If you’re delivering a presentation soon—on stage or on screen—here’s one tip to help your audience stay with you and remember what you said: Talk like a stop sign.
Let me explain
We humans process real-time speech in chunks, not word by word. There are cues which help us efficiently process the speaker’s information and emotional attitude. These signals help us to stay with the speaker each step of the way. They also help us retain what the speaker says beyond the presentation.
A stop sign is a cue or signal. When you’re driving down the road, like in the picture above, and see the stop sign coming up in one or two blocks, you anticipate that you’ll need to stop soon, or that you should stop soon.
When you look past the stop sign, you can see two red markers at the bend of the curve. These signal that you won’t (or shouldn’t) continue straight ahead but rather veer to your right as you continue forward. You’re able to anticipate what’s coming up next.
When you’re at the bend of the curve, you’re able to spend less processing effort on the fact that you need to veer to the right. This frees up your attention to take in more of what’s before you. The trees, the sky, the terrain, etc.
It’s the same thing with speaking. As the presenter, it’s a good idea to intentionally use cues that help your audience anticipate what’s coming next. These signals help the listeners process your points and intentions more efficiently each step of the way.
A few ways to talk like a stop sign
Slow down your speech
My first suggestion is to slow down your speech. When we’re nervous or so caught up in the information that we’re sharing, we tend to speak quickly. We forget that there are real live humans before us who are processing the information for the first time as we are speaking.
Use strategic pauses
In addition to slowing down your speech, concentrate on where to project the pauses in your speech. These are cues that help your listener(s) stick with you each step of the way and retain the information that you’re sharing.
Below are a few suggestions for where you can assert a pause or hold (a baby pause):
- Before you begin talking. Be silent to get everyone’s attention. Help your audience get focused.
- Before making a point that’s important. At any moment, the members in your audience are thinking about something else. What am I having for dinner tonight? I need to remember to email <name of person> back. I’m hungry. Reign them back in to the here and now – i.e., your presentation.
- Before answering a question. Give yourself a little time to process the question. This also gives the audience time to process the question. In fact, I recommend that you repeat the question. This helps ensure that everyone in the room (real or virtual) can hear and understand the question.
- After asking a question. Once again, give your audience time to process the question.
Stress or highlight the key words
I provide presentation delivery coaching for both native and non-native speakers of English. For the native speakers of English, I typically emphasize that it’s critical not to mumble or swallow your sounds. Along with this, you want to incorporate more pitch variation to direct the audience’s attention to what really matters to you, the speaker This impacts how efficiently the listener(s) process the information and your emotional attitude.
For non-native speakers of English, I explain that every language has its own cues or signals to help the listener(s) process what the speaker is saying in real-time spontaneous speech. In English, stress production is one of these cues. I typically coach these speakers on lengthening the clear vowel sounds and incorporating more pitch variation to stress specific key words. This is key for helping the audience efficiently process the information.
Final Thoughts
When you talk like a stop sign, you create space—for your listeners to follow, process, and engage with your message. Slowing down, pausing strategically, and emphasizing key words are small adjustments that make a big difference. They help transform your delivery from rushed to clear, confident, and intentional.
Whether you’re speaking to a room full of colleagues or connecting with others over Zoom or Teams, remember: strong communication isn’t just about what you say—it’s about how you guide your listeners through it.
