The First Speaker Syndrome

Meetings can be completely sidelined in the first 30 seconds.

The deal is this: The first speaker sets the tone for the rest of the conversation, anchoring the entire conversation.

After the first speaker sets the tone, the second speaker builds a thread from that first turn, whether they agree with the first speaker or oppose them. Before you know it, the rest of the conversation is a response to that first comment.

We can call this conversational cascade “first speaker syndrome.”

→ People respond instead of think.

When someone shares their first thoughts, we frame what we say next based on a response to that.

→ We run with tangents.

One person’s opinion can easily send us off into a tangent or in a cer...