When speaking, timing is critical. It is not what you say but how you say it. The value when you use pauses with your audience is clear no matter if you’re having a 1:1 coaching conversation, meeting with your team, or giving a big presentation or speech to a group.
Effective pauses ensure that you keep the audience’s attention. Add humor to your message followed by a pause, and you have them waiting for the punchline. Drama, make them wait for the resolution. It’s all about timing. When your delivery builds suspense then shifts unpredictably, you create spontaneity.
Create Laughter with Pauses
Is anything less funny than a person who can’t get through their humorous story because they keep giggling out of control? If you feel you’re going to start laughing, pause a moment and don’t talk.
If your audience is unsettled and noisy, wait until they quiet down before continuing. Mark Twain was known to stand silently on the stage staring out, looking his audience in the eye, until they were completely connected with him. They all started laughing together just from the anticipation of the witty humor to follow.
Read your Audience to Get your Timing
No two situations or groups are identical. The size and energy of your audience affect your timing. Generally, small groups can catch the pause more quickly. A larger audience may take longer. With practice, you can sense the moment by the audience’s eye contact and body language.
The best speakers regularly interject silence. The amateur talks constantly, fearing that silence is a problem. Get comfortable standing in the silence. Recall the best speakers you’ve seen, when they pause, they look confident and imply that they know what they’re talking about.
Use a Pause To Collect Your Thoughts
Take the time to use short pauses to collect your thoughts and stay on track. There is no need to count a certain number of second. If you do that, you’re wasting the moment.
You can also return from a pause, using a different voice or tone to let your listeners know that you are changing direction. Like entering an example story, or moving toward your main summary.
Pauses are effective in highlighting key thoughts. Whether serious or funny, the ways you use pauses with your audience will help them get your point and make them leave feeling the time they just spent listening to you was valuable.