Awkward silences

We’ve all been there, thinking “okay, this is awkward… What should I say now? Should I just leave?”

So it happened to me the other day. I was talking to someone and the more we talked the less comfortable I felt speaking because my words were not making sense as I sensed that he was obviously just looking for small talk and we really had nothing to talk about.

Sometimes it goes something like this:

“Hey!”

“Hi!”

(both very excited so far… and then that fades away quickly as you realize you are now face to face and have nothing to talk about)

“How are you?” (it’s the cordial thing to say next)

“I’m good, how about you?” (maybe I can get something from the response to keep the conversation going)

“I’m good… how are things?” (which is basically the same question but a different attempt to get something to hold on to and not just turn around and leave)

“everything good, thanks” (now it’s obvious… there’s nothing else to talk about and you are hoping the other person just says the goodbye and leaves without making it awkward. But no, the person stays and now it’s worse)

“good, good… so what’s new?” (wow, still trying…)

“not much”

And it goes on to the awkward silence…. back to the same questions with different words and the same answers using different phrases.

At some point someone says “It was nice seeing you” and the other person replies “same here”. Someone stays and the other one walks away (or you both walk away) but for sure you are probably both thinking “well, that was awkward”.

There are different reasons why this could’ve happened to any of us but the truth is that usually it happens a lot with the same person, every time, very awkward.

Either way, it could be true that it was nice to see them but just to be ready, think of some things you can talk about next time you see them so it’s not so awkward and you don’t have to hide or make believe you didn’t see them. Also, make your exit as soon as you can and don’t feel bad about it. (Notes to self)

Please share any of your awkward silence moments and/or any tips to avoid them!

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