Since yesterday’s post was on the use of pauses in public speaking, I thought today’s Inspiring Speaker Friday post should feature a speech by someone proficient in using the power of the pause.
So here is President Barack Obama speaking on November 4, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois, upon winning the presidential election.
As I’m sure you noticed, Obama has truly mastered the power of the pause. He uses all sorts of pauses in this speech. Most obvious are the lengthy pauses, such as the 14-second-long one at the end of the section beginning at minute 7:33 and the 11-second-long one at the end of the section beginning at minute 12:19. In these instances, Obama is pausing at the end of a paragraph – or at the end of a thought – to allow the audience to take in what he has just said. By pausing for a significant amount of time, he lets the audience know that what he’s said is important, and he gives them time to process his ideas and react.
There are also smaller pauses within the body of Obama’s paragraphs. Take the section of the speech beginning at minute 6:07 for example.
“But above all – pause – I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. Pause. It belongs to you. BIG PAUSE. It belongs to you. BIG PAUSE. I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. Pause. We didn’t start – small pause – with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not – tiny pause – hatched – tiny pause – in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines – pause – in the living rooms of Compton – pause – and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 – small pause – to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy – pause – who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep. It grew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and – small pause – scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized – pause – and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the earth. This is your victory.”
Here you can really see how the use of pauses creates a rhythm and cadence in the speech. Some of the pauses are for the mere purpose of slowing the speech down, so that the ideas can be absorbed. Others are intended to add emphasis to certain words and ideas. Those tiny little pauses before and after the word “hatched,” for example, change the sentence from a statement of fact to almost an accusation against Obama’s opponents. It’s amazing really, what small silences can achieve.
Obama truly is an adept speaker. And as if his mastery of pauses weren’t enough, did you notice how he incorporated the art of storytelling near the end of the speech? Someone’s been studying his public speaking lessons!
Do you have a favourite political speech? Share it with us on the Inspiring Speakers Facebook page today.
Have a great weekend!
