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Public Speaking Tips: Pauses
A true NO ZZZZZs presenter doesn't feel that he or she must jabber away constantly to keep the audience awake.
Skilled presenters use silence to add to the effectiveness and polish of a program.
Theatrical folks have identified a whole bunch of neat pauses which I'm sure they have a ball playing with. I'm only going to address some of the most obvious and important ones here.
SHORT - The shortest pauses, which last anywhere from one-half to two seconds, are for the simple purpose of separating your thoughts. All you have to remember is to slow down. Give the audience a fighting chance to absorb what you are saying. Change your voice inflection slightly at the end of each thought to cue the audience the next thought is coming. Also, use a short pause before and after any phrase (punch line) or word you want to emphasize.
SPONTANEITY - Another neat pause is known as a spontaneity pause. This is a planned "unplanned" pause used so that you don't look too rehearsed. You might apply this pause when you want to pretend to search for a word or phrase that you already know.
LONG - Long pauses of more than three seconds are very powerful. They command the audience to think about what you just said that is if what you just said was worth thinking about.P
lease [pause] [pause] [pause] don't be afraid to be quiet once in a while. It can dramatically increase your impact.
Excerpt from "Wake 'em Up Video Professional Speaking System "http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm
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Public speaking tip - Remembering new jokes -- Jan McInnis (Jan@TheWorkLady.com)
happy, positive, smiling, confident woman on warm tone background with space for text
As a comedienne, I usually kick off my corporate show with 20 or more new jokes I've written for the group which means I have to have good, fast memory skills.
A couple of ways I remember these new jokes:
* Starting a few nights before the show, I review 5 or 6 jokes each night before I go to sleep. When I wake up, I know the jokes. (A friend of mine at a university is actually researching sleep and its effect on memory. It really works.)
* I go over them out loud as fast as I can. I also do this with the jokes in my act. It sort of "ingrains" the joke into my head so that when I say it, it rolls off my tongue without my having to stop and think about it.
* I group the jokes according to subject -- all jokes about the people together, all jokes about the industry together, etc.
* I use notes. I carry them up to the stage with me, but I make sure I know the first 2 or 3 jokes cold, so I don't have to refer to the notes in my hand. Then if I do, it's not as obvious as pulling the notes out of my pocket and I just glance at the sheet, saying, "I took some notes on you guys." I'll have a key word or two written on the sheet. And, even if I wrote the jokes ahead of time, it looks like I just wrote them that morning.