The power of the pause! Silence is the most powerful sound in public speaking. When you’re delivering your very next presentation I challenge you to incorporate the sound of silence. In this article I’ll share with you three different techniques that you can use to incorporate the power of the pause, to have real impact and increase your influence when you’re speaking in public.
The Power of the Pause when you Start your Presentation
The first tip to increase your influence and create a real presence when you’re speaking to an audience is to pause at the very beginning of your presentation. Start your presentation by standing in front of your audience in complete silence – pause at the very start of your presentation. That’s right. You open your presentation by standing in silence. This gets you the attention of your audience and establishes a true presence. Your audience will be drawn to you and you will project a aura of real confidence and authority as you stand in front of them.
When you walk out, simply stand in front of them, look around the room, pause and don’t say anything. Just scan the audience. This will draw their eyes, draw their attention to you and project a real aura of authority.
This is the first tip and the first technique, start by standing silently, that you can use by incorporating the power of the pause and help you increase your authority and increase your influence when you’re speaking.
The Power of the Pause when you ask a question
The second technique that I want you to use and incorporate in your presentations is to pause after every single question that you ask your audience. You need to give your audience time to digest the question you have just asked them. So, you need to give them time to consider their answer. Your audience members need to mentally answer your question. Now, you may not want them to verbally respond to your question, but you need to give them time to think about and process their thoughts relating to the question you’ve asked.
So ask a question and pause. Let it hang for one, two maybe even as many as three seconds. Scan the audience making eye contact with them as you give them thinking time. This will allow them to process what you have asked them. It will also project confidence and an aura of authority. You will appear as someone who is a confident and proficient public speaker but also as an authority in the topic you are discussing.
So ensure that when you ask a question, you give your audiences time to process that question and think up an answer.
The Power of the Pause after you say something profound
The third technique that I’m going to share with you in this article is to utilise the power of the pause after you have said something profound. In other words, if there is something that you want your audience members to really consider and contemplate – after you have said the words be silent and allow the audience time to think. Whatever it is that you want them to consider you want to pause after you have said it. Make it stand out.
This gives the audience a hint that what you have said is really important. You can only do that by giving them time to digest it. In other words you shut up and let silence hang in the air so that they can process what you’ve said. If you don’t, your audience will forget it.
Every time you say something that is important for your audience to think about, something that you want them to seriously consider. Pause and give them time to think about it.
Conclusion
We’ve covered three very simple techniques – three very different ways that you can incorporate the power of the pause into your next presentation. When you stand in front of an audience you will project an aura of confidence and authority when you are able to stand there comfortably in silence. By doing so, you’ll allow your audience time to digest and contemplate what it is you have said. When you can allow that to happen your ability to influence them and to persuade them goes up exponentially. So in your very next presentation incorporate the power of the pause!
