Why I speak slowly
I speak slowly1: fewer words per second.
Why?
For these reasons:
It ensures that people have the time to understand. Communication is not just about hearing the words, but about understanding the meaning behind them. We’ve all
listenedbeen spoken to by people who are already on their third thought before you’ve processed the first. If you speak fast and people miss it, there’s no point in having a conversation to begin with. This is the same reason good UIs have a generous amount of whitespace in it: if you were to “optimise” it by removing the whitespace, that would be less usable, not more.It encourages people to relax and think of the big picture, rather than rushing, which results in a narrow focus. Since most of their other work is about rushing through, slowing down is a valuable benefit I provide.
At an emotional level, it results in meetings that are relaxed rather than stressed.
It works for people who are not used to Indian accents.
The downside of speaking slowly is that it takes more time, but that’s heavily outweighed by the above benefits: I’d rather spend more time and achieve something, than spend less time and not. That’s why I speak slowly.
unless I’ve judged the person as being comfortable with fast speaking.
Fast and slow refer to the words per second, not the speed of conveying information.