Monday, March 16, 1998 at 08:06:22

This is strange, because I thought I was the only one who spends time thinking about things like this. I was happy to come across this site. Ive given a lot of thought to "Filled Pauses"(I didnt know what they were called)One of the main things that I have noticed about this is that alot of times if you watch a persons eyes(or catch yourself) when a filled pause occurs there is most often a quick glance up to the person(s) they are speaking to. My opinion is that it is to see where what is beang said stands with the audience. During the filled pause is when the mind chooses the correct words to use to get the point across clearly. Also to change voice tones and things like that to mold the audience.

- SJ

I am now beginning to observe visual cues during moments of hesitation in my research.  I had hypothesized that during these moments speakers would *not* establish or maintain eye contact with their conversational partner(s) because the eyes would physically mimic what the mind is actually doing: searching.  I have been expecting to find a great deal of flitting eye movement during hesitation.  However, if what you say turns out to be true (and it sounds like you have been observing it longer than I have) I will have to revise this hypothesis considerably.

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