2022.02.10 – 0406 – Using Pauses After Rhetorical Questions
Creating silence in which the listener can answer your question
Ask the audience a rhetorical question and then pause at the end of it so they can digest it and answer it internally.
“Fed up with that dirty stain around the bath? [pause] Tired of the weekly scrub of the tub? [pause] Want a better way to have shiny ceramics? [pause] Introducing the all-new Bathroom Wonderclean…”
“Want to hear every edition of the podcast a week before everyone else? [pause] Want an ad-free listening experience? [pause] Want exclusive offers and a chance to win a meet with the hosts…? [pause] Then subscribe and leave a review, and send us a screen shot for a chance to win!”
“Have you ever wanted to speak out… but been too afraid to say anything?”
Yes, even when the listener, the person you are asking, is not with you and you cannot hear their reply, a silence creates ‘space’ for them to consider their thoughts and feelings, to compose a reply in their mind even if they can’t verbalise it. It only need be a beat or two, but a pause creates space for the percolation of the response. As a presenter, don’t rush headlong into another item of content.
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