The Power of a Pause

This time last week I asked you to share any specific challenges you faced when it came to presenting, and first out of the blocks was this, from Gustav Lauritzen .

“For me, one of the biggest challenges in delivering a presentation is managing tempo and using pauses effectively, rather than speaking in a fast and monotone way.”

Thanks Gustav.

I’m going to consider this as two questions (admittedly with much in common) and focus on ‘using pauses effectively’ for today. We'll get to ‘managing tempo’ at a later date because effective pausing is deserving of a post all to itself.

And here’s why.

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes.? they are likely to be hearing whatever you are talking about for the first time.? Even if they kind of know the subject matter, you’re bringing additional insight, new information or maybe just a fresh perspective (at least you really ought to).

And as we know, listening is hard work.? Even something lasting 10 minutes equals a lot of information to take in and requires a lot of focus.?

If they’re anything like me, your audience needs time to reflect on what they’ve just heard and, if nothing else, give their brain an opportunity to decide where to file it for future reference.?

A well-timed pause gives them that opportunity, a brief respite from needing to listen and an opportunity to let new information sink in.??

For most presenters, ‘enhance understanding’ and ‘being memorable’ are likely to be two key objectives of the presentation so there’s a strong argument that if you don’t pause, there’s really no point in giving the presentation.

All of which is to reiterate the value in building pauses into your delivery – they are insanely helpful for your audience and who doesn’t want to be helpful?

It also starts to provide a useful framework for proactively planning when to pause, and then building those moments into your practice / rehearsals.?

Rather than simply pausing as you move from slide to slide, start thinking more strategically about pausing when you’ve got to the end of a thought, a key idea or even a stage of the journey you are taking your audience on – something that can happen during a single slide, or over the course of several.? It’s at those moments when your audience need you to give them a moment for reflection before they start listening again.

Interestingly, if we define a pause as an opportunity to allow our audience to reflect, that starts to open out exactly what constitutes a pause in the first place.

One of the main reasons so many speakers find it challenging to pause effectively is because it creates a moment of silence.? Silence is hugely powerful but, equally, really uncomfortable when it’s just you up there on stage with everyone looking at you, expectantly.

So if it helps assuage any discomfort, as we’ve just discussed your audience is actually glad of the break and are secretly delighted you’ve stopped talking!

Along with this, I’d also recommend doing what you can to acclimatise yourself to standing in front of your audience without speaking as early as possible in your presentation, so it becomes easier when it really matters.? For instance, when you first get up on stage, say “hello” to the audience and wait for them to respond.? The ball is in their court to respond but it’ll take them a beat or two before they do, a beat or two of silence to help you get a feel for what that’s like to be up on stage with everyone looking at you and no-one saying anything (and remember, pauses always seem far longer to you than they do your audience).

However, if we define a pause as a respite from new information, then it doesn’t actually have to be silence.? A pause can also be a light-hearted aside, a request of the audience (any questions so far?), a rhetorical question (is this all making sense?).? In their own way, I’d argue that each of these interjections provides a respite from new information and the opportunity for mental reflection rather than active listening.

And not once have you had to stand there in silence…

Please share your thoughts on the subject of effective pausing in the comments below - and equally, if you have a specific presenting challenge or conundrum you'd like discussed, just post your question as a comment below, or email me on [email protected].

Next week, we’ll be talking about creating a good environment for rehearsal and practice, because that's what ?? Mike Sharp was interested in.