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The Power of Silence

During a debate for the 2001 mayorship race of Montreal, Pierre Bourque, the favoured candidate, asked a question of his opponent, Gérald Tremblay. Mr. Tremblay, taken aback, took 16 seconds to respond.

During the rest of his campaign, Mr. Tremblay used this mistake to his advantage, by asking voters to take sixteen seconds to think before casting their vote. Tremblay won the election.

The pause is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Unfortunately, too few speakers make use of it. The reason is simple: either they do not know about it, or they are afraid of silence.

Many speakers do not use the pause because they are afraid of standing a few seconds in front of a group without saying anything. It's true that this is an unusual situation and that it demands a certain amount of work to get accustomed to it. However, it is well worth it!

The effective use of the pause will give greater depth and impact to your speech. Let's take a look at a few of these situations.

To emphasize: if you give an opinion or you mention an important fact, use a pause so your audience can see how important it is.
Take the following sentence for example:
In 2004, 2 .3 million Africans died of AIDS; it is as if the entire population of Montreal disappeared each year.

Read the sentence aloud. The first time, say it in its entirety. The second time, pause for one or two seconds after the word AIDS. Read it a third time and pause after the word Montreal. Try yet again, pausing after the words AIDS and Montreal. Notice how it changes the impact of what you are saying.
For suspense: pausing immediately before giving important information will increase your audience's attention. When you pause, you have greater impact. The audience will listen more attentively because when you wait before spilling the beans, it gives greater importance to your words.
For example: To gain your audience's attention every time, you can use a simple technique: make a pause.
Repeat this sentence while pausing after the word simple and see what effect it has.
For a joke: a joke will be funnier if you pause immediately before and immediately after the punchline. For example:

An accountant visits his doctor and says, Dr. I can't sleep.
The doctor answers, Well, count sheep.
The accountant replies, That's the problem. When I make a mistake, it takes me three hours to find it!"

Tell the joke by pausing before the last sentence. Try it also by pausing after the comma in the last sentence. See how the impact of the joke is different.

These examples show how easy it is to include pauses in your speeches in order to give them more impact.

David Brooks, an American speaker, says The pause is the tool. The silence is the message. By using pauses, you're delivering a clear message: what I'm saying is important.

In your next speech, use pauses periodically. The effect will amaze you and you'll never do your speeches the same way agin.