Silence you chose on purpose is strategy. Silence you fell into is just fear wearing a hoodie.

Not speaking can be the strongest thing in a room or the weakest, and from outside they look identical. What separates them is whether you decided. Chosen silence means you had something to say and judged this was not the moment; the other kind means the sentence was right there and never came out. Only you know which one you just did.

After a conversation where you stayed quiet, ask yourself plainly which it was. If it was the second, find the person afterwards and say it. Late is much better than never, and it counts as practice.