Speed Speaking

I just had the most fascinating experience. The. MOST. Fascinating.

What was it? I’m so glad you asked. I was hoping you would.

Let me tell you: at 7:00 and 8:00 AM my time (I’m in China), I gave the exact same presentation two times.

It was on the topic of vitality. How to maintain high energy and prevent burnout. Same topic. Same deck. Same presenter (me).

But the difference between the two presentations? Mind-boggling.

At 7:00 AM, I went in guns blazing. “I’m a fast talker,” I said at the start of the presentation, “And I’m passionate about this topic, so I might start talking REALLY fast. If you need me to slow down, let me know.”

Then I started. Unsurprisingly, I got fired up. I love this topic and I love giving presentations. I was in my zone. And, as my energy rose, my tempo did too. Words were a-flyin’.

A woman used the chat box to ask me to slow down and I tried but, frankly, I failed. My energy was a 10 out of 10 and the momentum was too high to shift in the middle.

At the end of the presentation, I was on cloud 9. I felt great about the information I shared and how I shared it. I got feedback about how helpful the talk was and how refreshing my energy was. “Great way to start a Monday morning!” was the gist.

Then, at 8:00, I logged in again but with a plan to speak more slowly. There were non-native English speakers on the call and I wanted to be inclusive. I wanted to show my respect by speaking at a more reasonable pace.

I succeeded. I cut out slides to save time, I spoke more slowly and no one had to chime in to ask me to slow down.

And…the presentation was roughly 17 times worse than the 7:00 AM one.

I wasn’t on fire. I wasn’t motivating and inspiring. I was a lady calmly sharing a story in her library voice.

Not exactly the right feel for a vitality presentation, huh?

A few years ago, one of my mentors used to regularly tell me to speak more slowly and it bothered me. “I don’t want to speak more slowly,” I wanted to say. “This way works for me.” So I chucked it in the “not for me” advice bin and got on with my life.

Last year, when I was being interviewed for a video for Second Chance, the videographer stopped me a few sentences into filming. “You’re speaking really fast,” he said.

I grimaced. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I get that feedback a lot.”

Then he gave me the most liberating response. “Oh, okay. If you normally speak quickly, then keep doing it. I can slow your answers down in post-production. A lot of people start speaking quickly when they’re being filmed because they get nervous and I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t happening.”

“Oh,” he basically said. “This way of speaking works for you? It’s how you function best in the world? Then lean into that, sister. Speed speak on.”

So I did and it was great.

Today, when I tried to slow myself down, it wasn’t great.

When I’m excited about a topic, I speak quickly. Not because I’m nervous or racing through it or otherwise trying to cope, but because I’m passionate and excited and basically soaring.

You know who else is like that? Tony Robbins. I listen to almost every podcast on 2-2.5x speed and I can’t understand a single word he says at that speed. He’s the only person I’ve encountered who makes me slow down to 1.5x.

That guy? He’s doing pretty well for himself, I’d say. I reckon that if someone suggested he speak a little more slowly, he’d recommend they go find someone else to listen to.

And that makes sense to me. I want to be respectful. I want to be inclusive. I want to honor that people process things differently.

And there are ways that I can do that without giving up my public speaking advantage: infectious energy.

So, the next time I give a presentation, I’m going to start by saying this: “I’m a fast talker. And, when I give presentations, I tend to talk even faster because I get fired up. I like being fired up. It fuels my presentation. So, while I am not going to slow down, I am happy to share my presentation notes with anyone who wants them.” Per the hubbalicious’ suggestion, I can also share a recording, so people can use video playback speed controls to slow me down to normal human speed.

We can respect other people without contorting ourselves to fit into a box that we don’t even want to be in.

Just like we can find inner peace by accepting that we’ll never be EVERYONE’S cuppa tea.

Isn’t that helpful to know?

Love,

Your friendly neighborhood speed speaker

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