The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why

The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why

The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why

The evidence that I have seen that supports Tannen's article concerning women and men at work would be that of some meetings at a past job. It is surprising the similarities of his example to the All Hands meetings for a large manufacturing company that I once worked for. When the meetings were called the chatter would start in the shop from a large portion of the women that they do not want to go. It was due to the fact they do not feel that they will be heard. Some of the women will even go as far as asking some of the men to ask some of the pressing questions that have been bothering them. The reason that there was such insecurity may be due to the fact that all of the top management in this particular company is men. It would seem that there must have been some type of intimidation factor in there somewhere which makes the women feels their questions will fall on deaf ears.

I have also seen times that when one woman would have a question to ask it started off a firestorm of emotions. I have witness women actually crying in the mist of asking a question that they are so passion about. Once that happened then other women started to come to her aid and add others items to the point. It made for a really awkward moment because the top management did not know what the proper method of communication to use at that point. Management was noticeably uncomfortable and tried their best to get back on track. It affected the way that meetings were conducted from there on out. We were informed that all questions are to be submitted to the head of each department to make sure that the top management has time to research them. I felt that it was a copout to what the initial issue and it was never truly address.

The other side of that is I know work for a smaller company where the women are outnumbered but seem to have more of an aggressive nature. It is a job shop where the men are mostly on the shop floor and the women work in the office. However the heads of the company is made up of a man and a woman. The woman of the equation is very vocal and strong willed and it seems that it gives the women of the company a boost of confidence. It is interesting to see the women lay into the guys about the things that they are doing wrong and the floor. The responses of the guys are interesting to because it is nonaggressive and more calculated.

In American corporate culture there are major gaps in the way that women and men conversational styles are perceived. The women seemingly have a disadvantage in this area because they are seemed as weak in different areas. For instance if there is a heated verbal discussion Tannen shows that women will take offense to the discussion. Women will assume that the parties that