You're very welcome, this is exactly the kind of tool I want to put in the right hands

But I do hope you don't need it, so there's also variants I hope you will use

The pregnant pause is the version I derived it from - instead of blanking your body language, you project encouragement and full attention. It makes people feel awkward, but it gives them the urge to keep talking to fill the silence

It's a therapy tool, but great for any kind of teaching - for example, I have a friend with bad imposter syndrome who I've been mentoring in software development for the last few years. When I help him, he has a bad habit of shutting off his brain and second guessing himself. I've been telling him for a decade he has an aptitude for it, but all he saw was how I could glance at his code and zero in on the problem... But I've been doing this for almost 2 decades and I also have an aptitude for it, and no matter how much I tell him "it's just experience, and you're genuinely good at this" or "I only know because I've been in your situation before" he would shut down

So I'd hit him with the pregnant pause after asking a leading question to get him thinking along the correct lines. Sometimes he's already too frazzled to think and I'll just tell him the answer before it drags on uncomfortably long and he feels stupid, but usually he knows and I'll give him validation before expanding on the topic

Last week, he called me to tell me he did the same thing for someone else. The week before, someone accused him of causing a bug and he stood his ground without rereading his code (correctly). He regularly calls me to tell me about a lesson of mine that has helped him, and more and more I have nothing more to add, I'm looking forward to the day when he pushes back against me

The key here is lack of judgement - you have to find a reason to give them validation immediately. From there you can break it down or correct them, but they need to feel good at the moment you give your verdict, even if what they said is wrong. Only then you correct them or expound on the topic

It's good for any time you want to get someone talking or make them feel awkward - you can use it for jokes, teaching, or encouraging them to get something off their chest. So long as you do it right, it builds trust and deepens relationships - and again, the important bit is they must walk away feeling like you didn't judge them when they opened up

Just be sure you want that deeper relationship with that person - everyone has horrible intrusive thoughts sometimes, and if you don't fully believe in their fundamental goodness you might end up hearing things you aren't equipped to deal with

Despite being LGBT+ that friend repeats shit blasted at him from far right social media, and I know he's not that person so I help him unpack it and get to the core truths behind it (and he's come a long way). I know my sister and closest brother are very empathic people, so when they say shit out of left field I know to break it down instead of taking it at face value

People often don't know what they're saying, because propaganda works - if you encourage people to open up to you unfiltered, you'll cut deep if you don't come from a place of understanding. But there's great power there - people will tell you exactly what's going on with them, and they'll listen when you dive into it