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Public Speaking Course:PausesDon't feel like you must constantly keep talking to keep the audience awake. From my public speaking course you will learn the technique of silence can add to the overall effectiveness and polish of your program. Actors have identified many different pauses which they use during a performance. From my public speaking course you will learn about how to use these pauses while you are on stage. I'm only going to address some of the most obvious and important ones here. Short The shortest pauses, which last anywhere from one-half to two seconds, are simply to have a moment to gather your thoughts. All you have to remember is to slow down. Give the audience a chance to understand what you are presenting. Change your voice inflection slightly at the end of each thought to cue the audience the next thought is coming. Also, use a short pause both before -- and after -- any phrase or word you want to emphasize. (Refer to this website's Spontaneity Another pause you can use is known as a "spontaneity pause". This is a planned 'unplanned' pause used so that you don't look too rehearsed, which means it requires practice to pull off well without looking obvious. You might apply this pause when you want to pretend to search for a word or phrase that you already know. Long Long or "pregnant" pauses of more than three seconds can be very powerful when used correctly. They command the audience to ponder and think about what you just said, that is if what you just said was worth thinking about. Please - [pause] - [pause] - [pause] - don't be afraid to be quiet once in a while. The silence can call the audience to attention. Like in the theater, a pause can dramatically increase your impact, and add an element of passion and power to your presentation.
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