Saturday, December 31, 2011

Public Speaking Tips: Power of the Pregnant Pause

The unusually illustrious Mark Twain was also an enormously successful public speaker. So, it’s worth our while to ponder his views on the pregnant pause--a vital ingredient of powerful public speaking.

In his biography of Mark Twain, author Ron Powers writes that Twain came to use the pause “almost as a thing of weighted substance, as a length of solid lead to place between his well-constructed words.” He then cites the following quote from Twain: "The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” (Emphasis within the quote by yours truly).

Hard to imagine a more instructive and weighty testimonial for the pregnant pause.


© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

1 comment:

  1. Sometimes when you speak publicly it always helps when you thoroughly know what you will be talking about, then you use pregnant pause in speaking giving more power to your speech...


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