Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.02.19 – 0415 – Silence Shows You’re Listening Silence shows you’re listening In an interview, your guest has just made a significant or poignant remark, and to show respect and empathy – pause.  The strategic pause adds tension and anticipation and indicates comprehension and reflection. It shows you are actively listening and value their comment. It helps build trust. …. but only if it is not followed by an “errrm” or “ummm”. Those kinds of words will merely show you are ill prepared. It’s a great skill to have in your repertoire but should be used sporadically for best effect.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.18 – 0414 – Silence Skills In Interviewing  Silence in interviewingMaybe you have a guest on your radio show or podcast, consider using pausing the way it’s used by counsellors, coppers and court-room legal teams. Silence creates a vacuum that cries out to be filled.  Experienced interviewers let the silence fill the air, to create an awkward or a hostile pressure.  And the other person feels obliged to break that pressure by saying something – possibly, under anger or embarrassment, something they hadn’t meant to.  Similar tactics are used in negotiations – perhaps for a new car or a salary rise. Those who lose their nerve and talk first may weaken their message and position. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.17 – 0413 – Scanning Scripts And Audiences
To rescan the scriptA pause gives a moment for the reader to look ahead in their script or notes to refamiliarize themselves with what comes next: the upcoming point they will make, maybe spotting the awkward word or name they need to concentrate on getting right, the ‘pitch and tone’ reset as they start a new topic.
That is: Stop. Breath. Look ahead. Or indeed, if working without notes, to think of what to say next.
Stop… and lookIf you are working in front of a live audience (ok not the main target for this podcast and book), a pause gives you a moment to scan those in front of you. Spend a second or two giving eye contact to a few different areas of the audience to help them feel involved in your presentation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.16 – 0412 – A Beat For A Breath A beat for a breathFor the reader, pauses create a ‘breath-space’ for you to take in some air at an appropriate place, and not somewhere that’d interrupt the flow and confuse the listener. We looked at breathing and where to do it to keep the sense of the sentence, earlier on in these podcasts. Remember the audio I mentioned of the famous British newsreader who creates new sentences in [pause] her script she merges sets of phrases [pause] together and then breathes [pause] in the wrong places in the next one and that starts to affect the intonation and [pause] also the sense of the sentence too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.15 – 0411 – Using Silence as a Substitute
Using silence as a substitute for filler words If you pause rather than add in a vocal bridge – “err”, “ahh”, “y’know”, “so” – then it will make you sound more interesting. Try a pause and a mental ‘reset’, rather than a verbal, “um”.
There is nothing wrong with the occasional hesitation word, as long as it's not used too frequently, but you don’t need to fill every second with sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.14 – 0410 – A Pause For Thought A pause for thoughtIn conversation we hesitate, search for the right word or phrase, perhaps weigh what we want to say with the context and the audience. To sound natural, to create the illusion of life, when you need the listener to believe you’ve just had a new thought, a gap is required: “I don’t get mad, I [pause] get even.”  That moment (or beat) between the thinking and the speaking translates into a pretty powerful pause. If the pause were placed before the “I”, the thought could seem too fluent, and some of the force would be lost. But moving that ‘beat’ after the “I” creates a feeling of you searching for the right word, the right phrase to balance the first one.  This technique is really ‘voice acting’ but can be useful in broadcast and podcast presentation as well, to give the feel of spontaneity, as though the words we are using are not considered and written, rehearsed and read … but just that moment coming to us and will make you sound more authentic, real and believable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.13 – 0409 – Comic Timing
Comic timingThere’s great importance of the pause before a punchline. It’s the ‘gap gap’ between the stress of the set up and the relief of the reward – laughter. The anticipation within the pause adds punch to the punchline, it creates a beat and is a social signifier of “this next bit’s the gag, when I’ve said it, you laugh!”  That silence often gives the audience just long enough to settle into a false sense of security, but short enough so they don’t figure out the joke for themselves: “I just flew into town [pause] boy, my arms are tired.” The pause sets up the expectation that you are talking about flying on a plane, without giving them time to think: “hmm, this is a gag, they probably don’t mean exactly that…” and then get the gag for themselves. The use of the pause gets greater applause. The confident comic delivers the line (with the pause), and then pauses again for the laughter. A ‘nervous novice’ races on. Dare to be quiet, allow the audience time to respond, let the laughter build, don’t step on it. Indeed, some comics milk the laughter by pausing longer. They make the laughter longer longer by a raised eyebrow, a double take to the side, which itself can cause a second wave of laughter. Those gestures can actually end up being a trademark of individual comics. In broadcasts and podcasts of course, there is no live audience to give you that response – a situation that as we have seen before is tricky. Some radio presenters have a ‘crew’, ‘posse’ or ‘team’ who contribute to the show and can act as the audience, responding appropriately.  On stage jokes can take longer to land with the mass audience so give an extra beat for a punchline to register. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.12 – 0408 – Pauses In A Visual Description Pauses in a visual descriptionThat is, when you’re describing a person, a room or any environment or object, the use of the beat allows the listener to create the visual for themselves.
“Are you ready to swap loungewear for swimwear? [pause] Or Zoom calls for stunning waterfalls? [pause] Maybe you’re dreaming of that first blissful moment of sand between your toes, [pause]  or the excitement of exploring somewhere completely new. [pause] Our five-star resort offers beaches for days … smiles for miles. [pause] Located on the south coast of the island, the suites look out over the pristine gardens of the breath-taking Caribbean Sea and swimming pools. [pause] When you can tear yourself away from the comfort of your private surroundings, [pause] the refreshing breezes make for excellent sailing, scuba-diving and kayaking. [pause] When it comes to dining, you’re spoilt for choice [pause] with 11 gourmet restaurants serving delicious dishes in an intimate atmosphere.”
Give listeners time to visualise what you verbalise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.11 – 0407 – Pauses as an Indication of Quality
Pauses as an indication of qualityIn commercial reads, less copy, fewer words, slower speed and time taken, is often the algorithm to indicate luxury.
“Imagine waking up to the feel of rich luxury satin silk sheets … [pause] gently caressing your skin … [pause] with the cool breeze and sounds of the ocean through your veranda windows … [pause] eased open to allow just a chink of early morning sunlight to dapple the room…” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.02.10 – 0406 – Using Pauses After Rhetorical Questions
Creating silence in which the listener can answer your questionAsk the audience a rhetorical question and then pause at the end of it so they can digest it and answer it internally.
“Fed up with that dirty stain around the bath? [pause] Tired of the weekly scrub of the tub? [pause] Want a better way to have shiny ceramics? [pause] Introducing the all-new Bathroom Wonderclean…” “Want to hear every edition of the podcast a week before everyone else? [pause] Want an ad-free listening experience? [pause] Want exclusive offers and a chance to win a meet with the hosts…? [pause] Then subscribe and leave a review, and send us a screen shot for a chance to win!”
“Have you ever wanted to speak out… but been too afraid to say anything?” Yes, even when the listener, the person you are asking, is not with you and you cannot hear their reply, a silence creates ‘space’ for them to consider their thoughts and feelings, to compose a reply in their mind even if they can’t verbalise it. It only need be a beat or two, but a pause creates space for the percolation of the response. As a presenter, don’t rush headlong into another item of content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.