We have a lot to say and only a short time in which to say it. The natural tendency is to try to pack in as much as we can.
But communication is not about the number of things we say, it’s about the number of things that are understood. Good speakers master a practice that is simple but powerful: they speak more slowly than others.
Newsman David Brinkley’s distinctive delivery is known to generations.
He was a pioneer in network news, anchoring the original nbc news report before hosting the Sunday morning news analysis program This Week.
He credits a teacher’s simple advice for a great deal of his success. “He said to me, ‘The faster you speak, the less people will understand you. Take that to heart.’ And I did.”
People rate speakers who speak more slowly as being 38 percent more knowledgeable than speakers who speak more quickly.
Peterson, Cannito, and Brown 1995