Look Who’s Talking… A Lot Less
A new study finds people are talking 28% less than in 2005. How that creates a critical communication challenge for leaders.
For decades, the pause before someone spoke at a meeting meant they were thinking. Now it may mean they’re just...there. No words are forthcoming.
People are talking less than they did twenty years ago—at dinner, at the gym, in the line for coffee, and yes, at work. In a new study in Perspectives on Psychological Science, researchers from the University of Missouri found that people speak, on average, 3,000 words fewer per day than they did in 2005, a 28% drop. People under age 25 speak even less—44% fewer words than their counterparts of twenty years ago. That creates a problem for leaders: A workforce that’s not used to extended conversation may miss the nuance of a message. Spoken language carries a precision that a memo can't. “I worry about clarity of message,” says Scott Sette, senior client partner in the Global Healthcare Services practice at Korn Ferry.
The decline has happened incrementally: In each year of the study, people spoke an average of 338 words fewer per day. The researchers note that digital communication, like texting, Instagramming, and emailing, especially among young people, has replaced many kinds of verbal communication. But texting and messaging, they say, do not account for the entire shift. Another factor is the amount of time people spend in silence, whether alone or at the workplace.
When people speak so much less, it’s not only words that disappear; it’s also extensive context. “When we talk, a high percentage of the message comes from non-verbal communication,” says Karen Huang, senior director of search assessment at Korn Ferry. In customer-facing businesses, this is particularly critical. Sure, a consumer can order nearly any kind of fast food online, without talking to an employee—but it’s the back-and-forth between employees and managers, and between managers and the C-suite, that reduces miscommunication and drives success.
To be sure, offices will always have their chatterboxes, like veteran managers who can’t resist telling drawn-out stories about the old days that soak up valuable time. But experts say the structure of today’s workplace has profoundly limited opportunities for conversation. For example, meetings today typically launch within a minute or two of their start time, rarely allowing space before and after for gabbing. And managers have more direct reports these days, which means they’re harried and devote less of their time to calls. “Twenty years ago, my calls were an hour long—at least,” says retail expert Craig Rowley, senior client partner at Korn Ferry. “Now they’re 30 minutes.”
Tamara Rodman, senior client partner in the Culture, Change and Communications practice at Korn Ferry, agrees that there’s a cost to the diminishment of the human connection, camaraderie, and teamwork that verbal repartee used to provide. “At first blush, it’s alarming data,” she says. But she adds that less talk may actually make communication more purposeful and efficient, with greater respect for the time and bandwidth of others—the conversational equivalent of replacing junk food with a healthy meal. Colleagues who know that they can depend on each other to focus and stay on topic build their own kind of trust.
The researchers advise leaders to be aware that talking is on the wane, and to prioritize designing opportunities for connection. And experts say it’s important for leaders to realize that the talky business environment in which they came of age no longer exists. Younger staffers might not be used to a ten-minute speech, says Iktimal Daneshvar, vice president for recruitment process outsourcing, EMEA. Ideally, leaders should communicate with employees using the medium in which they best digest information. “Managers need to change how they communicate,” she says.
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