The Power of the Pause

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly times pause

- Mark Twain

So, have you ever heard a public figure, um, stumble over their words and, um, say “um” every few seconds? I have and it’s infuriating. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching the evening news, the late-night talk shows, listening to a podcast or even a highly regarded politician (yes, they do exist 😊). Many professional speakers still fall back on using the “um” filler word. I hear that and all I can think is, “they need Toastmasters”.

When you first start on your Toastmasters journey, we fully expect that you will be using filler words (also called crutch words) such as “um”, “ah”, “like”, “you know”, “and”, and the all-time favourite “so”. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you use “so”. Even advanced Toastmasters are known to use “so” a lot. As you progress through the Toastmasters education program (known as Pathways), one of the things you learn is how to avoid filler words.

Typically, when a speaker is using one of those filler words, it is because they’re thinking of what they want to say next and fill in the space with one of those filler words (hence the name). There is a simple solution, though – just pause.

Instead of saying one of those words, just pause. If you’re not sure what you want to say next in an impromptu speech or if you have completely forgotten the next part of your prepared speech, just pause. A pause can be as short as a second or two or it can be as long as five seconds. I would not suggest pausing much longer than that – it just becomes awkward.

I know of Toastmasters who, in the middle of a contest speech, forgot the next part of their speech, completely blanking out. They paused for a few seconds, searching their memory for the next part of their speech. They got back on track and finished their speech. One of the things the audience said to them afterward was that the pause was “perfectly placed”, and they were congratulated on their command of the pause.

Just remember, no one in the audience knows what you were going to say but you. No one will judge you for having forgotten your next line. They don’t even realize you did – if you use the pause. I’ve heard it said that there are three speeches every time you get up to speak – the speech you practiced, the speech you gave, and the speech you wish you gave (paraphrased from Dale Carnegie). I’d add a fourth to that list – the one the audience heard. Some audience members don’t even notice filler words, but trained Toastmasters sure do. The power of the pause is one of the key learnings in the program.

There are some of the filler words I mentioned at the beginning which are used more as a lead-in to a new thought rather than when you’re thinking of what to say next. These include “so”, “and”, “you know”, and others. Here again, a well-placed pause will better suit your speech. I have to mention here that there are times when “so” is completely appropriate such as when you’re telling a story and you want to tell what happened next. At those times, it’s perfectly acceptable to use “so” as the connector. BUT, if you’re simply using “so” as a lead-in, as I did at the start of this blog, then pause instead.

A pause can be a powerful tool, not just to avoid filler words, but to add suspense and intrigue to your speech. Be the speaker who wows people with the power of the pause and you’ll be a speaker in high demand.

Karen MacNeil, DTM