Remember to Pause When You Give a Speech

Your approach to pausing will define your public speaking results. It's part and parcel of your speech. Because as you remember to pause when you give a speech, you slow your delivery and your voice benefits. And that tip was certainly in evidence at the United Nations building in New York when it was affected by a mild earthquake. Janti Soeripto of Save the Children was briefing the United Nations when the quake struck the Security Council meeting. She paused, and continued with her speech.

We do love a good pause here at Time to Market. It's certainly a feature of every good speech and every presentation. And the New York earthquake example was really no exception.

A Building Tremor. But No Vocal Tremor From Janti Soeripto

Because when an earthquake shook the New York United nations building, Janti Soeripto the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the charity Save the Children, paused her speech momentarily and then continued with her address to the Security Council audience.

The most precious things in speech are the pauses. (Sir Ralph Richardson)

Yes, it was a very mild earthquake and the United States does experience about 75,000 such tremors each and every year. But, nonetheless, it was an event that all her audience distinctly felt. The earth moved.

And, of course, most speakers can only dream of having such an impact on their audiences.

However, Janti Soeripto was meticulous in her demeanour and performed brilliantly. After all, we're really glad not to hear the words...

Oh, my God

As a note to speakers everywhere, interruptions to your speech will always prompt a pause point. These interruptions can be as mundane as someone joining or leaving your audience, a loud noise...or an earthquake. But one that's most likely is the applause point. Because when your audience appreciates your words and they applaud, then you need to pause. And that also takes some practice.

You can always discover many more public speaking tips and suggestions for speakers with our resources on site. And with more than 100 top presentation tips and videos there's something for every event. So, when you're ready to progress with your own public speaking skills you're welcome to enroll on How to Master the Public Speaking Basics, the online course that gives you mastery of your speeches…and your pauses.