Silence is underestimated, especially in work. We often feel pressure to talk to share our opinions or fill in awkward pauses. But sometimes by saying anything, in fact, it’s the smartest step.
Psychology tells us that silence in certain situations can help us maintain professionalism, to establish stronger relationships and avoid unnecessary conflict. Knowing when returning can be as powerful as to know when to speak.
In fact, there are moments when you say less or nothing, can protect your reputation, strengthen your position and even make you more effective in the long run.
Here are 10 job situations where silence is the best thing you can do.
1) When emotions work
Work can be stressful. The deadlines are pile, there are disagreements, and sometimes tensions are boiled. It’s tempting to shoot or say something that you can regret the angry email at these moments.
But psychology suggests that when emotions are rising, the best thing you can do to stay silently, at least until you have had time to cool.
As they once said that the famous psychiatrist and the Holocaust Victor Frankle. “There is a place between incentives and response. Our response to this space is our strength to choose. “
That space. These few seconds or minutes of silence can make all the differences for your review reaction and answer you are proud.
Instead of talking about the heat of talking instead, take a step. Give yourself time to recover control of your emotions before replying. You will face as a more composite, professional and controller.
2) When you do not have all the facts
In my early career, I made a mistake to meet the meeting before I had all the information. The colleague was criticized for the delay in the project, and I jumped to protect them only to realize that I did not fully realize the situation.
As it turned out, there were factors in the play that I did not consider, and my emergency response only complicated things.
That experience taught me an important lesson. When you don’t have all the facts, sometimes the smartest thing is silent and listening.
Stopping and collecting more information, you not only avoid saying something wrong, but also encountered both thought and measured. And when you finally talk, your words have a greater weight.
3) When you realize that you are wrong
I thought that if I were wrong in the discussion, I had to immediately justify myself, explain my justification or try to save the face. But the truth is, the more you talk about at that moment, the worse it becomes.
Uncomfortable to be wrong, especially in work. But trying to make a mistake or argue your exit only makes you insecure. The hardest, but the most powerful you can do, pause, take it and master it.
Sometimes the best answer is not a long explanation. It is a simple nose, confession and silence. May the truth sit for a moment before answering.
That silence shows maturity, trust and readiness to learn and earn more respect than ever dependence.
4) When someone just needs to ventilate
I used to think that when he had a partner’s question, they were looking for advice. So I would like to have a solution trying to fix things. But more often than not, my words did not help. They just went on the road.
The truth is that sometimes people need no answer. They don’t need advice, solutions or other perspectives. They just need someone to hear.
Silence can be one of the greatest gifts to give someone. Instead of talking instead, just listen. Nodd let all that go out. Most of the time, that’s what you need in the first place.
5) When you want to seem more confident
It sounds reversed but confident people are not in a hurry to fill silences. They don’t feel like to talk just to talk about they belong to the conversation. Instead, they accept pauses, choose their words carefully, and let them take part of the conversations.
In the early days of my career, I thought that trust meant that he had always had to say. But I’ve learned from the beginning that they are less and more intentionally forcing you to seem to seem more self-confident.
As a Nobel Laureate psychologist, Daniel Canmanman.
In other words, talking too much does not make you smarter. It makes you more more than saying something inappropriate or worse.
Confident people know that silence can be powerful. The next time you are in a meeting, try to stop a moment before talking. Can you be surprised how much more weighs your words?
6) When feedback will not work well
Not everyone is ready to listen to the truth, especially if it challenges their ego. I learned that the hard way. There have been times when I offered constructive reactions, thinking that I should only be satisfied with defense, anger or obvious denial.
The reality is that feedback is only useful if the other person is open to get it. And sometimes, the best thing you can do is say nothing at all.
As a BF SkRener, the father of behavioral psychology, when he said once. At best, he learns how to avoid punishment. “
If someone is not willing to listen, pushing your point of view will not help just make them more durable. Instead, wait for a better moment. Sometimes silence now brings better to more efficient conversation.
7) When negotiation is at a critical moment
I used to think that the person who spoke the most in the negotiations. But experience has taught me a different way. Some of the most powerful moments of negotiations are in silence.
There is a natural urge, especially when the stakes are high in order to fill it. But those who can sit in silence often come ahead.
When you make an offer or note your position, resist the temptation to continue the conversation. Let the other person work it.
More often than not, they will first talk, and it can make you a valuable idea of their thoughts. In the negotiations, it means knowing when it is necessary to remain calm and let the silence leave some of you.
The next time you are on the table, try to hold back instead of rushing. You may find silence speaks louder than any argument you can make.
8) When gossip occurs around you
I will be honest. There were moments when I was tempted to join office gossip. It is easy to catch in drama, especially when everyone is talking. But every time I’ve done it I’ve walked a little worse about me.
Gossip can at the moment be harmless at the moment but it has a way to turn it. People remember what you say and, more important, they remember you are ready to say.
Once Karl Jung said: “Everything that irritates us about others can understand us about us.” If we feel like we have to talk to someone on their back, maybe it’s worth asking why.
The best way to protect your reputation and integrity is very simple. Silence? Don’t engage. Let others say what they want, but do not add the sound to the noise. Silence is a sign of force in this case.
9) When you want to make a stronger point
It seems logical that if you want to be persuasive, you need to say more about your justification, add more details and make your argument. But in reality, sometimes the most powerful thing you can do to stop talking.
Silence makes people uncomfortable. It makes them sit with what you say, recycling it without distracting.
And your words in that area have more weight. When you are strong units, don’t rush to fill the silence, let it double.
The next time you are in discussion or discussion, say what you need to say then stop. Let the pause fulfill the work. You will be amazed at how much more impacts your words have when you give them quiet.
10) When someone else deserves the center of attention
In the early days of my career, I thought that preying my value meant to talk to my ideas as often as possible, adding my thoughts and making sure I was noticed.
But over time, I realized that the real leadership was not just about not having a voice, and it also refers to when it is necessary to back down.
There are moments when the best thing you can do is silent and let someone else take a central stage. Whether it is a teammate that presents their idea, a colleague that shares their success, or a junior employee, to find their silence, your silence can create an area so that others grow.
As a Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and a pimping author, said. “The most meaningful way to succeed in achieving others.”
True effect is not always the highest in the room. Sometimes, we are talking about who listens to, supports and knows when others have to lead others.