0400 – Pauses To Engage Attention Before Significant Content

2022.02.04 – 0400 – Pauses To Engage Attention Before Significant Content To engage attention before significant content A brief moment of silence adds suspense, adds anticipation and indicates incoming important information that may require attention.“This just in from Downing Street” [pause] “There are new rules for the lockdown…”“We are just getting news in from Paris…” [pause] “The Princess died at around 4.30 this morning…”“A statement from The White House in the last few minutes has confirmed [pause] the President has resigned with immediate effect.”Or it may be just one or two words that you subtly pause before to highlight a forthcoming fact: “And the latest government borrowing is now [pause] 319 billion pounds…”Silence before anything has been uttered (for example, leaving a news jingle to fade out almost completely before talking), gives the sense of an approaching mood of significance, its unexpectedness creates suspense. It makes people lean in, their ears prick up, they mentally try and fill the void with their own thoughts, “what’s going on?”, “why has it gone quiet?” – you’ve engaged them. And as a large percentage of people listen to podcasts and the radio while doing other things (driving, housework, exercise), such a pause helps recapture and re-engage them.Used correctly, it is perhaps one of the strongest, but least-used rhetorical devices to move listener’s attention to help convey important words and messages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.