There is an old philosophical question, centuries old in fact in different variants: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Does silence make a sound? Can silence be useful? One can argue that silence makes it own unique type of sound that has meaning and value.

Perhaps the hardest thing we had to learn and control when we started teaching was air time. It is so easy to talk, talk, talk, and talk. Lots of points on slides, read them all, give lots of points, give lots of slides. We started that way. Over time, we learned that the amount of content, content per slide, and the proper pacing and speed is important. You should not out-pace or overload the students with content, but those are other topics. This one is about silence and pauses.

There are different kinds of pauses...

• You have asked a specific knowledge, factual question and are waiting for the immediate memory recall.
• You have asked a more general question that is not based on immediate memory recall, and it will require a little bit of thinking, comprehension, and reflection before an answer can be delivered.
• The pause might be for dramatic effect. You have just made a point and want to put an exclamation point on it.
• You have done the set up, you have created an image, you want it to sink in, before continuing.
• You have launched a challenge or question that will lead off a think-pair-share process and you need to fade into the woodwork while the students are working.
• You have asked the students to do some desk work, to take a moment and do something.
• There might be other reasons as well, but you get the idea.

Thoughts...

• All of the above examples are easier to do live, almost impossible to do with recorded lectures, and very difficult to do with live-streaming.
• In theory, a pause should have an ‘aha’ moment or point of reflection. Something to be gained from the pause.
• There are times that the pause is obvious and you make it very explicit.
• There are times where you use a prop, sipping the tea, taking a swig of water, walking to the other side of the room. There are times an implicit pause is best; the pause you are doing but the students do not know it is a part of the show.
• Sometimes you have to make the silence painful and just wait. The students might not be comfortable with you yet at the start of term and you have to teach them to work with you, understand your methods and processes.
• If you are going to do the painful silence technique, you need to be sure that what you have asked is ‘possible’; that the students have the ability to answer the question, do the task, even though they might not know it. This is the key to the Socratic Method and this method goes hand in hand with the practiced pause.
• If the pause is part of a rhetorical sequence of where you want the students to realize something that they should learn, understand and you start the sequence off with a constructive failure moment (asking them for the impossible), it is important to hit the sweet spot. Neither too short nor too long of a pause.
• The pause also gives you time to gather your thoughts, reflect on the lecture thus far and to adjust. It is like pressure chess; you use the time your opponent is thinking to plan your next move and then move immediately when the opponent does. This should not be done for complete lectures, but it can be effective when used in moderation; keeping the students on their heels during a specific learning process.

Tips for Beginners

• It will probably take longer than you think for students to contemplate and respond to your question. Be prepared for silence or to casually delay with a sip of coffee or stroll across the room.

Further reading

• Schultz, K. (2012). The fullness of silence in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(2), 80. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/10.1177/003172171209400223