Have you ever witnessed a person employ a pregnant pause?  When this happens, you may begin to try and interpret what this break in the conversation could mean. But that will not usually be the best time to think about it. If you don’t hear the whole statement that is being conveyed, you could miss other clues to the meaning.

We, being human beings, often jump to conclusions when we are in a conversation. We are not good at listening. This can lead to hastily made opinions. And that does not facilitate good communication.  Just because a person has to pause, doesn’t mean there is a reason to question the motive.

Now we are getting to the reason I am writing this.  There are some obvious deductions one might be inclined to believe, such as, the person is afraid to say the wrong thing.  Or maybe one could just be struggling to find the right words to convey the intention of the remark. These days, as I am losing my short-term memory, I can easily stop in the middle of a sentence simply because I forgot what I was talking about.  These are only three possibilities for a pregnant pause.

Another possibility is when someone pauses because he was just about to spoil a surprise and caught himself just in time.  Or a person could realize that what she was about to say was purely gossip, and thinking better of it, stopped herself, not wanting to pass it on.  And, particularly when a person is really kind and thoughtful, the words must be chosen so carefully that a pause is warranted.

Regardless of the reason why a pregnant pause is utilized, I tend to believe that most of the time it is not meant to be perceived negatively.  Far too often, we can question the motives of other people. This is especially true when people feel uncertain of themselves or feel that they are being judged.  In my humble opinion, most of the time we should give other people the benefit of the doubt. That is the way I want to be treated and I suspect that, more often than not, other people do as well.