Martha Barletta: Men start with the headlines and then they elaborate on them and provide specifics. Men are better at, and are more inclined to be, single-minded and focused. Women are better at, and are more inclined to be, multi-minded and integrated, and this is an expression of that.

During a meeting between the corporate marketing team and business development group at a company I was researching for my book, Tempered Radicals, several people were talking at once about a potential acquisition. A few times a new member of the marketing group offered her concerns about distributing the new business's products outside the country. People continued to talk as if she hadn't said anything. Ten minutes after her last attempt to raise the issue, one of her senior colleagues voiced the same concerns. Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to his issues. All of a sudden these concerns were the focus of the conversation, and the man who voiced them led the discussion. The woman stayed silent.