The Power of Silence: How to Use it to Enhance Your Gravitas
Silence is a gift. It allows the other person to be heard. But the real power of silence is in how other people perceive it… as confidence and insight.
The person in a meeting who is most comfortable with silence will be able to control the meeting. It invites speech and allows you to listen. And people need to fill silence, so they will sometimes fill it with things they didn’t mean to say – sometimes things they didn’t know they knew. That’s the power of silence.
Watching this video is worth 3 Management Courses CPD Points*.
(See below for more details)
This video is part of course module number 1.5.6
Program 1: Managing Yourself
Course 5: Personal Impact
Section 6: Gravitas
Primary videos that precede this video include:
– Presence, Charisma, Gravitas: What’s the Difference? https://youtu.be/J2-3LpacQhM
– The Trust Equation – Gravitas needs Trust https://youtu.be/ikVmmhONXig
– Credibility: Gain Gravitas through Knowledge and Experience https://youtu.be/KeR72NWxfB4
– The Presence of Gravitas: How Deliberate Pacing makes People Take Note https://youtu.be/9maBWUa8j5c
– Speaking with the Voice of Authority: How it Builds Gravitas https://youtu.be/EefSdq4P3qo
The Next video to watch is:
– Style and Presentation to Enhance Your Gravitas https://youtu.be/IeRlYtS-5iU
– Avoid Leaking Authority and Giving up Gravitas https://youtu.be/UcosCN6-teE
– Structure Your Comments: 5 Ways to Enhance your Authority https://youtu.be/jyH4PtqLlZw
LESSON NOTES
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There are four elements to the power of silence:
1. When you are silent, you can give all of your attention to the people who are speaking. And they will notice that. It’s rare enough that it will make an impact on them and they will value it.
2. When you listen before speaking, you truly hear what people say. In the silence that follows, you’ll be able to formulate a response to what you heard – rather than to what you thought you’d hear. If you think about what to say while I’m speaking, you may miss the point of what I said.
3. When you pause and allow a silence before you speak, what you communicate is that what you are about to say will be carefully thought out. And that means that you valued my question or what I said. That makes me feel good.
4. Silence leaves others uncomfortable. They will feel the need to fill that silence – leaving you in control.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
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This exercise is simple. It’s about deploying the power of silence and noticing:
– how it feels, and
– what happens.
Record your observations in your Personal Confidence Log:
1. Week 1. Deliberately use silence a little more. Notice how it feels. Observe the impact it has. Record your reflections at the end of the week. (2 MC CPD Points)
2. Week 2. Deliberately use silence a little more still. Notice how it feels. Observe the impact it has. Record your reflections at the end of the week. (2 MC CPD Points)
3. Week 3. Deliberately use silence even more. Notice how it feels. Observe the impact it has. Record your reflections at the end of the week. (2 MC CPD Points)
4. Week 4. Continue to use silence. See how much easier it feels and how far you can comfortably go. Reflect on the four week process at the end of the week. (2 MC CPD Points)
DOWNLOADS
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Free Resources
– CPD Tools – https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Paid resources
– Management Courses Onboarding Kit – https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)
RECOMMENDED READING
=====================
– Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges https://geni.us/SCerYBh
– Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO https://geni.us/QqYV
Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
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You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
Download it here: https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
– If you simply watched the video, record 3 MC CPD points
– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 11 MC CPD points
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Note:
Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
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