Obama’s outstanding use of pacing also greatly enhances the effectiveness of his communication. With well-chosen pacing, he slows when enunciating important ideas he wants to settle into the psyches of the listeners. He adopts clipped sentences at the right times, which helps to drive points home.

The increase and decrease of his cadence allows him to draw listeners’ attention to his most significant points.Obama is also adept at leveraging silence and employing pregnant pauses.

With pregnant pauses, Obama focuses attention on his more important themes, making his remarks more notable. He is also skilled at knowing when to let the silence endure a bit—very dramatic pauses that often elicit reaction from the audience.