About every seven minutes in a conversation, a lull comes to a head. For a second or maybe a minute the conversation may stall. It happens. In a good social setting, it’s barely noticed. Sometimes, it becomes a loud silent vacuum.

I have learned, the hard way, to let silence stand. When you are a trainer or facilitator, you yourself are trained to let silence happen when after you ask a question. You are not to be so quick to fill the void. You let the question linger and you are to be comfortable with silence. That philosophy should also apply to most conversations.

Today, in particular, I made a statement and did not hurry up to fill the silence with empty words. I was ok letting it hang in the air until the other person gathered their courage to come up with a response. There was no way, I was going to let the person off the hook by filling up air with words that took the focus off of my main point which needed to be addressed. This can be hard to do. However, it is necessary. It is one way of setting boundaries and recognizing you are to be respected.

Go ahead and be silent…