How to be slower to speak (particularly, in meetings):
- Bring a note book and write your ideas down instead of trying to find an opportunity to wedge into or disrupt a conversation. This way you can focus on listening to what the others are saying instead of having to try to hold your thought in your mind.
- Don’t speak if your only intention is to restate or paraphrase a point someone just made. Let well made points stay with the person who made them instead of trying to associate yourself with it too.
- Before responding to someone’s thought, pause and allow yourself to internally process what they’ve said.
- Use sarcasm carefully (especially when jokingly interrupting when someone is sharing).
- Don’t use questions as a means to set yourself up to make a point. Don’t ask a question you intend to answer yourself.