Sometimes the best thing to say is...Nothing.

As powerful as high-impact words can be, the Pause is one of the most important components of any talk, speech or conversation. It's been used for centuries, make that millennia, by the most charismatic and effective speakers, to move their audiences. And I'm not talking about the Pause as a moment to catch your breath - I'm talking about using the Pause for dramatic effect.

An easy way for many public speakers to incorporate the Pause into their speeches and talks, is by becoming aware of their filler words and phrases that are designed to fill what the speaker considers 'awkward moments' or uncomfortable silence. Filler words such as 'uhms' and 'ahs' clutter many speeches by otherwise capable communicators. Likewise, empty phrases such as 'if you will' or 'needless to say' or 'at the end of the day', have been nesting in our verbal arsenals for way too long. Get rid of them because they have become so cliche and over-used that they are nothing but verbal 'dead weight' that, instead of carrying your message, weighs it down.

By simply eliminating some of these fillers you've become accustomed to use, you are a few steps ahead in making the dramatic pause your friend. And if you're wondering whether you'll be able to get rid of the 'uhms' and 'ahs' you've been inserting into every presentation by the dozens, you can rest assured that once you start paying close attention to them, you'll start catching yourself very quickly whenever you utter them, training your mind to avoid using them more and more every time you speak.

But now, back to the key to powerful speeches, the Pause.

For the speaker, the Pause has two primary purposes:

For one, it allows the comments you make immediately before you pause to 'sink in' for the audience. Your final words before you pause will literally echo in their minds. Here's an easy test to experience this right away and witness the impact silence can have on perception and processing. Turn on the TV, listen for a couple of minutes to someone speaking, then turn off the sound and 'hear' what echoes in your mind. It will inevitably be what the speaker said last, before you turned off the sound.

The second immediate benefit of your pause, is that the next thing you say after you pause will instantly recapture the attention of your audience and highlight the first statement you make following your pause; for two simple reasons: it interrupts the silence and refocuses their attention, as well as satisfies their anticipation of what you were going to say next, after your dramatic pause.

Clearly, your pause has to be timed just right in order to have the desired effect on your audience.

Here are some reasons, including the above, why you should make the Pause a powerful component of your speaking skills repertoire:

Capture the initial attention of your audience

Allow the audience time to mentally answer a rhetorical question

Let a humorous comment or wit sink in

Build anticipation in what you are going to say next

Highlight an important statement immediately before or after you pause

Lend emphasis to a sentence or phrase by pausing in the middle of the sentence

Draw attention to a nonverbal cue, like a facial expression or gesture

To learn how to effectively use the Pause in order to make it part of your arsenal of speaking tools, listen to any recorded speech by John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill or Ronald Reagan, and 'feel' the impact the Pause has on your 'getting' the message. All of these great orators were masters of the use of Pause.

Remember, that without the strategic Pause, your speaking may become an uninspiring string of run-on sentences and a stream-of-consciousness dumping of data. None of which effectively conveys your message to an audience.

Gives you pause to think, doesn't it? ;)

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