pause
By N. George
Worth Noting:
- Release tension. If you are an unconfident speaker it is prudent to keep pausing in the course of your speech this will allow you time to calm nerves, you will be able to comfortably breathe in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, refresh your body and be at ease while continuing with your speech.
- Retrieve forgotten message. Should you be in the podium addressing audience and you realize that you have lost track of what you wished to communicate it is prudent for you to pause so that you can recollect what you wanted to tell your audience. This will be helpful as you will enjoy coherency and remain confident due to mastery of your subject.
In the ever busy world that God has granted us a chance to live, as humans our wants are unlimited so we are always busy trying to achieve as much as we can. We have competing needs be they in social life, economic or political life. There are also subdivisions in social life like relationship with family members, relationship with friends and relationship with colleagues at work among many other aspects of social life. Due to multiple tasks that we are required to tackle in life at times we fail to have time to pause however that does not mean that pausing is unnecessary, in fact when we observe it we derive more benefits than when we miss to do so.
American writer Mark Twain’s in his 1923 speech noted the power of pause when he stated that no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. In 2015 University of California Press while publishing the autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3 they did not forget to say something about pause by noting that impressive silence, that eloquent silence, that geometrically progressive silence which often achieves a desired effect where no combination of words howsoever felicitous could accomplish it. For one audience, the pause will be short; for another a little longer; for another a shade longer still; the performer must vary the length of the pause to suit the shades of difference between audiences. I used to play with the pause as other children play with a toy.
A pause is important in developing intellectual and emotional connection between the speaker and the audience.
In the below notes we are going to look at the additional benefits that we enjoy when we pause.
Evaluate whether your audiences are attentive to what you are telling them. When you are delivering a speech and you happen to pause from a general look you are able to judge whether your audiences are keenly listening to your speech or not. If they are and the pause have happened in the middle of a speech they will either verbally or nonverbally express surprise. If they are not following whatever you are saying they will show no reaction to your sudden pause.
Pause provides time and space to think to both the speaker and the audience. When you go silence in the course of your speech you offer an opportunity to your audience to digest whatever you have just talked to them. The information will be able to sink deep in them.
Release tension. If you are an unconfident speaker it is prudent to keep pausing in the course of your speech this will allow you time to calm nerves, you will be able to comfortably breathe in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, refresh your body and be at ease while continuing with your speech.
Retrieve forgotten message. Should you be in the podium addressing audience and you realize that you have lost track of what you wished to communicate it is prudent for you to pause so that you can recollect what you wanted to tell your audience. This will be helpful as you will enjoy coherency and remain confident due to mastery of your subject.
Analyse the word to use. When you are in the course of your speech and more than a single word clicks your mind it is wise for you to pause to allow yourself time to think deeper and select the most suitable word according to the prevailing situation or the intention of your teachings.
A chance to take a bite, sip water or any beverage. It may occur to you in the course of the speech that you are getting thirsty, dehydrated or your voice is straining then you should take necessary remedial measures by pausing and having a bite or a sip of water.
Create suspense. While addressing your audience and you want to talk about an important point you may prefer to put a pause creating a suspense so that they may become alert, once that is done then you go ahead and explain to them that useful point. The pause will also add weight to the information being communicated.
Handover control. You may receive questions from your audience during the training session. Whenever you provide a reply to their queries you may pause as a signal that you have fully responded to them and you do not intended to comment further about the issue in question.
To emphasize on an issue. When you are speaking and you wish to put weight on the matter at times you are required to mention the same word more than once following each other. To show that it is not mix up you can mention the word then pause then mention it again, this will create the desired impact in the ears of your audience.
Bring transition. Suppose you are narrating a story of a parent talking to her kid and you have expressed the words spoken by the mother and now you want to talk about the kid’s response to her mum there will be tonal variation. To make the transition well noticeable application of a pause will play a major role.
An addition transition use of pause is to break monotony. Monotony makes your speech boring
Instill confidence, allow time for preparation and gain control. When someone invites to the stage and you want to start your address it is courteous enough to allow that person to get settled before you can go ahead with your address. It is also important for the rest of the audience to realize that you are currently in charge and prepare fully to listen to you. You may utilize the first few minutes on stage by pausing or observing silence as your audiences become well prepared. The importance of such a pause is well captured by James Humes in his book titled Speak like Churchill, Stand like Lincoln he advises the speaker to stand, stare, and command his audience, and they will bend their ears to listen.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER August 20, 2026
- Wheelbarrows all round: Mt Kenya’s opposition war within a war
- Maraga’s ultimatum to Ruto: release the police report — or I will
- NCIC summons Gachagua to answer for his words — or face arrest
- Meru nurses hold firm as nationwide strike enters 22nd day
About the Author
