. . . a mental brake that is. Here are some mind tricks when
you speak too fast.
- Imagine that your audience is comprised of 5 year olds and
you have to explain some difficult concept to them. You must obviously go
slowly so they can understand you.
- Force yourself to use difficult word combinations which
will force you to slow down so that you don*t stutter over them.
- Do specific practice sessions concentrating on varying the
speed of your delivery so that you get a better control over this aspect of
your talks. Also, varying the speed makes you more interesting
automatically. You must do these practice sessions out loud. To save time,
they can be done in the car, or while doing your hair, or
while bicycling, or jogging, walking, etc.
- Cut out some of your material so that you do not feel
rushed to get it all in. Going faster is usually futile because the
retention level drops so low that you may as well have omitted the material
in the first place.
