Commanding use of silence by a president
Posted: January 30th, 2011 | Author: jillfoster | Filed under: Public speaking, Videoblogging | Tags: Benito Juarez, public speaking, sense of command, silence, Videoblogging | 10 Comments »Two minute video story -transcript follows below-
…of the first democratically elected president of Mexico (…really admired him).
Hey, tell you what…
Have you ever read a story that you could not get enough of? I just did, and it’s about the first democratically elected president of Mexico; his name is Benito Juarez.
Here’s the thing about Benito Juarez.
He was pretty keen about his height and how the crowds reacted to his it; he was not a tall man. He was around 5 foot and he began to observe that when he would address crowds and about to give a speech –they would be distracted and wouldn’t automatically pay attention to him; they were trying to avoid his eye contact.
So, he started something fascinating.
He started to use the mechanism of silence when speaking. He would take the stage, take the podium, and instead of immediately launching into his speech he would for 60 seconds gaze across the crowd…lock eyes for 60 seconds of silence.
His use of silence began to be his presentation signature. He also saw his sense of command from the podium and the stage really increase. I mean, one full minute, it’s a long time from an audience perspective!
What about 10 seconds?
It just makes me think what type of impact could just 10 seconds make in terms of amplifying audience connection or really framing words and their meaning.
What could 10 seconds do?
(looking at camera with 10 second pause)
What do you think?
I loved this video. I am gonna use silence in my next speaking engagement. 60 seconds rule is so powerful. Thanks so much Jill. I love you on video. Keep shining. Your energy is contagious. Your business is THRIVING in 2011! You are rocking out at LIVE YOUR TALK 2011 and BEYOND! Those are my affirmations for you. Keep it moving!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jill Foster, Tinu Abayomi-Paul. Tinu Abayomi-Paul said: RT @Jillfoster: A favorite story on #publicspeech & a president – video / transcript: http://ow.ly/3OiXe thx @shonali @davesaunders @sis … [...]
Thank you, thank you Ananda for watching and for the kind words. You are like a B12 shot for the mind. …more soon via different channels.
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