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Just crickets? What to say when no one responds.
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In life, there are awkward or strange moments when you say something or pitch something and there is total silence.
What can you say in these moments that is self -deprecating and also builds connection?
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Hello Michelle, how's it going today?
Everything is good.
How are you, Lindsay?
I'm feeling excellent today.
Do you have a question for me today to start off?
I do, so Lindsay, have you ever had that awkward moment where you told a story to someone and the response was just crickets?
Yes, absolutely. I've heard a lot of crickets in my life.
I love this expression, it is so much imagery, right?
Create so much imagery.
And I also remember summer nights when I was a kid is hearing the sound of crickets.
Oh my gosh, well now where I'm staying, we had a few days where there was the loudest cricket I have ever heard in my life.
I don't, it sounded like one and it was like waking me up at night and I didn't know if it was inside or outside and I was kind of freaked out by it.
Wow, that's a really loud.
It must've been like the size of a dinosaur.
Interesting, the main point that we want our listeners to see before we start the episode is that the sound of crickets is the sound of what, Michelle?
Chirping. Chirping, but the sound of nothing else, right?
Well, okay, well, but yes, actually we'll talk about that because right, it's interesting, we say crickets, but the whole point is that it's silent.
So we'll talk more about what that means.
So it's kind of interesting, but we'll get into that more in just a second.
But guys, we wanna remind you to hit follow wherever you are listening to the All Ears English podcast so that you never miss anything from us.
Yes, hit that follow button.
So around my house, we don't have a lot of crickets because I live in the city.
Maybe further up towards the park there more, but again, the sound of crickets really reminds me of my upbringing.
My neighborhood, I grew up in kind of a woodsy area.
Yeah, it just reminds me of being a kid.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't know because now I'm staying at a little bit of a woodsy area temporarily.
So I hear the crickets one time.
I've seen a couple in my apartment wherever I'm staying and I'm not a bug person.
So I get, ugh. You're not a bug person, yeah.
Right, exactly. So, but exactly.
So we're going to share, this is inspired by that very lovely, loud cricket outside of my door or inside of my door.
I couldn't tell, I kept on trying to find it anyway.
So this episode goes out to that cricket and we are going to share what it means when someone says crickets in a conversation.
But like Lindsay said, this is not really about insects.
It's not about insects, yes.
So crickets can be loud.
So when we say crickets, are we saying that something is loud?
Nope. Basically what we mean when we say there was crickets or there was nothing but crickets, it means whatever you were trying to do kind of failed.
Got no response. No one said anything.
And I love this expression because in business, we use this a lot too.
I'm not sure if it's just online business, but a lot of stories of people's first launch of a course.
You know, we worked hard and we did listen and then we launched and we were ready for everyone.
We thought we'd have an onslaught of students and crickets.
Right? Yes. So okay, but let's just explain it a little more.
So if we're saying it's silent, why do we say crickets?
That's a good question.
Because I think crickets is the sound of silence in the night when you live in closer to nature areas, right?
So yeah, crickets is maybe even in the city too, in some cases.
And right, the idea is that it's so quiet.
You can hear, you can actually hear the crickets chirping.
So all you can hear is the crickets.
You don't hear anything else.
So we say crickets, but it's not that, oh, it's loud, like crickets.
We're actually saying all we can hear is crickets.
Yes, a hundred percent.
Which means no one is saying anything.
No one is responding to the joke we just made, the course we just launched, what we're trying to do, maybe any kind of pitch, any kind of idea, anything that we're putting out into the world, no response.
Yes, and it's awkward.
So when might this come up, Lindsay?
What are some examples?
Well, you gave one already about business.
So that's interesting and how it can be used in that way.
Oh yeah, that's where I've heard the most, but when you try to explain something to someone and they just don't respond, they have a blank face.
Maybe they're confused.
For example, I told her how to work the new system, but honestly, it was just crickets.
Right, so maybe she didn't understand.
She was just staring at you.
Yeah, and you could hear the crickets.
Right. Another example, a performance doesn't go well.
So maybe you sing a song at a show and then afterwards, maybe you hear a couple of golf claps or something, but mostly it's crickets.
So I thought they did a great job, but it was crickets in there.
