Have you ever been told that you speak too fast? Or that you need to repeat what you are saying so non-English speakers can understand you? Well, it happened to me, and English is not my first language.
I got so used to speaking faster or contracting sounds that sometimes people asked me to slow down. It was not until I recorded myself that I noticed it. It is a fun story; I’ll tell it later.
The Power of the Pause
First, we need to talk about pauses. How important are pauses? This is not only when we speak another language; it matters whenever we speak. There are several public speaking coaches who make a special emphasis on pausing when necessary because the message is understood better that way. Look at the first iPhone presentation by Steve Jobs in 2007. He was able to announce a revolutionary product, and everything he said was understood.
Even now, whenever Apple announces a new product, the person in charge of presenting it does so in a manner that is understandable and pauses whenever necessary. To make your message more powerful and impactful, you need to pause, but not just for the sake of it; we need to know where to pause.
There is no need to speak like a TED Talk presenter; you just need to speak slower. Record yourself a couple of times, trying to speak slower in every recording and pausing more. You will notice a big difference.
My Wake-Up Call
I was working as a Fraud Prevention agent and was asked to take part in a training for a new account (a travel agency), so I had to take some calls. I was really confident in my customer service skills and also my English skills, so I took the calls.
By the end of the day, the person in charge of the training played that recording for the class. She didn’t say anything about it, but I noticed it. I was speaking as if I were on 2x speed; it was so shocking that I asked her, “Do you have the call on 2x?” She said that it was going at normal speed. Ever since that moment, I have always checked my speaking pace. I don’t go too fast or too slow, to the point that I got used to speaking at a “normal pace.”
It’s About Clarity, Not Speed
Speaking faster doesn’t necessarily mean that you are fluent in the language. Fluency is about speaking at a fast pace but being understood. It means that you are able to maintain difficult conversations in your target language and that others can understand what you are trying to convey.
No matter what you are talking about, make sure you pause. If you are reading, this is easier because you only have to follow the punctuation marks, but what about when speaking?
There are many techniques that can help you with that; however, the best one is always mimicking what others do. You can
- Find interviews or podcasts with speakers you admire.
- Listen to a short segment.
- Record yourself copying exactly what they say and how they say it.
Preferably interviews or podcasts, and copy what they say and how they say it. I know it is boring, I know it is tedious, but if you don’t do it, you won’t improve.
The fact that many people think that being fluent is being able to speak faster is just concerning. Many of my students learning English told me that they wanted to speak faster because they felt they spoke slowly. It was not until they recorded themselves that they noticed the difference when speaking faster and slower.
Final Thoughts
When speaking a new language, we don’t need to speak faster. I understand that languages like Spanish are very fast-spoken languages. However, that is just in some cases and areas.
The same happens when speaking English and using lots of contractions. In the end, what matters most is that our message is delivered and understood. Speaking slowly and clearly improves our pronunciation and makes us feel more confident because we are no longer thinking, “I don’t know if they can understand me.”
Leave a Reply