In the city where I live there’s an “oldies” radio station I listen to sometimes when I’m feeling nostalgic. The other day, they played a song called “Silence is Golden”. Originally this was a hit for the Four Seasons back in 1964, but the version they played was by the Tremeloes from 1967. Both way before my time, but I’m told this latter version was a big hit back in the day.
Although the lyrics aren’t really applicable to what we’re talking about here, the title of the song IS relevant.
Like we were talking about the other day, a lot of people fill pauses in any unscripted speech or presentation with waffle and filler words like “you know”, or veer off-topic. The latter point usually starts as a lame exercise in explanation by way of analogy. I’m sure you’ve been there when somebody just isn’t putting their point across in a presentation and begins to dig themselves in even deeper by saying something along the lines of: “You know, that’s kinda like…” and before you know it, they’re so far off-topic, you need a GPS to find your way back.
The best advice I was ever given on how to give a presentation was: Get up, speak up, shut up, sit down. Which is true to a point.
You also need to put in pauses to give your audience time to register or digest what you’re saying. This is particularly true when you’ve just made an important or profound point. Give them time to pause for thought. If you’ve put your point across effectively, it should also provide your audience with the opportunity to come to the conclusion you’ve been steering them towards – without you having to spell it out in words of one syllable.
To quote a song by Alison Krauss the same radio station plays every so often: You say it best when you say nothing at all.
PS. I devote Chapter 4 of my guide to speaking with confidence to this subject. Grab your copy now from HERE
