People are always telling me I talk too fast and they can’t understand what I’m saying. I do it partly out of habit I guess, and because I’m impatient and project that onto other people and feel like they want me to hurry up, even though I know that’s not true. There are a lot of situations where I feel rushed for no good reason, and talking is just one of them.
Compared to who? Not compared to other people I encounter on a daily basis, but we’ve been told New Englanders all talk too damn fast. That’s okay, listening to a lot of those same southerners doing the complaining is painful because they talk sooooooo sllllloooooowwwwwlllllyyyyy. Not even southern, but I hate listening to Obama talk because he spends twice as long getting his words out as anyone I actually know.
My speech is so rapid that I have been told that I must be doing it on purpose to be annoying. My daughter has the same problem. I have no idea why whe speak so fast, but most people I know speak on the faster side.
I didn’t realize that until I began in sales and customer service. The people on the phone often have to remind me to slow down, and this is even though I am making an honest effort to speak slowly on the phone. I often just come clean with my customers and admit to them that I have a problem. (Sorry, Ms. Jones. I will try to slow it down, I know it is annoying to have to keep reminding me). The fact that I admit it seems to smooth them over and reassure them that I am not just a slick fast talking salesman.
When I have to slow way down for my southern customers, it feels sooo awkward, to the point of me feeling as if I am mocking them or being silly on purpose. I genuinely feel like I am tallllkinnng innnnn slooowwww moooottttiooon…
I also over articulate to a strong degree, because I have a pet peeve about repeating myself. So I know I am speaking clear as a bell. I pronounce words like I’ve had fucking elocution classes. Doesn’t matter though. They still want me to slow down.
And I meant to post just a simple line or two on this topic, but got carried away, so I guess I talk a bit much along with talking fast.
This is exactly what I would say, just add in what Anaamika said about being afraid of people stopping listening when I was younger as probably being a cause as well. My friends and family always give me shit about talking too fast, but it’s REALLY hard not to. I have to make a deliberate effort to talk at everyone else’s normal speed, then I feel like I sound retarded and slow as hell. But I do make an effort when it’s important to slow down, and I have noticed a slight improvement overall in getting my speed to a more normal level, because it’s frustrating as all get out to repeat myself all the time.
Clarity has little to with it, for me. It’s just that the rapidfire speech approach itself makes me feel uneasy. Anyone who uses it around here is really anxious. And I’m really empathic, So rapid-talkers often make me anxious. I don’t like being anxious. So I ask them to slow down.
Oh, and whoever mentioned Obama’s slow talk–his actual words aren’t that slow. He just seems to take a while to think before he speaks. I appreciate that. But it is annoying waiting on him.
My brother reminds me of Obama in that way. He thinks before he speaks. Imagine!
Seriously though, it is annoying as hell waiting for him to pause and wait and give another lil’ piece, then pause again. Come on!
And I think that was insightful as hell, what Mika said, upthread. I bet my fast talking ways has some root in being afraid that I would bore folks if I took my time.
I’m so proud. 
Self-esteem issues have mostly been combatted. I say mostly because these days I often choose not to speak at all - mostly because I am comfortable in my opinions and don’t really like debating but I’m sure there’s a teensy bit of worry there too. But if so it’s hardly noticeable.
Out of curiosity, why does the OP want to know?
Whoa, when did speaking fast become a sign of low self esteem and anxiety? Apparently, I need to see a shrink.
I stutter. Mildly, but it’s there, and has been all my life.
Oddly, I find that if I speak faster, I don’t stutter as much. I feel like I’m getting all the words out before I can trip on a word.
I didn’t learn this from a speech therapist, it’s just something that seems to work for me.
I’ve always talked fast. I believe it’s neurological.
I also don’t like listening to slow (or even normal speed) speakers. One consequence is that I usually listen to educational audio CDs/MP3s at 4x playback speed. That level of acceleration sounds “right” to me although others have commented that it sounds like gibberish. A few presenters talk fast naturally so I have to dial them down a notch to 3x to make them intelligible.
