Taking the Stage: How Women Can Speak Up, Stand Out, and Succeed

Chapter EighteenPace Yourself

Danielle is a delightful conversationalist. But when she speaks to a group of more than a few people, she talks so fast that her audience feels lost in some frantic race. She runs her words together. She snatches at breaths. It's both unsettling to watch her and difficult to grasp what she's saying. When our instructor asks her to slow down, she laughs; it's not the first time she's heard this. She slows down for about eight seconds, and then she's off again at a breakneck pace. When she is reminded again to slow down, she does so—but again, only briefly. Yet it is long enough for the instructor and participants to recognize an appreciable difference in her delivery and effectiveness—to hear her words and grasp ...