Silence. Expectant or Deafening?

Today was a really full day- I sent out several new proposals, spoke on two teleseminars, made a offer to work with me 1:1 and coached some of my ongoing clients. What was interesting was that I noticed the fullness of silence after completing these tasks.

I noticed that I sent the proposals out early, and was, I guess, anticipating some replies or acknowledgement. Those haven't yet come. Then I presented on two teleseminars, and felt that those went well- but still, very little feedback in or out.

This is when I started to wonder if the silence was expectant- or deafening.

I'm aware that we soloprofessionals sometimes operate in a bit of a vacuum. We can't always know how our information is received, nor do we always know how people are responding or reacting to what we share.

We don't know if we struck a chord, or struck a nerve (and not in a good way.)

I hear this too from my colleagues, most notably when they put updates out in social media, and nobody responds- and worse, it feels like nobody even notices.

So, how do you know if the silence is expectant or deafening?

I'm not sure- but here's what I'm thinking so far:

First, it sometimes takes people a while to process or absorb what you've shared. So you might be expecting immediate replies, but they will actually arrive- a few hours or days later.

Second, there is often a well of silence- the calm before the storm?- that precedes any huge leap forward. It's almost like the slow building of a wave- it doesn't look like much until it actually crests.

Third, while external feedback is nice, it's also important to gauge our own feelings and experience of how we completed whatever we did. If we feel like we did a good job, provided value, that's a recognition to honor.

So, until the silence shifts, I won't know if this was expectant or deafening.

But, as one of my best friends always says, "More will be revealed."