SILENCE!

Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is awkward.” – Elliott Kay

“Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.” – Josh Billings

Silence could sometimes speak louder than words, it could be used as a form of non-verbal communication. It can also be used as a form of abuse – the silent treatment, for instance. But for the most part, people do not really consider it to be something, but instead find it to be awkward if lasted for longer than a few moments.

You can tell by how you normally talk to others that non-verbal communication is just as essential as verbal communication. Furthermore, some studies show that 70% of our communication is non verbal; and that includes hand gestures, facial expression and, substantially, silence.

Silence could ultimately express emotion. As some studies concluded that 80% of women express pain through silence, and that requires some tending towards the woman. Therefore, silence could be an indication that something is terribly wrong.  Also, silence is essential in relationships, if the couple can understand each other through silence, then they are ultimately compatible. And like how many people believe that if you can sit in silence with a person and it is completely comfortable then this person is compatible.

In the contrary, silence could be a form of abuse, or a source of discomfort. The most obvious example here is the silent treatment, which we are all familiar with. Often, the mere purpose for a person to use the silent treatment in any sort of a relationship is to establish a state of force and control over the other side, and that is by suppressing them and making them feel unwanted by not providing them with any sort of care or emotion they seek for. Furthermore, the discomfort created by silence could be taken into a person’s advantage in some situations. For instance, In negotiations or things of the sort, practice using silence. Most people are very uncomfortable in silence and are willing to break it by giving up a key point.

Lastly, most people percept silence to be another definition of the word “awkward” and that is true to some, but not all situations. A study that has been conducted shows that it takes 4 seconds for a silence to be awkward.