Recently, I had a session with a very good talent who struggles occasionally at the very beginning of a break.  I played her a couple of breaks where the hemming and hawing was noticeable; she just couldn’t get any real traction in getting started.

Here’s a possible cause — the tendency to think that every second has to be filled with words.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  JFK, Martin Luther King, and dozens of actors known for their timing realized that sometimes a pause to “gather” your next thought is THE most powerful moment.

Example:  “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” is not the same as “Ask not… what your country can do for you.  (Another pause) Ask what you can do for your country.”

When the anxiety is taken away, and you come to trust that conversations need pauses, the tendency to just add more words, or over-explain, will dissipate.