9 Common Business Communication Mistakes – Mistake No. 3 – Speaking Too Fast
People don’t “get it” that when you speak too fast your listener gets lost and tunes out! In this short video, I explain what happens and how to remedy this too-common business communication mistake!
So here is one of the common communication mistakes – Mistake No. 3 video and the transcript below:
Video Transcript
Ok, here we go, mistake number 3 and that is so common, Speaking Way too Fast!
People don’t get it when you speak fast to them. They just hear a blur of words and you don’t make the impact. Speaking too fast is a mistake.
When I started being a speaker, over a quarter of a century ago, I actually had to teach myself to speak at half speed, because I noticed people were not getting the message. Because it takes time for the brain to absorb the message and for the body to process through for them to be with what you are saying. So remember to slow down, because by slowing down by half speed you can emphasize words. You can increase your connection to your audience by smiling and looking around, by having an interplay with one of them perhaps. Being human.
They need to see a human, they don’t need a god! they already have one! But they need to see that you are a reliable human, and slow speed conveys much more reliability than fast speed, “where somebody rushes through the words and gets things done as much as possible because most people do that“…do not.
This is something that will lodge your professionalism in them by the way you speak, so slow down, train yourself in front of the mirror before you got to speak to people, and remember to be personal in the humanity that you exude do not be aloof.
Slower speed, as if you speak to one person, speak to many people, and if you speak to many people it is as if you speak to one person.
If I confused you, speak to one as if you are speaking to many people and speak to many people as if you are speaking to one, and the way to do that is by being intimate, and intimacy begins with a slow speed. Hope that is clear.
Good luck!
Eli Harari
The Life Coach for Professionals™