“In Business” by Roland Millward

One of the things that many of us are bad at is pausing.

You know the scenario. You ask a question and then because the person does not answer quickly enough (in our minds) we say something else.

Today I want to write about pausing in several ways. The first in connection with the above scenario.

When you ask a question. Wait for an answer. Several seconds can seem like minutes but people do need time to think as to how they are going to answer. The time will seem far longer to you that it will to them. However the time will be worth it. You will get a proper answer and if it is being used as part of selling a product you will be far more successful.
The second point is to use pausing in our general speech. Good pausing is used to make ourselves clearer. For instance to emphasize something important then either pause before your statement of after it. Pausing certainly makes your point stand out. If there is a distraction perhaps a loud noise then rather than shout over the top of it, pause until it passes or we can move to a quieter location. Pausing gives our listeners time to think about what we have said and not to miss something else we are saying whilst they are trying to work out what we said last.

Thirdly it is in this context. Before making a decision or answering a question, pause! Think about what you are going to say or why you are going to do something. Do not be rash. Yes, far too often we are in a rush and this causes mistakes to be made. We can reduce those errors by simply pausing and taking a moment to reflect first.

Yes pausing is important and by taking the time to think about it and learn how to pause at the right time and in the right places will help you not only in your business but in life generally.

What do you think about this article? Have you any experiences that show the benefit of using pausing as tool?
Your comments are welcome.