Pace and Lead Your Readers

Pacing and leading is the key element of writing with rapport.

Grasp that bit and the rest becomes easy.

Pacing and leading is how we establish rapport with people and then engage, connect, teach, guide, support… in ‘real’ life. The same principles apply in the written word.

The simplest way of thinking about it is as a journey.  You’re going to ask your reader to move from A, the start of your writing, to B, its conclusion.  You’re going to lead them there.

Now think of that journey as a walk.  You’re going to walk alongside your reader.  You’re going to walk them through your words.

This is where the concept of pacing comes in.

Think about a time when you went for a walk with someone.  Perhaps someone you didn’t know all that well, but wanted to, and were hoping to enjoy the experience of the shared walking time with them.

Imagine they set off really fast, making you walk faster and faster to catch up with them.  You’d be feeling a bit puzzled and confused, perhaps a bit left behind, and maybe even breathless   You wouldn’t be feeling as positive towards your companion. In fact, a good degree of distance might have opened up between you.

(Perhaps literally, if they kept on walking, and didn’t notice they were lagging behind )

Now imagine a different scenario. It turns out your companion walks really, really slowly.  Shoe-scuffingly, painfully slowly.  So slow it’s almost unbearably frustrating.  You’d give anything for them just to speed up a bit and get on with things.

In both instances your companion has broken rapport with you.  They’ve set their own pace: too fast, too slow, without paying attention to you, and the speed, the pace, that you naturally go at.

The secret to establishing rapport here is to pace before you lead:

• Walk alongside your companion
• Allow yourself to relax, and adjust to their rhythm, breathing, pace
• Adjust your pace to that of your companion until you’re walking easily and naturally together

The feeling of easy companionship you’re now enjoying is rapport.

You’ve done it by pacing your companion.  (And yes, to get back to the writing analogy, your reader.)

But your job as writer is not just to walk alongside them – you’ve also got to take them somewhere.  And that’s where the leading comes in.

Back in our walking example you adjust your pace: a little bit slower, a little bit faster, and you’ll find your companion adjusts to your pace… without feeling it’s awkward, too fast or too slow.  It feels natural.  They’re walking comfortably alongside you.  It feels relaxed and easy.  You’re leading – but you’re still in rapport.

That’s the essence of pacing and leading, and the easiest and simplest introduction to rapport that I know.

Remember the idea of the walk: where your reader is starting from and where you want to take them to.  And remember to pace, pace, pace before you start to lead.

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