Pausing

The use of pausing when you speak is extremely important. It can make a person … anticipate … your … every … word. Or it can make you seem … uh … stupid. There are a few times when you can as a rule use pausing.

One is when you want to keep a person in suspense and anticipate what you are going to say next. Second is when you want to make a point of a particular word or phrase. Third is when you're using punctuation ambiguity. For example, when you say "... when you feel that. (pause) With me (pause) I ..." The pause might only be slight in this case but the unconscious mind will hear it and know the difference.

Exercise 1 - Get a tape recorder and read language patterns, poems, articles, etc. into it. Listen to yourself noticing where you pause and where you can improve.