Most people panic in a quiet pause and start filling it with things they shouldn’t say. Let them.

Silence makes people uncomfortable, and discomfort makes them talk. Left alone in a gap, most people will explain, justify, soften their position or volunteer the exact thing they meant to keep back. None of that requires any pressure from you. It only requires that you do not rescue them from the quiet.

Try holding your tongue for three extra seconds after someone stops speaking this week. Watch what arrives in that space, especially in a negotiation or an argument. You are not setting a trap, you are just letting people finish the thought they were already having.