Menu

Blog

Jun 20, 2020

Why Intelligent Minds Like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs Embrace the Rule of Awkward Silence

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

The rule of awkward silence is simple: When faced with a challenging question, instead of answering, you pause and think deeply about how you want to answer.

But make no mistake, this is no short pause. You might go five, 10, or even 15 seconds before offering a response. Which, if you’re not used to doing it, will feel very awkward—at first.

Garrett Reisman, an engineer and former astronaut who left NASA to join SpaceX, described how Musk uses this technique in a recent interview.

Comments are closed.