The Power of Silence
There’s more to silence than just being ‘golden’. It is the power to hold yourself and understand others and channelize your energies better.
Do you feel the need to fill the silence even after making your point during a conversation, presentation, investor pitch, or job interview? As a writer, do you elaborate more than you need to, and deprive your reader of the joy of their own interpretation of your art?
I’ve performed over 2000 stand-up comedy shows in more than 25 countries. One of the things I’ve learned is that the true test of engagement is not the volume of laughter or applause, but silence. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Hear me out.
In my experience, different audiences enjoy things differently. Some are more vocal in their response than others. So my test is not how much they are laughing or clapping, but when I pause, how much silence there is.
You see if you’re performing to an audience of a thousand, and twenty people clap, you have applause. If fifty people laugh, you have laughter. But silence requires the participation of all one thousand. That’s when you know you have them in the palm of your hand, hanging on to every word.
So the question I want you to ask yourself is, are you harnessing the power of silence?
What is the ‘silence’ in your life or profession? How do you know when people are engaged with you or your content? How do you know when they are really listening? How do you know that they care?
When you keep putting social media posts, there may be tons of people who like and comment. That’s your laughter and applause. But when you stop posting, you pause and are silent, who are the people who are really listening? The people who pick up the phone to call and check if you are ok.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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