The Art of Knowing When to Shut Up

I have spent a lot of time around people that are extreme introverts and some that are extreme extroverts. Some talk way too much and some don’t raise their voice enough. Normally, we think about this as when to “say the right thing” in the right situation.

I’d rather take a look at the invert: knowing when to shut up.

Keeping our mouths shut in certain scenarios can prove very beneficial if we know what we’re doing. Here are a few business-minded reasons to know when to shut up and keep your thoughts to yourself.

Not that you all were hanging on the edge of your seats for a post yesterday, but I feel a bit empty when I don’t write every day. However, I didn’t have a lot to write about and I didn’t want to put out junk just to appease my inner voice. I had to shut it up.

If I posted every day just to “keep the streak alive” I would put out content that you would shy away from and that I would not be proud of.

If you’ve ever been put through a sales course, you’ve heard the line, “First one to talk loses.” This is a perfect instance of knowing when to shut up.

In sales you are taught many things, but one of the most important is to shut your mouth after you go for the close. It may be will be very uncomfortable but it’s taught for a reason: it works! Here’s a quick scenario of what I’m talking about in case you are lost.

Customer: So what does something like this cost?

Experienced Salesperson: This is normally a $1,000 product. But we are running a special this month for new buyers like yourself. If we I can knock off another $200 and do this TV new in the box with a warranty for $800 would you get it today?

Customer: *Silence*

Experienced Salesperson: *More Silence*

Customer: Does that include the delivery?

Experienced Salesperson: Yes it does, when would you like it delivered?

The inexperienced sales person would crack after the customer doesn’t answer right away. They get nervous and squirmish about waiting for an answer. The best sales people train themselves to withstand that uncomfortable silence for as long as it takes.

Why is that? Because it shows confidence in what we just asked. When we talk first, it shows that we are nervous and it gives the customer the upper hand. It also opens up the door for us to talk too much and tell the customer something that would detract from the sense of urgency they built up with the special they were running this month.

Yeah we all know the saying, “Don’t say anything at all,” got it Mom. But did we ever question why?

We already looked at a blogging scenario and a negotiating scenario, but how about a marketing scenario?

Marketing doesn’t necessarily have to be actively searching out customers. You could be marketing yourself in a job interview or on a date. Marketing is a broad term, try not to be confined by it’s traditional definition in this example.

Content Marketing is something I do when I write. I create (free) content that I distribute any and everywhere in hopes of attracting readers that someday may turn into customers when I begin to sell products/services on this site. If you recall, one of my goals for this year is to be able to monetize my blog, I have started this with my book recommendations on the side-bar. But as I talked about, if I put out so-so or sub-par content, you  would never come back to read. Better to shut up than put out mediocre content, right?

Now think about the social media marketing from a large company that has 35,000,000 Likes on Facebook, let’s just call them Oreo. It’s their style to post multiple times per week with funny sayings and cute pictures of their products occasionally posting things with cats and babies and things that make people say “awwwwwwww!

What happens when they begin to post too much of the same thing? What happens when they post 5 pictures in a week about dogs and Oreos? Do you think some people will misconstrue their message with something about dogs?

Sometimes it’s better for companies to not post anything that can be judged or disliked rather than reaching for something that’s not there. The best thing that can happen from forcing a post is they make a couple people giggle, while the worst thing that can happen is they alienate a number of their current and potential customers.

On the flip side of that, knowing when to shut up can help them avoid alienating those customers and keep their brand strong, even if it is with fewer posts. Don’t get me wrong we still have to put ourselves out there, and we have to try new things with our words, our actions, and our marketing. But the worst thing we can do in many situations is to say something just to say it.

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