When you first hear that you’re expected to make an hour-long speech, you might start to think of just how daunting that amount of time seems.
How could anyone possibly speak for an hour straight?
It feels overwhelming, especially when you think about having to present in front of dozens or even hundreds of people on top of having to come up with that much material. But, when you really break it down, public speaking is a lot like broadcast television. The program slot may be an hour, but the truth is: the pauses for commercial breaks make the actual content much shorter.
When you’re addressing a crowd, just remember that silence is golden, and keep in mind these three keys to using pauses effectively in public speaking.
Use Pauses in Public Speaking to Let Salient Points Sink In
If you rush through your speech, chances are, the majority of what you say will be forgotten. When you’re trying to make a real impact on your audience, it’s incredibly important to take pauses between points to let the most salient sentences sink in.
Especially if you expect people to take notes on your speeches to reflect on them later, you’ll need to slow it down. Leave enough room between your thoughts to allow for your audience to chew on the meaning of your words, so they can more fully digest them later.
Make Pauses Signifiers of Transitions in Your Speech
One of the worst things a public speaker can do is not to create adequate transitions between thoughts. It’s a surefire way to confuse an audience and leave them reeling by the end of your talk.
In order to avoid that kind of tizzy, make sure you sprinkle meaningful pauses in between the points in your speech. It may seem counterintuitive to stop speaking in the middle of a presentation, but it’s actually a remarkably effective way to signify that you’re about to move onto a new point.
Employ Pauses to Establish a Conversational Dynamic
When you’re speaking one-on-one with someone, do you speak in one continuous stream? No! Of course, you don’t. That would be absurd.
To establish a conversational dynamic with your audience, then, it’s imperative that you employ pauses between your thoughts. Let certain points sink in. Allow the audience to have a silent conversation with your speech. In the end, it will not only make the time fly by, but it will also calm your nerves to imagine that you’re just having a one-on-one convo with your audience (no matter how large the crowd is).
Bill & Sandy, you both are some of the most dynamic speakers I’ve heard. Appreciate the insight and practical help.
I had to read this one twice because it was so good! Wow. Never have I thought about the truth behind the phrase “Silence is golden.” until now. Thank you for the knowledge-filled post! Lots of takeaways!
Great information and right on point. Too many presenters speak like they are in a race. Give your audience time to catch their breath. Nicely done.
Another major speaking flaw is contractions: Did, didn’t, can, can’t, could, couldn’t. These opposites sound nearly identical, and when combined with fast speech and especially different dialects or electronic imperfections the resulting confusion can be highly frustrating.
Instead, say that you Did Not do a thing, and that later you Could Not speak as well as your mentor but you were able to clarify a point exceedingly well. And as you spoke, there were no apostrophes in your calm, fine diction. As a result, your points were clear, concise and lucid!
This is the kind of great advice and mentorship that comes from this couple on a regular basis. Thanks for allowing us to benefit from your experience!
Interesting! I tend to talk pretty fast, so this is definitely good information to digest. Thanks!
Great advice coming from great speakers.
Thanks
Great tips on speaking and engaging your audience to make your points have more impact. Thank you Bill and Sandy
good stuff
This is great! And so true! It makes the whole experience better for both the speaker and the audience!
Yes! Totally needed this to communicate and connect with our team effectively! Thank you Bill & Sandy for your servant leadership!!!
This is great information. I am looking forward to implementing pauses to become a more effective leader.
Thank you Bill.
Bill and Sandy are awesome people with the highest integrity, if you are looking to for a 10 life you have come to the right place, this your time anything in life worth anything takes time and effort, so if you want to win a lifetime championship this is time, mediocrity your time is done it’s over, time to be what you’re called to be international ambassadors of hope and prosperity now go out there and take it
Thank you for the great tips.
Great information! Thanks!
Thanks for more great advice.
This article makes a lot of sense! Thanks Bill and Sandy for all the ways you pour into my life and help me become better!
Very true, a good part of an hour long speech is going to be (or should be) filled with silence. It’s a good thing, otherwise it would be like drinking from a firehose.
The old song says, “Silence is golden, but my eyes still see.” This actually pertains to your article because when there is silence we are still tuned in with the rest of our senses. Thanks for your great examples of effective communication!
Always more to learn about speaking to audiences. Thanks for the help!
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