Speaking. And not.

Years ago I did a pro-bono campaign for the last jazz radio station in the New York area. I was doing research--actually just frittering time away reading about jazz--and I came upon a quotation by Dizzy Gillespie. "It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play."

It occurs to me that there is a parallel in our business.

"It's taken me all my life to learn what not to say."

There are so many opportunities in business, at work, with clients, at meetings to shoot off your mouth. To over-react. To blurt. To shout. To say without thinking.

What most people don't realize is the indisputable power in speaking last.

In measuring.

Thinking things through.

Relaxing.

And breathing.

Or as Dave Trott might say, "letting the ball come to you."

Try it some time.

Learn what not to say.