Pause & Emphasis: the Dynamic Duo!

Here is the magic you'll get from using pause and emphasis ...

Between them, pause and emphasis achieve great things.

• They create variety.
• They help you create focus and underline what’s important: which word do you want me to hear and how do you want me to feel about it?
• The pause gives you time to breathe! Breathing isn’t just about taking in air (important though that is); it can also signal a change of pace, or give a nuance of meaning or emotion.
• It also gives you thinking time (even if you don’t need it, the audience will be engaged by seeing you appear to think in the moment – this communicates integrity, thoughtfulness and gravitas).
• Pause and emphasis give the audience catch-up time – they involve them in the conversation and focus them on what’s important.
• They give you catch-up time: to get a prompt from your pontoons if you need one, or to decide in the moment how you want a word or phrase to land.
• They create build, anticipation and excitement.
• The pause is where you really make an emotional connection. The pause is a conduit to express your feelings and allow others to receive them, and it plays a big part in making your messages ‘land’ with your audience. Hold the pause so that the emotion in the words is transferred – then we ‘get it’ at all levels.
• And pause and emphasis provide a natural flow and freedom of expression.