I often talk about pausing before speaking as a way to stop the fast words that come tumbling out of our mouths, which are usually not what we wanted to say or have undesirable effects.
So instead of racing to get in some word, any word just so you can say something and saying the wrong thing, you take a pause.
Just a second. Or two. Maybe even 5.
A pause just before it becomes socially awkward and someone might say “hey, you still here man?”
But in that second or two, what can happen:
- You can take a calming breath.
- Center yourself.
- Roll through an amazing number of responses before uttering it.
In fact, this infographic shows all the different things you can consider BEFORE you say something.
It looks like a lot but your brain operates at warp speed. It can do all this in milliseconds!
In real time, it’s only a second or two.
You can form the PERFECT thing to say. And then say it.
It’s that simple.
Just pause before speaking.
(Image credit: @Ruta Stasiunaite on LinkedIn)
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