Compensatory Pause

Compensatory pause: what is it and why is it needed?

When we speak, our breathing and speech are closely related to each other. In order to pronounce a word or phrase, we must control our breathing correctly to maintain our voice and intonation. However, sometimes situations arise in our speech when we encounter difficulties in controlling breathing and speech. In such cases, a compensatory pause will help.

A compensatory pause is a short pause we take in the middle of a phrase or sentence to catch our breath, collect our thoughts, and continue speaking. This pause can be from a few milliseconds to several seconds, depending on how long it takes to restore breathing.

A compensatory pause can be used in a variety of situations, such as when we are speaking quickly and need to take a breath, when we are under emotional stress, or when we need to give a particular intonation or emphasis to a certain word.

In addition, a compensatory pause can be useful for people suffering from various speech disorders, such as stuttering or dyslexia. In such cases, a pause helps to cope with difficulties in pronouncing words and phrases, allowing you to collect your thoughts and continue speaking without glitches.

It is important to understand that the compensatory pause is not a flaw in speech, but on the contrary, it is a natural and useful element that allows us to speak more clearly, clearly and expressively. When used correctly, the compensatory pause can make our speech more persuasive and emotional, helping us convey our thoughts and feelings to our listeners.

In conclusion, the compensatory pause is an important element of our speech that helps us control our breathing and expressiveness in our speech. It can be used in a variety of situations and is useful for people with various speech disorders. Don’t be afraid to use a compensatory pause in your speech, because it is a natural and useful element that makes our speech clearer, clearer and more expressive.



Compensatory pauses are a time interval during which we pause in communication when receiving an unsatisfactory answer or situation. This allows us to gain time to weigh all possible answers to this question, or to quickly think about a proposal. Compensatory phases are responsible for minimizing errors and wasted time due to stress and anxiety. They are an important element of brain function and maintaining its efficiency in difficult conditions.

Compensatory functions are involved in both the physical and mental aspects of the human body and brain: - Physical aspect. When the body experiences any physical discomfort—from heat or cold to pain or hunger—the body's response may be slow. The senses are “turned off,” which leads to a decrease in the body’s sensitivity to the influence of the external environment. It is important for the body to figure out what caused the discomfort and be sure to eliminate the cause. However, compared to a situation of comfort, this process is slower, because you need to strain some resources to determine the cause. It should also be taken into account that the human body is temporarily unable to perform its functions fully.



A compensatory pause is a kind of forced wait in a test. This is a psychological training technique that allows you to avoid a stressful situation and prepare a person to complete a task. That is, let's imagine that you are faced with a difficult task, and now you have another one scheduled for tomorrow. Or you had a very exhausting conversation, after which you need rest. In general, regardless of the reasons, severe stress occurs. In order to remove it, a person usually either starts to eat or drink something, or lights a cigarette, or drinks water, tea, coffee, or sweets. And over time, fatigue only increases. At the same time, it is absolutely impossible to be distracted by other things. What to do in such a situation? You can simply rest for 20-30 minutes and get ready to work again. But in life it’s not always possible to sit down or lie down and relax. What to do then? Then compensatory breaks can come to your aid. During such pauses, a person rests “as best he can,” which helps him tune in and calm down.