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A few months ago, on my podcast PushJonah Berger told me about the power of pause.
The act of pausing seems like a small thing. However, recent studies show that taking a break can increase persuasiveness and improve results.
In this blog, I share some of the science behind this phenomenon and how you can apply it to your next negotiation.
Pausing shows self-confidence.
He said that very successful speakers often take a surprising number of pauses when they speak.
Jonah shared this clip from an Obama speech and told me to pay attention to pauses. You can watch the speech here:
This clip is only 45 seconds long, yet Obama pauses for a second or longer eight times.
Jonah says this isn’t a coincidence. Obama taught himself to slow down and pause more often. Why? Well, according to Jonah, it makes the former president sound more confident.
Jonah has conducted studies that support this (quoted in his book). Magic words).
He and his colleagues showed a voice recording to a group of participants. 50% of the participants listened to the moderator’s lecture without a break. The other 50% of participants listened to the exact same presentation, but with breaks.
The two different groups of participants were then asked what they thought of the speaker, how they rated the content and how positive they found the lecture.
Jonah Berger found that the speaker who paused performed better on all different questions.
Remember, the content of the speech was identical – the tone, the style, the accent – everything was the same. The only difference between the two speeches were the pauses, and these pauses dramatically changed the perception of the speech.
Breaks can be strategic.
A recess won’t just help political candidates. It helped one of the greatest footballers in the world, Lionel Messi.
Pausing is a counter-intuitive thing that Lionel Messi does and it’s what makes him great. Unlike his colleagues, Messi spends the first three minutes of a game doing nothing. He doesn’t sprint, tackle or pass; He strolls across the field.
But why?
Adam Alter shared the reason with me when he chatted with me on a recent episode of Nudge.
He explained that Messi had problems as a youth. He was extremely worried when he first stepped onto the field. He was often physically ill at the start of the game and had to leave the field to recover. His fear made it impossible for Messi to give his best.
Maradona famously said that Messi would never succeed because he was too scared and too nervous.
It seemed like Messi was destined for a career full of missed opportunities until a Barcelona youth coach gave him some advice.
He told him to take a break at the start of the game, not to feel any pressure to run or tackle, and not to start the game until the third minute. Just stroll around, take in the surroundings, observe the enemies and calm down.
Pausing worked. Instead of starting the game frantically like every other player, Messi took the time to calm his nerves. And that inaction became a surprising advantage.
The time to pause gave Messi the space to quickly analyze his opponents. Is there a weakness in their lineup? Is there room anywhere in defense? Normally there is, and Messi, having calmed his nerves, would have no problem taking advantage of it.
The power of silence in negotiations
Pausing has a strategic advantage for Lionel Messi and Barack Obama, helping both reach the top of their game.
But is it useful for the rest of us? Can we use it if we don’t play professional football or provide professional pitches?
Well, yes. There is evidence that it might be worth trying this approach in your next negotiation.
In a study (quoted in Anatomy of a breakthrough), a team of psychologists examined the value of pauses during negotiations. Specifically, the researchers focused on wage negotiations. They hypothesized that a break could persuade human resources managers to offer higher wages.
The researchers recruited 60 pairs of students for the test. Students were assigned one of two roles. Half of them were HR managers, the other half were applicants. Everyone had 45 minutes to negotiate pay for the hypothetical jobs.
But here’s the twist. 50% of job applicants were specifically asked to take a break during the interview.
So half of them negotiated normally, but the other half were forced to take a break.
Pausing worked. The candidates who took a break were offered a higher salary package by the hiring manager.
Those who paused negotiated better offers (for both sides). According to Adam Alter:
“They resulted in better outcomes for both parties and encouraged negotiators to recognize that some issues can be negotiated to the benefit of both parties rather than competitively.”
It’s common to feel like Messi at the start of his career – anxious and full of energy. In a negotiation, we feel the need to quickly demonstrate our strength and immediately dismiss problems, fueled by a rush of adrenaline that makes us speak louder, faster, and without pauses.
But laboratory studies show that this natural reaction has significant disadvantages. Those who forcefully talk down points will achieve worse negotiation results than those who take their time.
Taking a break may seem counterintuitive or wrong, but if it works for Barack Obama and Lionel Messi, it should work for you too.