I bet for you as a stand -up comedian, that's the biggest fear, is that a fear?
Or maybe as a stand -up comedian that can't drive you, because if it does, it'll affect your performance, the fear of crickets, Michelle?
What are your thoughts on?
I think a lot of people, I mean, I think not just for stand -up, but for any sort of public speaking, I think the fear is those crickets.
But yeah, of course for somebody in the performance industry, I'm sure there have been people who are very talented, but have held back because of that stage fright, because of that idea of crickets.
Oh my gosh. Yeah. So performance is a big area.
Anytime you're taking a risk or trying to communicate something, this is a possible outcome, is crickets, right?
Or someone asked the group a question and no one answers, I understand this.
Maybe you finally get up the courage to say what you really think, and you think other people think the same, and then you say it finally, and crickets.
Yeah, you're waiting for everybody to say, yeah, yo, me too, and then crickets.
Ooh! So you might say, anyone wanna give their input here?
No, just crickets? Yeah.
It's kind of fun when we can actually say what's happening and say crickets or just crickets, I guess.
And maybe we'll talk about that in a minute.
It's a really good way to break the awkwardness.
Yes, yes, exactly. And that's what this is about, is awkwardness, right?
Yes. So Lindsay, you mentioned you use this, so you use it in business?
Yeah, for sure. And I've heard other, especially online entrepreneurs talking about their first launch or a launch of something, some product, where they expect a great response, and the audience just doesn't respond, and they use this expression.
And there was crickets.
Right, maybe you're waiting for phones to start ringing, to making sales, and no phones, but just so all you can hear is the crickets.
So yeah, we very frequently use it as an adjective.
So you might actually say it was crickets, right?
Yes, it was crickets.
There's a lot of ways you could say this.
Yeah, mm -hmm. Yeah, so you could say maybe you could hear the crickets or it was just crickets.
What do you think, Lindsay?
Any other ways you hear this?
There's a lot, yeah, just crickets, or you could just say crickets.
And crickets. That would require a good intonation and building up to it.
And crickets, yes, exactly, exactly.
Right, you could say, oh, nothing?
No one has a response?
Crickets, okay. Right, something like that.
Exactly, yeah. All right, so should we take a quick break, Michelle, and come back in just a minute?
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All right, Michelle, so we are back.
So there must be other ways we could say that no one is responding, no one's taking action, no one is resonating with me and what I'm putting out into the world.
Mm -hmm, mm -hmm. So this first one is you could hear a pin drop.
Yes. So this one is a little bit different.
Crickets is usually when, it's pretty much a negative thing, I think.
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
You could hear a pin, right.
You could hear a pin drop.
It may have a slightly different emotion behind it because it may be, sure, it may be negative, it may be that no one's interested, but it could also be maybe people are very interested, maybe they're very surprised, they're very focused.
Yes. But it's still that idea of that it's quiet and you can hear this one sound.
Yeah, well, it's a little different.
This kind of scenario of, you know, after she quit in front of the whole office, you could hear a pin drop.
That's not that people are not interested, that's that they are probably hanging on to this, they're probably super interested in the drama.
Right. Or they're surprised or they're a little, they don't know what to say, right.
So you could hear a pin drop.
Yes. And then just one more is just silent.
I mean, sometimes we just use a descriptive word.
So I wanted to hear some response, but the place was silent.
Yes, I love that. I love that.
Michelle, what do you tend to use when people don't resonate with what you're putting out there or you hear silence?
I mean, what do you use?
Yeah, I think I do use crickets.
I like it. I think it's such a great way to, it says so much, just the one word says so much, right?
I mean, what do you think, do you like this one too?
I think it also expresses a sense of humility because what you're saying is you're actually verbally saying, no one's responding to me, nothing's happening.
And that means that that is inherently expressing humility.
Right? Right. And in a way it could be self deprecating, which could lead to connection.
Exactly, it's self deprecating.
Right, you're not too proud when you say, oh, crickets, right?
It's actually in some ways, I think it's a really great thing to say.
I agree. You, let's say you are putting something out into the world and maybe you say something and then everyone gives you this look, like what are you saying?
And you might make a joke and just say, crickets?
Right. And the other benefit to it is that people will laugh at that.
Probably it will break, because okay, it breaks the silence.
