At the end of each sentence you will have a tiny silence and you are tempted to rush to the next point. To the audience, however, that tiny moment doesn’t seem to have that long. A pause gives the listener a moment to digest the thought being made and to anticipate what comes next. For a speaker who is learning for the first time, a pause can help a short speech be structured better without having to change anything.
Often, a fast talk is hard to follow because each thought doesn’t have a chance to stand alone. The first sentence and its supporting evidence are mixed together and you end with the final line before you know it. It can still seem like you’re overdoing it even if the speech is good. A pause works like the period or comma in a sentence. It shows where one thought is finished and the next one is coming.
The simplest place to begin is after the first line. Say the first line and then take a breath. Let’s say you open a talk with: “A clear speech begins before you start writing your full talk”. Stop before you explain why it’s better that way. That tiny pause can help you stop yourself from running straight into the next thought. It also helps a speaker make a clean break to bring the audience in. You’re not making a pause to seem quiet, you’re just giving the message a moment to breathe.
You can also use a break at the end of your speech. Many people who are just starting to learn don’t use any pauses when they approach the end of a speech. They often rush their final sentence because they are happy to have made it that far. They drop their voice, speak faster and end up sounding like they are leaving the room. Pausing right before the final line helps the speech seem like an actual ending and you can take a moment to find your breath and to decide what you want to say before the speech really ends rather than just “ok, that’s about it” or “I’m done”.
Pauses can reduce filler words, but only if you plan them. If you just set out to stop saying “um” the speech could sound too quiet. Adding marks on your notes to let you know where to pause helps you have something to do instead of that awkward silence. You could add small slashes after the first line, right before a supporting point and before the closing line. During your practice, see each slash as a sign for you to breathe. It’s not about a very dramatic break, just a short quiet break is what you want.
Record a one-minute speech two times. Record the first without making any changes. In the second version, try to add three pauses: after your first sentence, before you give a supporting example and then right before your closing. You should listen to both recordings for the benefit of the audience, not just the speaker. Does the central idea feel clearer? Does your example sound easier to understand? Does the ending feel like you are done? You’ll know you’re doing it right when your speech feels a little slower than you might expect but it’s easier to hear.
While you are rehearsing your next talk, be aware of when you feel like you want to jump past a silence. This is usually when the listener needs to hear it. Having a clear pause doesn’t mean that you are unprepared. It just means that you know where one thought ends and another begins.