this has to do with Being A Better Man is this; if you are committed to improving in every area of your life, then the form of communication you use most often, your speech, will need to improve as well.
It is with your speech that you convey your thoughts, feelings and emotions to those around you. Your family, co-workers, business associates and friends. Your speech, how you talk to people, is equally important as what you are saying.
There are some other benefits to silence and pauses as well; besides just making people listen better, they help you gather your thoughts. They allow you the luxury of actually thinking before you blurt things out. Silence and pauses can make you appear more intelligent as well, if used properly.
I used this technique as a parent, and as an employer. When I really wanted my kids or employees to hear what I was saying, I would speak in a very low, quite, deliberate voice, pausing between sentences while maintaining eye contact. People respond to that, way better than they do to...
