This episode of Speak Up with Laura Camacho is brought to you by The Practical Guide to Effective Communication: Get Recognized for the Value You Already Contribute.

In this much-needed episode of Speak Up, host and communication expert, Laura Camacho, chats with Leigh Marz from Berkley California and co-author of the book Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. (Her co-author is Justin Talbot.)

Working as a consultant for a wide variety of companies, including many Fortune 500 businesses, Leigh realized the tendency to pack meetings with strategies, data, and information wasn't leading to desired results.

In her own life as a mother and wife, she and her husband were completely overwhelmed with the demands of everyday life when they came to the realization that they wouldn't find peace through more thinking or more doing.

Their intuition led them to a place of silence. After this breakthrough, they wrote an article about the importance of silence which was met with huge success and led them on a journey of interviewing executives, neuroscientists, artists, and many others about their deepest experiences of silence for their new book.

In these mind-blowing 40 minutes, we discuss:

- the distinction between noise and sound

- an interesting definition of silence

- what the state of flow has to do with our experience of silence

- how to incorporate silence into the workplace, including meetings

- the importance of working 10% slower

- Leigh's go-to ways of bringing silence into her life

For more ground-breaking wisdom about how silence can improve your life, check out her book Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise.