SLOW DOWN SPEECH AND SPEED UP LEARNING

[CROWN COUNCIL]

Maybe it is because of excitement about something you are anxious to share or maybe you are just like a normal little kid and you have  a natural one-speed delivery.  Whatever the cause, it is important to remember that it is possible to deliver so fast that there is not  enough time for the listener to comprehend what you have has to say.   Actually it is difficult to absorb a lot of information quickly.  As concerns public speaking, a professional speaker who talks too fast sounds less impressive and more self-centered.

 

That is enough to identify the problem.  What about the solution?  Perhaps this is just something  you didn’t know was a problem for you or someone over whom you have some supervision.  The easy move to a solution is just to slow down, but that is not always easy.

 

You can get a more convincing idea of speech speed by recording a speech on tape and then playing it back.  Another test would be to record a conversation between two people and play it back.

 

The latter experiment may be necessary because old habits die hard, and rapid speaking is among the most persistent of them.  If it is a habit you are having trouble kicking, the very least you should do is to make sure you slow down when you are making your more important points. 

 

It is important to keep practicing at speaking more slowly.  After a while, you will start to develop a new comfort zone at your new pace of speaking.  You will then feel uncomfortable when you speak too quickly because the new, slower speed is becoming more and more comfortable for you    What is more important is that you will find it is much more comfortable for your listeners too.  All this considered, there are many good reasons to slow down speech and one of the important ones is that you will speed up learning.

 

Gregory B. Anderson–director