“The Power of Silence” – Excerpt from Secrets of a Master Moderator by Naomi Henderson
The following article is an excerpt from Secrets of a Master Moderator, written by RIVA’s Co-Founder and Former CEO, the late Naomi Henderson. If you like this article and want to read more of Naomi’s learnings through her four decade long career in qualitative research, you can purchase the book on our website: https://rivainc.com/our-book/
Interstices. Interstitial. Interesting terms. What do they mean? If you have some, what would they look like? Interstices are spaces between things. Like the space between two bricks in the façade of a house. Since stacking bricks without mortar between them will result in a house that falls down, the interstitial space between the bricks becomes important. Filling this space in with mortar usually solves the problem.
In qualitative research, the interstitial space between events in a timeframe can be as critical as mortar. It can be seen in a client meeting, a focus group, an in-depth interview (IDI) or the time between final billing and receipt of final payment when you are a freelancer. Interstitial space can be bigger than the elements it is weight between in terms of importance.
Silence in Client Meetings
In a client meeting, a seemingly simple question such as “What is the purpose of the research?” or “How will the research be used?” should be followed quickly by someone stating a phrase or thought fragment with stems such as: “So that we can ______” or “To get reactions to this new product related to _____.”
When the space between the questions grows into an uncomfortable silence, with looks across the table between team members, or eyes looking up at the ceiling or inspecting cuticles, it is a clear signal about something. An astute researcher will note that gap in time, before replies are made, and might form this opinion: “The objectives for this study are not clearcut, and I’d better listen to what is not being said, as well as what is.” Attending to the space is more valuable than the actual words that follow.
Suppose a client asks the qualitative researcher: “What is your moderating fee for a study of twelve, ninety-minutes, in-depth interviews with terminally ill patients in a hospice?” and there is a long pause before the moderator responds. The silence provides a lot of information to the client, who is mentally filling that quiet space with a different set of thoughts than the researcher may be having.
Silence in Focus Groups
In a focus group, some moderators are reluctant to let silence fill the space after a question is asked. Every minute in a group is precious since there are more questions planned than can be asked and answered in one-hundred-and-twenty minutes. So, silence, or the space between words spoken by respondents, after hearing a question can cause anxiety for the moderator and for the observers. However, this space of silence is exactly what is needed and wanted to allow respondents to answer more fully, more deeply, and more below top-of-mind.
Topics that the moderator and the client team have been grappling with for weeks are fresh and new to the ears of respondents. The concept statement for the new product idea has been worked and reworked and is crystal clear to the moderator and the back room. But the respondents are seeing a new idea for dog food for the first time. The very notion of frozen dog food meals shaped like hot dogs takes a little thinking about.
They need the space of silence to look in the file drawers of the mind, find the folder with the data inside that reflects their beliefs and attitudes. They have to pull the mental file card for that topic and look to see what is printed there that reflects their current opinions and perceptions. If the moderator fills the space while they are in that mental file drawer with another question or chit-chat, the respondents quickly learn to shoot off a phrase so the discomfort in the room is lessened. That top-of-mind comment fills the space, but it is usually like thin and watery gruel rather than a substantive soup.
Good moderators have learned techniques for managing the silence so it becomes a powerful tool. Here are a few different ways to manage the silence, borrowed from the RIVA Training Institute classes:
One of these techniques usually jumpstarts the group after a ten-beat silence and gives respondents time to think about the question and frame a thoughtful reply. The way to powerful responses in a group is to harness the power of silence so that it works to provide deeper answers.
Silence in In-Depth Interviews (IDIs)
In IDIs, the space between the moderator’s question and the response is actually a part of the analysis. Imaging being a respondent, sitting in a room with a big mirror, a moderator who looks prepared with papers and stimuli and a microphone or tape recorder in easy view. Imaging being told that this session is being audio-recorded, videotaped, and observers are present, and that you are an important part of the learning process for this project. No pressure to respond, right? Imagine answering a few easy questions like your age and family composition and what TV shows you enjoy watching and what magazines you like to read.
Then imaging being shown a TV spot and asked: “What’s the main message here?” If the spot is for a car, and it is clear that the advertisement is talking about how safe the car is, it is easy to answer. But what if the advertisement is about a consumer directed prescription pharmaceutical product that does not state the ailment for which it is intended? Compound that with using imagery of a dandelion puff followed by a man flying above a freeway with a big smile on his face while wearing a hospital gown, to communicate something about health (or the hallucinogenic properties of the product, maybe?). The advertisement ends with, “Ask your doctor about Traplex,” and you have no idea what the product is or what ailment it is meant to address. There is likely to be a long silence after the moderator’s initial question of “What’s the main message here?”
In the silence that follows, respondents may be thinking thoughts such as the following:
A good moderator will wait to the count of ten, restate or reframe the question or use one of the other RIVA Training Institute Techniques outlined above. For subsequent IDIs, the moderator will keep track of whether the initial question of “What’s the main message?” produces a long silence when asked about Traplex and begin to sort through a set of possible explanations like:
By staying alert to the silence between the question and the response, the moderator is working to find out if a, b, or c above is at work. If the moderator does three interviews, and the long silence happens every time, one way to check if a, b, or c is at work is to change the question to “What is this advertisement all about?”
If the next four respondents quickly answer either with a story about what they think it means, then “What’s the main message?” was a lousy question. If the same next four respondents answer, “I do not know,” with almost no silence, the new question was a better question and cues the moderator that the message in the Traplex advertisement was vague or murky, a point that can be confirmed by additional probing.
In either event, the amount of silence is a clue to the value of the question asked, a powerful indicator for the qualitative researcher, and a way to provide clarity in the analysis.
Speed Versus Silence
The world of business values: speed, efficiency, and results. Technology that supports these elements is also valued. Just a short look back on the evolution of business communications that relied heavily on the phone as a primary communication tool will show the jump to face machines, personal computers at home and office, laptops, PDAs, and wireless options for phones and networks. Speed, speed, speed with very little time for thoughtful silence. Music and noise blares from TVs, earphones, car radios, shopping malls, elevators, and even waiting rooms in hospitals.
What we do not have is silence. We go faster and faster through life and through tasks. We do not sit and meditate, looking inward and listening to ourselves. No wonder it is difficult to allow for it as an observer of focus groups, as a leader of focus groups, and as a participant. We are wasting this powerful tool of silence in research.
Harnessing the Power of Silence in Qualitative Research
What if research were deeper, richer, more valuable – if we waited in silence for respondents to reach into the file drawers of their mind and give a thoughtful answer rather than one that relieves the discomfort of silence? It might look like these two ends of a continuum:
In looking at the two models above, the first type of question does not allow for silence, and the comments are quick but “thin.” In the second model, one that allows for silence, respondents have a chance to go back into the file drawer of the mind, and pull out a complete experience, and share the richness – full of imagery and details. You can almost see the advertising agency bubbling with ideas for a TV spot from insights gleaned in the second response.
Final Thoughts on Silence
Kermit the Frog says, “It isn’t easy being green” and we can borrow that to say “it is not easy living with silence.” However, one can learn and the wise moderator will find a way to incorporate it into qualitative research, so that he or she collects a richer body of data.