Novice teachers sometimes struggle to implement a recommended three second pause after initiating a question, a pedagogical tool known as wait time (Rowe, 1974), or thinking time, into their practice (Dukor & Holmberg, 2019). Even when they do, it does not always yield complex answers. In this comparative case study of novice and veteran teacher’s classrooms in a Teach For America summer training site, multimodal conversation analysis is employed to explore how embodied IRF sequences can interfere with, aid, and enhance wait time techniques. The research takes place in seventh and second grade classrooms. By asking, How do the embodied practices of novice and veteran teachers affect wait time? The research found that continued embodied sequences in periods of silence can interfere with wait time techniques, but intentional use of gesture during periods of silence can enhance student thinking.