Why Talking Too Much Can Damage Your Career

July 1, 2015

By Steve Blakeman, CEO Asia Pacific at OMD

"You have two ears and one mouth. You should use them in that ratio." My old boss, the late (great) Ray Sale often reminded a younger (and considerably more verbose) version of myself of this on a fairly regular basis.

I'm not sure where the common convention started but it seems to be quite widely accepted that the people who are the most effusive in meetings or on conferece calls are considered to the most influential. Admit it, as a consequence of this unwritten rule we have all been guilty of saying something in a meeting just so that our voice is heard irrespective of whether we actually had something vital to say. Mea culpa.

So why should it be that talking in business is more revered than listening? Well if you read the research into the matter, it seems that the notion is actually rather superfluous...

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