Paula Evans / Silence please

Silence is a big part of this experience. I have never been a very silent person indeed – one of the main parts of the job I do entail having an opinion and voicing that as clearly and persuasively as possible. 

We had a task around speaking, listening and observing earlier in the week. The subject was important, but the actual ‘doing’ of those things was the task. It was interesting to be more conscious of speaking with purpose, listening with purpose. While I do those things regularly I have to say that I am not conscious of it – particularly observing people and yet doing that told me as much – if not more – than the listening. I wonder how much more I would learn, and how much better I could contribute, by slowing down and doing these daily skills with more ‘purpose’.