Silence speaks loudly. There is something about it that makes people a tiny bit uncomfortable, makes them feel slightly under pressure to fill the soundless moments with mindless chatter.

Using silence as a power tool isn’t a new concept. It has long been tapped into by savvy business-people.  Silence slows down a racing mind, it can make others think and can spur them into making decisions or taking actions, making it a powerful negotiation tool.

You can use silence and non-verbal gestures, such as head-nodding to show that you are listening intently to your customer before paraphrasing what they say, not just biding your time until you can voice your point of view. 

When someone is shouting at you or picking on you to get their way saying nothing and just looking at them takes away all their power.

Employ silence to demonstrate authority and expertise in an area.  It is exactly the opposite of what most people do. It’s funny but, the less someone knows about a subject the more they tend to ramble on thus proving to the entire room how little they really know.  When you are quiet people will assume that you already know what everyone is talking about and when you do speak, what you have to say will carry more weight.  

Use it to make your ‘big point’. Think of how a dramatic pause in a movie amps up anything that comes directly after it.

As a customer oriented person your nature is to be talkative, and learning to be quiet can be a challenge. You’ll need to quiet your ego which will be just dying to say something. Beware that misused silence easily becomes a weapon that will give you the reputation of being more frightening than informed and helpful.