The Power of a Pause

The best speakers are not the ones who only come up with a compelling message, but those who are also great at using pauses. We remember quotes from someone’s speech because of the pauses that allowed us to digest the main points, fully grasp the ideas, and internalize the message. Nobody wants to listen to a speaker who is trying to say as many words as possible, barely taking time to catch a breath.

In life, there are many examples of powerful moments when we pause: stopping a car at the red traffic light, getting ready for taking a picture, the countdown at the end of the year…

The pause doesn’t change anything. It allows us to appreciate the moment, to get connected to what’s going on around us, to get a different perspective, to consider our options. Later, you can always continue whatever you were doing. And yet, we have an aversion against pauses. We push ourselves to work faster, to be more efficient, not to waste a second, or to multitask. Consider this:

• When you’re running out of time, wanting to do just one more thing, pause.
• When things are great and you are in the groove, having a blast, pause.
• When everything is falling apart and you’re consumed by trying to catch the falling pieces, pause.
• When you feel inspired, pause.
• When you are full of emotions and about to take action, pause.
• When thoughts in your head are running around, creating noise, pause.
• When you find yourself fully immersed, focused, working super hard, feeling like you definitely cannot pause now, pause.

What do you have to lose by pausing? Whatever it is, it’s probably small comparing to what you’re losing by not pausing. To more pauses in 2013!