In talking with a colleague and finalizing arrangements on where and when to meet. I had another meeting up the freeway from where she and I were meeting, and I wanted to end our meeting with plenty of time [in Houston traffic] to get to my next meeting.
As we were finalizing our plans, she ended our conversation with “Since you’ll only be ten minutes away, it’ll give you 30 minutes to get there.”
I paused and chuckled. Only then did she think of what she said and realized it wasn’t exactly what she wanted to say, or what she thought she said.
How many times do you speak off the top of your head, not realizing how your words sound? And how often do you realize it?
It’s not what you said, it’s what they think they heard.
