I speak way too fast sometimes

I spoke to someone today and the feedback I got was that I was speaking way too fast. I had not realized it until my other friend started talking and he was considerably slow, steady and calm, whereas I was fast, excited and energized.

I checked out the speed of speech and I found this.

Studies show speech rate alters depending on the speaker's culture, geographical location, subject matter, gender, emotional state, fluency, profession or audience.

However, despite these variables, there are widely accepted guidelines.

These are:
- Slow speech is usually regarded as less than 110 wpm, or words per minute.

- Conversational speech generally falls between 120 wpm at the slow end, to 150 - 200 wpm in the fast range.

- People who read books for radio or podcasts are often asked to speak at 150-160 wpm.

- Auctioneers or commentators who practice speed speech are usually in the 250 to 400 wpm range.

My friend said he was mirroring the person we were talking to. The advantage he has was that he knew that person beforehand and I didn't. Moreover, the person wasn't talking much at the start of the conversation for me to mirror him, but I did slow down as I moved along.

I must be more mindful of this and to slow down in my speech rate and speak at the right speed at the right time, which I think I usually do. Just that this time round, I was too excited and energized.

pearlie
Source: write-out-loud.com