47. Sounds of Silence
Presentation Advice from Composers and Musicians
Stephen Sondheim, the legendary Broadway composer and lyricist, whose countless Broadway musicals have earned him eight Tony Awards, multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize, decided to culminate his career by sharing the secrets of his craft in two impressive books:
• Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes
• Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany
When the first book was published, the New York Times called upon an equally legendary songwriter, Paul Simon, the former partner of Art Garfunkel, to write a review. The book and the review contain, valuable advice about words and music—shared by Mr. Simon and Mr. Sondheim—that is applicable to presentations: how audiences process what they hear.
During a discussion of rhyming lyrics in the book, Mr. Sondheim described the consequence of a poor rhyme:
By the time the ear has figured out what is actually being sung, the singer is in the middle of the next line and the listener has to waste his concentration on catching up.1
In the review, Mr. Simon added his own view on the subject:
I have a similar thought regarding attention span and a listener’s need for time to digest a complicated line or visualize an unusual image. I try to leave a space after a difficult line—either silence or a lyrical cliché that gives the ear a chance to “catch up” with the song before the next thought arrives and the listener is lost.2
Given his famous 1965 song, “Sounds of Silence,” Mr. Simon knows whereof he speaks.
The two composers’ opinions are echoed by those of two jazz musicians. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, the father of BeBop once said, “It’s taken me most of my life to know which notes not to play.” And tenor saxophonist Houston Person, in a Wall Street Journal profile, said:
Silence is as much a part of the music as the notes are. After all, if you were to speak to someone and not pause here and there everything would have equal importance. You use silence to underline something, whether you play it on an instrument or speak it in a conversation.3
Once is an opinion, twice an affirmation, three times a trend, and the fourth makes it sound advice you would do well to follow in presentations.
Put spaces between your words—and images—to allow your audiences to absorb the points of your message. When you present, speak with a cadence that includes pauses between your phrases, and when you design your slides, surround your images with empty space.
Listen to the masters.
Pause.