Young Americans lack key social skills, avoid the phone, and fear small talk

September 27, 2023

Young Americans are losing the art of conversation, as nearly two out of three admit they are lacking in social skills, reports SWNS.

Based on the findings of a new study of 2,000 Millennials conducted by One Poll and commissioned by Don Pablo Coffee, from avoiding the phone at work to a fear of making small talk on the street, 65% don’t feel confident when it comes to face-to-face social situations.

In fact, two in five millennials believe that their lack of social skill has held them back in their work, while a similar number (39%) think it has caused problems for them within friendships.

That isn’t helped by the fact that 68% admit they actively avoid talking face-to-face if they can—with talking to people they don’t know in public and work colleagues the most dodged interactions.

It follows then that a resounding 80% of Millennials feel they are often more vocal or able to express themselves in text or online than they are in person.

Only 7% say that they most commonly keep in touch with friends by talking on the phone, and 9% mainly stay in touch in person. The vast majority claim their main form of contact with friends is on social media or via text.

Forty percent of Millennials confess that they often find themselves awkward or uncomfortable if having to make small talk.In fact, the average respondent says that he or she has had four awkward social experiences in the last three months.

The survey also shows that young Americans cancel or don’t attend about 30% of the events they’re invited to attend out of fear it’ll be awkward socially.

“The age of social media is supposed to have made us more connected with each other—and while that is partly true, it also has helped lead to a generation of people less comfortable with face-to-face interactions,” says Darron ‘Don Pablo’ Burke, grower and roaster of Don Pablo Coffee.

“The data even show that plenty of young people are so uncomfortable with these interactions that they will back out of plans or go out of their way to avoid others.”

“But it isn’t too late,” Burke adds. “Hopefully some will use this as a wake-up call to get out there and participate in the real world. You may find that meeting with a friend or co-worker for a cup of coffee may not be as awkward as you first thought.”

The main reason cited for lacking certain social skills and face to face talking was simply preferring to text and chat online, followed by a lack of practice. Fully 62% percent feel a sense of dread while speaking on the phone to clients and customers at work.

In an attempt to get over their dread of socializing and improving their skills, 42% of the survey respondents have even practiced their social skills alone in front of a mirror.

The survey finds that four in ten believe the art of conversation is dead, with most people blaming a reliance on technology and social media. Three-quarters say that the fact that they no longer have to engage in face-to-face or over-the-phone conversations because of smartphones and social media has led to the decline of their social skills.

“While it’s clear that social media has placed many hurdles in the way, the survey also proves that many would love to improve on their social skills,” says Burke.

“Get your social life off the screen and out in the open and you might find improvements not only in that regard, but also in other areas of your life. Start small by enjoying a conversation over a cup of coffee.”

Research contact: @SWNS

October 25, 2024

A well-deployed silence can radiate confidence and connection. The trouble is, so many of us are awful at it, reports The Wall Street Journal.

We struggle to sit in silence with others, and rush to fill the void during a pause in conversation. We want to prove we’re smart or get people to like us, solve the problem or just stop that deafening, awkward sound of nothing.

“I should just shut up,” Joan Moreno, an administrative assistant in Spring, Texas, often thinks while hearing herself talk. Still, she barrels on—giving job candidates at the hospital where she works a full history of the building and parking logistics. She slips into a monologue during arguments with her husband, even when there’s nothing good left to say. She tries to determine, via a torrent of texts, if her son is giving her the silent treatment. (Turns out, he just had a cold.)

“I should have just held it in,” she thinks afterward.

We often talk ourselves out of a win. Our need to have the last word can make the business deal implode or the friend retreat—pushing us further from people we love and things we want.

“Let your breath be the first word,” advises Jefferson Fisher, a Texas trial lawyer who shares communication tips on social media. The beauty of silence, he says, is that it can never be misquoted. Instead, it can act as a wet blanket, tamping down the heat of a dispute. Or it can be a mirror, forcing the other person to reflect on what they just said.

In court, he’ll pause for ten seconds to let a witness’s insistence that she’s never texted while driving hang in the air. Sure enough, he says, she’ll fill the void, giving roundabout explanations and excuses before finally admitting, yes, she was on her phone.

For a mediation session, he trained a client to respond in a subdued manner if the other party said something to rile him up. When an insult was lobbed, the client sat quietly, then slowly asked his adversary to repeat the comment. No emotional reaction, just implicit power.

“You’re the one who’s in control,” Fisher says.

Acing negotiations

To be the boss, “you gotta be quiet,” says Daniel Hamburger, who spent years as the chief executive of education and healthcare technology firms.

He once sat across the negotiating table from an executive who was convinced his company was worth far more than Hamburger wanted to pay to acquire it. What Hamburger desperately wanted to do was explain all the reasons behind his math. What he actually did was throw out a number and then shut his mouth.

Soon they were shaking on a deal.

Hamburger, who retired last year and now sits on three corporate boards, also deployed strategic silence when running meetings or leading teams. If the boss chimes in first, he says, some people won’t speak up with valuable insights.

Days into one CEO job, Hamburger was confronted with two options for rewriting a piece of the company’s software. He didn’t answer, and instead turned the question back on the tech team.

“People were like, ‘Really? Are you really asking?’” he says. By morning, he had a 50-page deck from the team outlining the plan they’d long thought was best. He left them to it, and the project was done in record time, he says.

A day without speaking

Staying mum can feel like going against biology. Humans are social animals, says Robert N. Kraft, a professor emeritus of Cognitive Psychology at Otterbein University in Ohio.

“Our method of connecting—and we crave it—is talking,” he says, adding that it excites us, raising our blood pressure, adrenaline, and cortisol.

For years, Kraft assigned his students a day without words. No talking, no texting. Some of the students’ friends reported later that they’d been unnerved. After all, silence can be a weapon.

Many students also found that when forced to listen, they bonded better with their peers.

When we spend conversations plotting what to say next, we’re focused on ourselves. Those on the receiving end often don’t want to hear our advice or semi-related anecdotes anyway. They just want someone to listen as they work through things on their own.

The question mark trick

Without pauses, we’re generally worse speakers—swerving into tangents or stumbling over sounds.

Michael Chad Hoeppner, a former actor who now runs a communications training firm, recommends an exercise to get used to taking a beat.

Ask one question out loud, then draw a big question mark in the air with your finger—silently. “That question mark is there to help you live through that fraught moment of, ‘I really should keep talking,’” Hoeppner says.

At a cocktail party or in the boardroom, you can subtly trace a question mark by your side, or in your pocket to force a pause.

Sell with silence

Fresh out of college, Kyler Spencer struggled through meetings with potential clients. Some sessions stretched to two hours and still didn’t end in a yes.

The financial adviser, based in Nashville, Illinois, realized he was rambling for 15-minute stretches, spouting off random economic facts in an attempt to sound savvy and experienced.

“I basically just bulldozed the meeting,” says Spencer, now 27.

He started meditating and doing breathing exercises to calm his nerves before meetings. He now makes sure to stop talking after a minute or two. The other person will jump in, sharing about their life, fears and goals. It’s information Spencer can use to build trust and pitch the right products.

His client list soon started filling up, and happy customers now send referrals his way.

“It’s amazing,” he says, “what you learn when you’re not the one talking.”

Research contact: @WSJ