Pace and Pauses
Good pacing is not one perfect speed. Strong speakers change speed and use silence to help important ideas stand out.
Vary your pace
Move faster through familiar setup and slower through important ideas.
Too much speed makes the audience work harder.
Use pauses for meaning
Pause after complete thoughts.
A pause can give the audience time to think and can create emphasis.
Replace fillers with silence
A short pause sounds more confident than “um” or “uh.”
Silence usually feels longer to the speaker than it sounds to the audience.
Example
“There was one thing I had completely forgotten. [pause] The presentation was today.”
Common mistake
Rushing because silence feels uncomfortable.
Try this
Speak for 45 seconds and pause for one beat after every complete idea.
Keep in mind
Silence is part of speaking.
Practice this skill
Give a real speech and use SpeakCoachLab coaching to focus on this skill in context.