In your professional and personal life, you may come across many questions. On most occasions, you may be tempted to answer them immediately. But sometimes, for whatever reason, you may decide to delay the response. What happens when you hold your answer? 

The person who has asked the question may get anxious about your not giving an immediate response. It is because, in our day-to-day life, everyone is programmed to reflect instantly. When the response is halted, for some strange reason, people think negatively. Therefore, at any time when the answer doesn’t come immediately, the listener misses a bit and has pessimistic thoughts in the mind. But it should not be the case. Even a positive answer should be manoeuvred internally before producing in words. 

The reason for holding your reaction may be that you don’t know the exact answer, therefore requiring you to get the necessary information to produce a fact-based reply. It is very important on the professional front that when asked, only accurate situations should be presented, especially to seniors. An instinctive, but less accurate statement would result in a loss of credibility if it happens over a period of time repeatedly. Professional people appreciate it if you say ‘I will come back later with more information.’ No one expects you to know everything, instantly. 

It has to be accepted that instant reaction is not always useful. In fact, some questions are too important to answer immediately. They must be insulated from the reactionary response. They need thoughtful deliberation and careful consideration. Only consciously curated replies would do justice to such questions which may have an impact on your or others’ lives. A pause of a second would tell you when to be instinctive and when not. Intuition may also play its own part in making such a decision.

Therefore, if you are to answer, in any important situation, hold for a second and decide whether an immediate response is appropriate. If you are the one to get a reply, don’t take it differently if there is a delayed response, it might be better than the instant one.