Don’t Fear the Pause
If you listen to knowledgeable speakers, it’s easy to see some genuine distinctions in how they step through their presentation. It is a great exercise to use every chance to listen to different speakers and gain from them. For speakers who are not effective, study why they are and learn how to correct those problems in your presentation. For speakers who are excellent, learn what they do that works and copy their approaches without shame. It’s all part of gaining from each other.
One thing that jumps out when an experienced public speaker is holding an audience in the palm of his hand is that he is completely relaxed while speaking. That is a calculated relaxation. Most of the approaches he uses such as his usage of hands, the varied range of his voice, where he looks and how he moves are all thoroughly planned and part of that discussion and who that speaker is. And all of those things require time and practice. You will need a couple of times in front of a group, or a lots of times before you can begin to get that relaxed. Be generous with yourself and allow that public speaking is the kind of thing that you can check out about all day long however you do not get excellent at it until you get excellent at it.
One thing that frightens most beginner speakers is the idea of a pause. Notice how smooth speakers typically will pause and enable that minute of silence in a discussion to simply hang there. When that pause happens for that other speaker, you may have felt as frightened as if it was happening to you. However not to stress. As you discovered, that competent speakers use pauses to create interest and isn’t afraid to let his presentation stop for a moment either intentionally or to examine notes or make some other change.
The pause is actually a very powerful interactions tool that if you can master it, you can utilize it to make points, include drama or simply get up an audience that may have started to doze off on you. That is because as you speak along, if your discussion is somewhat long, it is simple for people to be lulled into an unintentional hypnotic trance of sorts. The mind can roam and that is the condition individuals get into when they doze off as you speak. They track to the continuous sound of your voice and the melodic tempo that you naturally fall under when you speak in public.
When you start to utilize pauses and alters to the tempo of your discussion, you break that natural rhythm of your talk. The pause will jar the audience back to you and they will unexpectedly listen with that “what did I miss out on” look on their faces. That is a genuine tool to you to assist your audience stay focused and to use especially when you are approaching a point that is a vital part of what you have to state.
The majority of us when we are starting in public speaking fear the pause in our discussion in the worst method. That moment when you are not speaking and that audience is taking a look at you and absolutely nothing is occurring can seem like you are falling to your death. However in truth, all you have done is focused the concentration of the group on you and on your talk. So do not fear the pause. If utilized with care and moderately, it can be an effective interaction tool to assist you in making your point.
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