Body Language of Speech Hesitation
Cue: Speech Hesitation.
Synonym(s): Stuttering, Silent Pauses, Filled Pauses, Delayed Responses.
Description: During speech hesitation a person will usually use filler words such as “hmms” and “ahhs” or “like” that do not offer any use besides filling gaps in speech. Other times, no words are uttered, but there is a noticeable gap in dialogue that is often awkward.
In One Sentence: Speech hesitation is a sign of nervousness.
How To Use it: Speech hesitation, aside from purposefully pausing during a speech does not have a positive application. Its use should therefore be avoided.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: a) “I’m stuttering because I have a speech related pathology. I don’t have any issue at all, but my speech hesitation makes me look nervous and awkward.” b) “I’m hesitating in my speech because I’m carefully selecting my words as I fabricate a lie.” c) “I’m nervous and awkward and I can’t think straight which is causing me to lose my words and cloud my thinking.” d) “I’m pausing because I don’t really know what I’m talking about and I need to buy myself some time to think.”
Variant: N/A.
Cue In Action: a) Bill has always stuttered and should really consult with a speech pathologist to get some help – people really think he has low self-confidence. b) Bill was caught in a lie, but rather than trip on his words, he began to “umm” and “aww” – it was clear that he was fabricating a lie. c) Bill was put on the spot and didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t lying, he just felt awkward retelling his story in front of everyone. d) During the oral exam, Bill slowed noticeably when he reached the questions about the essay – it was clear he hadn’t studied for that element.
Meaning and/or Motivation: Speech hesitation is read by others as a lack of self-confidence because it makes the speaker appear to be at a loss for words. It is also often correlated to lying although it only truly makes its appearance under extreme situations. Only when lies get very complicated do we see effects such as stuttering, pauses, speech errors or corrections. At times, speech hesitation is due to stuttering and is a medical and speech related pathology.
Other times speech hesitation is actually due to nervousness that causes a person to lose the ability to think clearly and coherently. We can verify this cue by establishing a baseline. That is, if a person suddenly begins to stutter or show speech hesitation we can rightly attribute it to the context and conclude that new emotions have arisen causing the person to lose their ability to speak smoothly. Pauses can also sometimes indicate that a person doesn’t really know what they are talking about or that they are taking their time to carefully select their words.
Although the cue itself might outline nervousness or lack of confidence in some cases, it’s actually a poor indicator in and of itself. Rather, it is the stigma surrounding speech pauses that creates a negative impression instead of it being an indicator in and of itself. In other words, if one stutters, one is perceived by others to have low confidence. This is what makes the awareness of the speech pauses much more important if we wish to appear confident and competent in front of others.
Cue Cluster: To have a true meaning as a negative cue indicating nervousness or awkwardness, we should look for other cues in cluster. These include higher pitch, faster and louder speech, speech errors, blushing of the face, neck or ears, an increase in blink rate, fidgeting, dilation of the pupils or sweating, fidgeting, appearing unfriendly or tense, facial fidgeting, shaking, postural shifts or uncomfortable/reserved postures, twitches, shrugs, head movements, playing with objects, sneering, scowling, frowning, smiling, biting the lower lip, pressing the lips together, wrinkling of the nose, increase in perspiration, blushing or turning pale, and increases in swallowing.
Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arousal, Audible signals, Fearful body language, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Negative body language, Nervous body language, Regulators, Stressful body language.
Resources:
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Resnick, Heidi S. ; Oltmanns, Thomas F. Buchwald, Alexander M. (editor). Hesitation patterns in the speech of thought-disordered schizophrenic and manic patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1984. 93(1): 80-86.
Silverman, Ellen-Marie. Speech—Language clinicians’ and university students’ impressions of women and girls who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders. 1982. 7(4): 469-478.
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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-submission-men-women-depression-critical-examination-use-disuse-submission/