They are mostly women.
I have now spent 20 years in the speech trade, and most of the people I run into who speak too fast are women. I have no idea why. I can only speculate.
- they are more ambivalent than men about being the center of attention,
- meaning they simultaneously want to be present and disappear
- so they speak fast in the hope of being heard and ignored at the same time
- or they have turned the old saying, “children are to be seen and not heard” on themselves and think that “women are to be seen and not heard.”
- or because they are more verbally skilled than us men, and have bigger verbal centers in their brains, they are bored chunking through the analog process of speech and instead zip through the verbiage on their way to other thoughts.
I have explored these issues in a more responsible and scientific manner in a new High Stakes Presentation newsletter called The Price of Speaking too Fast.
I hope you will visit the site and read it or download it. It’s available as a PDF or as HTML.
Speaking above the speed limit is a very common problem, and a dumb thing to do, because it can get your career arrested.
Sims Wyeth is a speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in presentation skills and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.
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Dear Ford,
I have heard you speak and I didn’t think it was too fast, although it is safe to say that we all need to slow down. You were emphatic at times, which brought your ideas to life and snapped me to attention.
I recently saw some tape of Martin Luther King speaking on PBS, and I must say I was struck by his pacing, which was very deliberate and languid, as though he were exhausted and lacked the energy to rush through his words or his thinking.
Slow speech is very powerful because it creates the impression of thoughtfulness and gravitas, and gives the listener a chance to think.
Let’s roll–slowly!
What you say doesn’t apply to women alone. I speak foo fast and your first three points ring true to me.
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