4 Benefits of Pausing

When you speak to students, how well do you rehearse your pauses?

(take a moment and think through that question...)

When you pause appropriately during a message, it benefits you in four ways:

1. Pausing adds weight to what you just said.

Whether it is pausing after you have just asked a question or after an important statement, either way, a poignant pause adds great weight to what just came out of your mouth. It is typically an even more effective method of emphasis than raising your voice or slowing your cadence.

2. Pausing gives the students a moment to catch up mentally.

Most youth speakers talk fast when speaking in front of a group. Utilizing pauses allows the students to listen better.

3. Pausing makes your message interactive.

Taking the time to pause, moves your message from being one-way communication to being a two-way dialogue. It gives the students the needed time to respond to your content either verbally or nonverbally (head nods, head shakes, etc).

4. Pausing helps you gather your thoughts.

Sometimes when you speak you lose your train of thought. When you pause, it can give you the needed time to regain your direction or communicated more effectively. It is better to pause than to use verbal filler (um, uh, ah, etc).