There are moments when saying nothing is not avoidance.
It’s discernment.You feel it when a conversation keeps looping. When explanations stop landing. When clarity is met with defensiveness instead of curiosity.
That’s usually the signal.
Not that you need to say it louder. Not that you need to try one more angle. But that the room already heard you — and decided not to meet you there. Silence, in those moments, isn’t passive.It’s observant.
You stop filling space. You stop rescuing momentum. You stop translating what’s already clear. And something interesting happens. People either step forward… or they don’t. Both answers are information. We’ve learned to trust that pause. Because nothing reveals alignment faster than what happens when you stop compensating. Sometimes the smartest move is letting the room speak — without interrupting it.