When in business meetings, especially with executives and business owners, I prefer to talk less and instead listen to what's going on around me. I also don't want to just repeat something that somebody else has said. So when I do speak up, what I have to say is--hopefully--interesting and insightful.
In other words, if I don't think I have something useful/helpful/witty to contribute, I'd rather just stay quiet.
This generally works well, although sitting there not talking much can put some people off (my wife doesn't care much for it).
What doesn't work for me is saying something just to say something. When there's an opening in the conversation that I think I should fill with an insight or joke. When I talk for the sake of talking, when I think I should have something to say even though I don't, what I do say ends up not being very funny or interesting.
Extending to the online world, this makes me bad at Twitter. One look at my account will make it clear that I don't post a lot or engage in many conversations. This holds for other online discussion forums also. Ironic, given that I'm trying to build a community for online discussion.
In other words, if I don't think I have something useful/helpful/witty to contribute, I'd rather just stay quiet.
This generally works well, although sitting there not talking much can put some people off (my wife doesn't care much for it).
What doesn't work for me is saying something just to say something. When there's an opening in the conversation that I think I should fill with an insight or joke. When I talk for the sake of talking, when I think I should have something to say even though I don't, what I do say ends up not being very funny or interesting.
Extending to the online world, this makes me bad at Twitter. One look at my account will make it clear that I don't post a lot or engage in many conversations. This holds for other online discussion forums also. Ironic, given that I'm trying to build a community for online discussion.
I'll stick with the Twitter example because it's a little more obvious and in your face. The platform is geared at a quick and raw response. A hot take. When something big and newsworthy happens, Twitter fills with hot takes from people on multiple sides of the issue. And then there are reactionary hot takes to somebody else's hot take. And then a little while later there may be a hot take update to one's original hot take. |
In other words, it’s a flood of quick responses that often don't fully understand the story. It's the initial reaction to something before there has been time to digest and understand it or investigate further.
Since I don't like to put something out there that's wrong, which of course does happen, I prefer to take the time to read a little further to get more information. Then take some time to stew on that information to come up with my own opinion about the matter.
And by the time I have formulated an opinion and feel like I have something new and interesting to share, there have been a number of additional stories that have jumped to the top of people's feeds. The original one is old news that's been left behind.
This is part of why the Dialoguing Life community was built: to have conversations that are deeper than a hot take. I'm interested in your opinions and how you reached them. How you're effected by a given issue. And why, hopefully, the topics will have longer relevance than the latest headline.
My challenge, then, is to keep the topics hot enough to keep you interested in talking about them.
Since I don't like to put something out there that's wrong, which of course does happen, I prefer to take the time to read a little further to get more information. Then take some time to stew on that information to come up with my own opinion about the matter.
And by the time I have formulated an opinion and feel like I have something new and interesting to share, there have been a number of additional stories that have jumped to the top of people's feeds. The original one is old news that's been left behind.
This is part of why the Dialoguing Life community was built: to have conversations that are deeper than a hot take. I'm interested in your opinions and how you reached them. How you're effected by a given issue. And why, hopefully, the topics will have longer relevance than the latest headline.
My challenge, then, is to keep the topics hot enough to keep you interested in talking about them.