Pace, Pause, and the Landing
Control tempo so that meaning has room to arrive, and land your final line with intent.
The teaching
Speed is not energy. Speed is often fear wearing a costume.
Target one hundred and forty to one hundred and sixty words per minute for broadcast. Slower for a discourse. Faster only for deliberate contrast.
The pause before a key phrase does more work than volume ever will.
And your last sentence: decide it before you begin. Amateurs trail off. Professionals land.
Example
'The audience does not need more words.' — pause — 'They need room to agree with you.'
- 140 to 160 words per minute is the clarity band.
- Pause before the point, not after it.
- Write your closing line first.
Drill
1
Read a paragraph of your own writing aloud twice: once rushed, once with deliberate pauses. Note the difference.
Focus: Tempo control and landing the final line · 60s
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