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<\/a>Cue<\/strong>: Speech Hesitation.<\/p>\nSynonym(s)<\/strong>: Stuttering, Silent Pauses, Filled Pauses, Delayed Responses.<\/p>\n Description<\/strong>: During speech hesitation a person will usually use filler words such as \u201chmms\u201d and \u201cahhs\u201d or \u201clike\u201d 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.<\/p>\n In One Sentence<\/strong>: Speech hesitation is a sign of nervousness.<\/p>\n How To Use it<\/strong>: Speech hesitation, aside from purposefully pausing during a speech does not have a positive application. Its use should therefore be avoided.<\/p>\n Context<\/strong>: General.<\/p>\n Verbal Translation<\/strong>: a) \u201cI\u2019m stuttering because I have a speech related pathology. I don\u2019t have any issue at all, but my speech hesitation makes me look nervous and awkward.\u201d b) \u201cI\u2019m hesitating in my speech because I\u2019m carefully selecting my words as I fabricate a lie.\u201d c) \u201cI\u2019m nervous and awkward and I can\u2019t think straight which is causing me to lose my words and cloud my thinking.\u201d d) \u201cI\u2019m pausing because I don\u2019t really know what I\u2019m talking about and I need to buy myself some time to think.\u201d<\/p>\n Variant<\/strong>: N\/A.<\/p>\n Cue In Action<\/strong>: a) Bill has always stuttered and should really consult with a speech pathologist to get some help \u2013 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 \u201cumm\u201d and \u201caww\u201d \u2013 it was clear that he was fabricating a lie. c) Bill was put on the spot and didn\u2019t know what to say. He wasn\u2019t 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 \u2013 it was clear he hadn\u2019t studied for that element.<\/p>\n Meaning and\/or Motivation<\/strong>: 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t really know what they are talking about or that they are taking their time to carefully select their words.<\/p>\n Although the cue itself might outline nervousness or lack of confidence in some cases, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Cue Cluster<\/strong>: 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.<\/p>\n Body Language Category<\/strong>: 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.<\/p>\n Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n Alm, Per A.. Stuttering, Emotions, and Heart Rate during Anticipatory Anxiety: A Critical Review. Journal of Fluency Disorders. 2004. 29(2): 123-133.<\/p>\n Ardila, Alfredo ; Bateman, Jos\u00e9Ricardo ; Ni\u00f1o, Carmen Rosa ; Pulido, Elizabeth ; Rivera, Dora Beatriz ; Vanegas, Claudia Janeth. An epidemiologic study of stuttering. Journal of Communication Disorders. 1994. 27(1): 37-48.<\/p>\n Alibali, M.W., Heath, D.C., and Myers,H.J. (2001). Effects of visibility between speaker and listener on gesture production: Some gestures are meant to be seen. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 169\u2013188.<\/p>\n Butler, Clare. Identity and stammering: negotiating hesitation, side\u2010stepping repetition, and sometimes avoiding deviation. Sociology of Health & Illness. 2013. 35(7): 1113-1127.<\/p>\n Collard, Philip ; Corley, Martin ; Macgregor, Lucy J. ; Donaldson, David I. Attention Orienting Effects of Hesitations in Speech: Evidence from ERPs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 2008. 34(3): 696-702.<\/p>\n Friedman, Ernest H. Speech hesitation pauses as a measure of neuronal activity. Archives of internal medicine. 2002. 162(19): 2251.<\/p>\n Guntupalli, Vijaya K. ; Kalinowski, Joseph ; Saltuklaroglu, Tim. The need for self-report data in the assessment of stuttering therapy efficacy: repetitions and prolongations of speech. The stuttering syndrome. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2006. 41(1): 1-18.<\/p>\n Howell, Richardw. ; Vetter, Haroldj. Hesitation in the Production of Speech. The Journal of General Psychology. 1969. 81(2): 261-276.<\/p>\n Koppensteiner, Markus ; Grammer, Karl. Body movements of male and female speakers and their influence on perceptions of personality. Personality and Individual Differences. 2011. 51(6): 743-747.<\/p>\n Lukashevich, I. P. ; Machinskaya, R. I. ; Shklovskii, V. M. ; Venikova, G. P. ; Danilov, A. V. ; Ziborova, E. V. ; Fridman, T. V. Features of Autonomic Regulation and the Character of Convulsions in Stammering Children. Human Physiology. 2004. 30(4): 418(3).<\/p>\n Logan, Kenneth J. ; Mullins, Melody Saunders ; Jones, Kelly M. The Depiction of Stuttering in Contemporary Juvenile Fiction: Implications for Clinical Practice. Psychology in the Schools. 2008. 45(7): 609-626.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Silverman, Ellen-Marie. Speech\u2014Language clinicians’ and university students’ impressions of women and girls who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders. 1982. 7(4): 469-478.<\/p>\n St. Louis, Kenneth O. Male versus female attitudes toward stuttering. Journal of Communication Disorders. 2012. 45(3): 246-253.<\/p>\n Sturman, Edward D. Invluntary Subordination and Its Relation to Personality, Mood,
\nand Submissive Behavior. Psychological Assessment. 2011. 23(1): 262-276 DOI: 10.1037\/a0021499<\/p>\n