Let's say you're in a group of 10 and you've just shared something pretty maybe vulnerable, but no one else resonates and you thought they did.
Let's go back to that scenario.
Number one, you're expressing humility, it's self deprecating and you're breaking the awkwardness because guaranteed the other people in the room feel awkward about the fact that they're not responding.
But they're not responding.
And so when you say crickets, it's kind of funny, it's kind of making a joke.
So they will probably laugh and deflate the awkwardness and the heaviness in the room.
Yes, it's so funny how that could work.
So sometimes if you're the one to say it, you're the one to actually draw attention to the fact that there are crickets.
You might find that it breaks the ice in some way.
Yeah, and I think comedians do this very well, though you don't have to be a comedian to use this tool.
This is a tool in your back pocket, that you could pull out, but comedians do this really well.
If the audience just doesn't laugh at a joke, they usually have something to say.
Right, they make some sort of other joke or they'll kind of make fun of the audience in a way or not laughing of that or make fun of, right, exactly.
And that always does break the ice.
And it kind of, it tears down that, what we call it like a third wall, like it tears down, well, I guess the fourth wall actually.
Whatever is in between you and the audience as a comedian, you're kind of getting rid of it when you pull back the curtains in the way.
Yeah, exactly, and then the audience might be able to settle in and start laughing.
But don't get us wrong, this is not just a tool for comedians, like we said.
Should we show our listeners how just everyday people could use this, Michelle?
Yes, in a role. Let's do it.
All right, so here we are friends and we're talking about a lunch we just had with another friend of ours.
Okay. Okay. I'm ready.
Yes, okay, here we go.
So that was a little awkward.
I know, I couldn't believe what Shari said about her new boyfriend.
I know, I think the two of us were so interested.
You could hear a pin drop.
I just think this is going nowhere fast.
Yeah, it just feels bad.
Did you text her yet?
I did try to reach her, but it's just been crickets.
Hopefully she's not mad.
It's just weird that she's been silent.
Yeah. Yeah, okay. So yeah, this is a little bit different.
This is a different way to use this.
This is not a comedian on the stage or revealing something in a group or launching a product.
This is saying what happened when you tried to reach out to your friend and she has been silent.
It also works, right?
Yeah, absolutely. So you said, I couldn't believe what Shari said about her new boyfriend and I said, I know, I think the two of us were so interested.
You could hear a pin drop.
So again, this idea of it's so quiet because we were so tuned in, we were just hanging on every word that if a pin dropped, which would be so super quiet, you could hear it because that's how focused we were.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
You could hear a pin drop.
We were listening closely.
And then you asked me, or I asked you, did you try to text her?
And you said, I did try to reach her, but it's been crickets.
And again, that just means it's been silent.
No response from Shari, right?
Yep. Yes. What are we going to do with her?
And then I, you said, hopefully she's not mad.
It's just weird that she has been silent.
So that's a basic descriptive one.
Yes, I love it. Michelle, is there another episode our listeners should check out when they finish up today?
Definitely head on over to episode 2302, which was, this was really fun and unique.
Can better posture improve your English?
So go on and listen to that one.
Yeah, that was based on a listener question.
Super interesting question.
And I think we came out with some really, really cool things for that episode.
So guys, we want you to check it out, 2302.
And Michelle, what's our takeaway for today?
Well, this is just a really great connection tool.
It's one word, but it says so much.
And we've all, I think it does show that humility.
And most everybody probably in the world has been in a situation where there were crickets.
And so people can identify with this.
So if you can find a way to use it, to throw it into a conversation, either to be self -deprecating or to maybe show a little bit of frustration about not hearing from somebody.
It really can connect to you to other people.
Yeah. And I also love the way that it can diffuse a situation that might be a little stressful for the people in the group because no one's saying something, but they're not saying anything because other people aren't saying anything and everyone's a little awkward.
Exactly. You can use this, again, you're self -deprecating in a great way, in a fun way, a light way, but you're also relieving the awkwardness of other people, which is again another connection tool, a connection skill.
Exactly. Well, thanks for talking about crickets with me today, Lindsay.
And I hope you have no crickets in your near future anytime soon.
Same to you. All right guys.
Thanks for listening.
Have a good day. Take care.
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