The role of pauses in conversation: why you shouldn’t talk non-stop

Human life is diverse and full of exciting and unforgettable moments. Communication helps to brighten people’s everyday life. Often it is not only a necessity, but also a natural need of a reasonable being. Conversation between people is an important mechanism of influence on each other.

In conversation the thoughts of the narrator are put into the conversation, and through dialog there is interaction between people. The result of communication can be different, but the quality of speech of each of the participants of the conversation determines its outcome. It should be not only informative, but also correctly presented to the interlocutor. Any person needs some time to process the received information. For this purpose, speakers always use pauses in the conversation.

Types of pauses in conversation

During communication, periodic silence of the interlocutor can be for various reasons. It can be arbitrary and intentional. It is used in monologue, dialog and discussion. Specialists distinguish the differences between pauses in conversation:

• Manifested by a weak vocabulary or lack of knowledge or low intelligence.
• Intonational and semantic. They serve as analogs of punctuation marks in written speech. For example, period, dash, dotted line, comma
• Used together with introductory words in scientific reports, political discussions. Examples are: “perhaps”, “perhaps”, etc.

Pausology is an integrative scientific discipline that includes psychology, rhetoric, and linguistics. Its essence is that silence in a conversation helps to create an idea of a person no worse than the quality of his speech.

Pauses as a communication tool

Regularity in narration creates an atmosphere of friendliness, involvement and trust during communication. Periodic silence in a dialog or monologue is one of the valuable tools to influence the interlocutor, the audience of listeners.

Impact on the person during communication

In speech, short-term silence can indicate to the participants of the dialog the key thoughts of the topic of conversation, convey its emotional load or increase the effectiveness of communication. A pause in a conversation fulfills several functions:

• Help in assimilating information. With the help of small pauses in speech, it becomes easier for the interlocutor to grasp the essence of the conversation.
• Emphasis on the idea of the narrative. A brief pause before the main idea makes the interlocutor pay attention to the subsequent phrase of the conversation. This is how interest in the statement is attracted.
• Speech control. By using pauses, the interlocutor’s attention is held and his/her reaction to the information being presented is controlled.
• The emotional coloring of the conversation. When using a lingering pause, people emphasize a thought in both negative and positive ways.

Competent distribution of a pause in a conversation is a necessity in the modern world. Rethinking it and practicing it allows people to become persuasive and attentive interlocutors.

Application of pauses in everyday life

Silence in a conversation is used for various reasons. It always increases the importance of the speaker’s statements. Speech becomes animated and allows you to involve the interlocutor in the conversation. Ancient philosophers mastered the art of keeping a pause, which fueled the audience’s interest in the statements, maintained silence in the hall and pointed to the main idea of the narrative.

Learning to use this tool to communicate with other people is the main task of a person, when wishing to find comrades, to conduct discussions with literate, knowledgeable and interesting interlocutors. On wedaf.com it is easy to hone this tool of communication with many people, to find like-minded people and friends.

Being quiet is a good way to build rapport

Information delivered to an audience of listeners does not always become meaningful. The absence of pauses can make the whole speech meaningless. Neglecting this tool indicates fidgeting and impatience. Most people try to eradicate them and switch to literate communication.

This approach allows for:

• Get special attention from listeners.
• Keep the audience engaged in the conversation. This is required on the key thoughts of the person narrating.
• Buying time to find the right word or phrase, selecting intriguing vocabulary to accomplish goals.
• Analyze feedback.

It is not only the use of well-chosen words, but also silence at the right places in the narrative that allows you to intrigue and draw applause while speaking in front of a large audience.

Silence limit in a conversation

Reaching a compromise and better understanding people during a dialog is the aspiration of most people in a conversation. Effective negotiations always contain both speech and silence. It should not be prolonged, a pause in communication is observed for the interlocutor to rethink what is happening.

According to research, the minimum period for a pause in a conversation is three seconds, and the maximum is nine seconds. A short silence prevents a dialog participant from thinking about the information of the conversation, and a prolonged silence makes the opponent uncomfortable and perplexed.

Competent use of a pause in speech and adapting it to a specific situation is the key to successful communication with another person, a large audience of people. Regular practice allows people to become successful, influential and convincing interlocutors.