I talk way fast. supervenusfreak tends to speak more slowly, pausing for (what feel to me to be) long periods of time to find the right words or to go over what he’s about to say (I assume). And it sometimes annoys the hell out of me, because I’m HANGING on the last word he said waiting for the continuation and IT’S NOT COMING!!!
Sorry, dear…
On the other hand, I know I annoy him sometimes, too, especially when I interrupt to either supply a word that I think he’s looking for or to argue with him before he’s finished his sentence. Both of those tick him off, and when I realize I’m doing it, I do try to rein it in.
Another way we’ll annoy each other is this: I’ll say something and say it fast, because that’s my default speed. He’ll hear me say something, but he’ll have missed what the meaning was because it went by too quickly. So he’ll go “What?” And I’ll say it again louder, not realizing that it was the speed and not the volume that made it obscure. And he’ll say “What?” again. And I’ll get frustrated, realize that it was the speed I was speaking that was the problem, and slow things down. Unfortunately, I’ll also tend to spin the words on a kind of huffy attitude because by this time, I’m really annoyed. And he’ll pick up on the attitude and get annoyed himself. Doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen.
I don’t know if it’s a direct correlation all the time! Just in my case it was a matter of spitting the words out fast.
But are you physically tense - locking your knees, for example, or keeping braced for collisions? In my experience, NY walking encourages that on a semi-conscious level. I wonder if fast talkers too may be unconsciously keyed-up.
One other thing. We’re getting fast talkers to respond (thankyoufasttalkers). But not so much from people listening to fast talk.
There’s an unspoken stereotype that slow talkers are of low intellect. Well, I don’t perceive fast talk as a sign of a high intellect. More a high-pressure intellect - the drive to get the most out in the least time.
Different techniques work for different people.
Your method is interesting if only because I never met anyone who used it successfully. There’s no doubt that slowed speech is effective. It’s practically impossible to stammer speaking at 40 wpm, although you do risk your audience yawning and looking at their watches. But that sometimes happens if you get stuck on a word anyway.
My stammer has practically disappeared, but I do occasionally slow down to about 90 wpm when using the phone. This is because in my early days I had people hang up on me because they thought the line had gone dead.
Which it had, really. 
I speak quickly, especially if I really get going on a topic. I’ve slowed down some since I was a kid, but my speech still probably quite a bit faster than most people’s. I was incredibly excited when I met my hematologist, because he’s one of the few people I’ve met who speaks about as quickly as I do.
I can speak more slowly when I make a conscious effort, but it feels like slogging through wet cement. As others have noted, it also feels like I’m being condescending to my listener when I do that.
I’m a very fast reader, too–IIRC, generally in the 750-1,200 WPM range, depending on the content. Anybody else notice a correlation there?
What he said.
As an added benefit, I am efficient with my time and the time of those who are listening.
My husband is a slow talker. Drives me batty.
Nope. I am a slow reader, and often have to read the heavy stuff several times before I can make it stick and make sense.
Not that I’ve ever noticed - perhaps because that is the place where I can easily walk my natural pace without feeling like a broken-field runner.
I can see it perceived as high intellect in the sense that our minds are moving so quickly that the fast talk is an effort to keep up. Perhaps high pressure has a bit of intimidation in it? I once got sent to a presentations class because my Department Head said I had intimidated his boss - who was the most intimidating guy around. It wasn’t intentional.
Might there be an element of energy in fast talk. Really slow speakers put me to sleep, or worse, I daydream, since I have read their slide, taken notes, and thought of several questions and implications before they finish bullet 2. Someone speaking more quickly (but not too quickly) forces the audience to stay sharp to keep up, and may come across as more energetic and interesting.
Has anyone heard a boring fast talker? (Outside the Monty Python travel agent sketch, that is.)
But isn’t there a stereotype about slow talkers being more thoughtful? I mean, again, with my big brother…he is a very intelligent and thoughtful man. Sloowwww talker.