How do I speak like a normal person?

November 18, 2006 7:20 PM

How do I keep myself from mumbling and speaking at mach 3?

I have a horrible problem with mumbling my words and speaking at a very fast rate. Sometimes I am able to calm myself down enough where I am able to sound somewhat normal. Most of the time, however, I find myself speaking at a rate so fast that people find me difficult to understand.

Are there any books, methods, or exercises out there that might be able to help me out a bit?

posted by misled to writing & language (9 comments total)

The traditional remedy is to put small stones in your mouth, and practice until you learn to speak clearly with the stones in your mouth.
posted by orthogonality at 7:24 PM on November 18, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

Toastmasters.
posted by mkultra at 9:06 PM on November 18, 2006

You could try to deliberately speak to all others as if they were very young children, though this would also result in a few punches to the mouth, I imagine. A small price to pay, perhaps.
posted by rokusan at 12:21 AM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I think you have to look at the root of the problem. Do you speak fast out of habit, do you really have the inability to speak slowly, or is it based on anxiety?

This is easier to fix when it's just a bad habit. When I work with my students on this, we practice holding conversations and I signal to them when they're going too fast so they practice speaking at an appropriate rate. Perhaps you could go out with a friend and have them give you a subtle signal to slow down.

Another technique is to really tune into your listener and realize when they stop understanding you because you're going too fast. That's your signal to slow down.

If you've truly never been able to speak slowly that's tougher. You could make a small board with several squares on it and practice reading and touching a square with your finger on every word to pace yourself. It makes you more conscious of your pace and you can slow down more easily.

If it's anxiety, well, that's another issue altogether :-) But I do know there are lots of books out there to reduce your anxiety, and perhaps your speech will clear up once your anxiety does. Good luck :-)
posted by christinetheslp at 12:51 AM on November 19, 2006

Here's what I do, and it seems to help: find some private spot where you can stand up and look at yourself in a mirror. Look your reflection in the eye and start talking about anything at all -- the weather, the last movie you saw, what clothes you're wearing. As you talk, listen carefully to yourself. Evaluate yourself from the listener's point of view. If you mumble something, repeat it until you say it clearly. If you rush through a sentence, say it again and force yourself to speak at a normal-to-slow pace. Doing this while making eye contact with the image of another person helps in getting out of bad habits; it also helps with anxiety.
posted by Zonker at 4:04 AM on November 19, 2006

I second mkultra.... Toastmasters.

It's easy, simple, cheap, emotionally safe, fun, effective, fast, and everywhere. If you are really serious about it, and not just posting a MeFi question for practice, it is absolutely the most effective way to improve your speaking style for a small investment in time. In a year, you'll improve substantially, and in two months, perceptibly.

The rest of the suggestions are good, but you'll need a lot of practice to overcome your speaking and communication habits, and it's best done in a friendly setting with kind people, struggling with their own limitations and problems.

If nothing else, join, get their initial kit and study it.

As a last resort... use a camcorder to analyze your voice and speaking style. It's 1% as effective, but you'll get to hear yourself as others hear you and you won't like it.

Toastmasters!
posted by FauxScot at 5:48 AM on November 19, 2006

Thank you all for the responses.

I speak at a rapid rate due to habit. I think I will try toastmasters and also Zonker's suggestion of watching and listening to myself in front of a mirror.

Thanks again!
posted by misled at 8:35 AM on November 19, 2006

I will second the ToastMaster club. I fixed a lot of my speech speed problems by practicing public speech and getting good feedback.

I also took a class on English pronunciation class at the University, as a part of the English as a second language program. I am francophone, I used to have an obvious French accent. The speech trainer helped my accent, but she also helped me regulate my speed to something more natural. You might want to do the same thing. Look for a professional specializing in accents or in speech therapy.

One cool thing that my accent trainer did with me is, she sat with me in front of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. If I spoke too fast or if my accent was wrong, Dragon NaturallySpeaking would not understand me. That provided an objective, nonjudgment feedback on how well I was speaking. It was very useful.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 7 sells for 15 $ on eBay. It is a great deal. Version seven is old, but it is not outdated: It has the same recognition engine as version eight, it just misses some bells and whistles. The latest version is version nine, which is indeed better, but much more expensive.

Good luck.
posted by gmarceau at 2:27 PM on November 19, 2006

I (used to) have a tendency to trail off at the ends of some sentences - talking to myself rather than anyone else, and mumbling quietly. (Basically thinking out loud, or out quiet, as it were.) I dated a girl for a few months who hated this, and yelled at me every time I did it around her. I don't see her anymore, but I don't do that nearly as often, either. Just a thought...
posted by attercoppe at 4:03 PM on November 19, 2006