How to Speak: The Secret of Empowering Words with Dynamic Silence

Synopsis: The Creative Significance of Silence within Dynamic Communication by Ellen Gilmer

All effective, meaningful and empowering communication must contain significant and skillfully structured phrasing and pauses. Although the content and impact intended by the communicator is primarily delivered through spoken language, movement, music and other forms of auditory input, it is by means of the silence between the words, movement, music and sound that each recipient or audience member can individually process, interpret and enhance each art form’s essential message and artistry.

As the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.”1 In vocal communication, the initiation of sounds occurs when air flow is expelled from the lungs, producing a regulated degree of vibration as it moves over the vocal cords. On its path through the chest, nasal passages, throat and mouth, the air gains resonant quality as it leaves the body. It is the responsibility of the speaker, the sound’s initiator, however, to produce and deliver a generally acceptable vocal transmission.

In Greek philosophy, Plato defined rhetoric as “the art of ruling the minds of men.” When comparing rhetoric to dialectic, he favored dialectic, which is basically philosophical, rather than rhetoric. As Aristotle explained, rhetoric is political in nature. While dialectic is formed by questions and answers, rhetoric consists of a definite speech. Since both are systematic in structure, they are forms of art.

As long as the verbal message is presented in a sufficiently honest, clear, dynamic, direct and concise manner, individual translation of the silence within and surrounding it can only enhance content in a positive and productive way. An empowering gift, when given appropriately, will have instructional, inspirational and beneficial results.

The American author Mark Twain once declared, “The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”7 Within the vast arena of art forms created throughout history and available to us today, we can all benefit from the lasting creative beauty and interpretive power of silence.