Talking too quickly can cause listeners to fatigue as they try to keep up with the speaker, which in turn means that the speaker is not effectively communicating their message. Talking too slowly, on the other hand, can cause a listener to become bored and tune out, again resulting in ineffective communication.
Is there such a thing as a perfect rate of speech? Well, not exactly. There are situations that call for a rapid rate of speech and other times when it is prudent to slow down and make sure that your listener is still with you. There are also wide variations in how quickly different dialects of English are spoken. Did you know, for example, that speakers of New Zealand English speak more quickly than speakers of Standard American English (Robb, et al, 2003)?
We help our clients learn to modify their rate of speech to speak more clearly and be more effective communicators, no matter who they’re talking to.
