Speaking slowly makes people sound more intelligent, research finds. A lower tone also makes both sexes sound more attractive. Women asked to talk in a more attractive way for the study automatically lowered the pitch of their voice and made it sound more breathy — which men find attractive.
Fast Speakers Are More Credible
So, what does the research say? In the late 1970s a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggested that if people talked at a somewhat fast rate (195 words per minute), they were perceived as more credible, intelligent, socially attractive, and persuasive.
Concision makes your speech easier to deliver, and makes it easier for the audience to understand your message. With less to say, you have the luxury of speaking slowly. You will appear confident, organized, and clear-headed. Your words will have much more impact.
Dysarthria occurs when the muscles you use for speech are weak or you have difficulty controlling them. Dysarthria often causes slurred or slow speech that can be difficult to understand.
Granted, the research on speech speed and its impact on perceived intelligence is mixed. Some studies show that speaking more rapidly makes you seem more intelligent, possibly because speed implies certainty.
Some individuals speak quickly out of nervousness and anxiety—they increase their rate in order to get their communication “over with,” but at the expense of clarity and diction, resulting in mumbling or jumbled speech. This particular phenomenon may apply to introverts as well as extroverts.
Yes, it's true: New research says that introverts could have a higher IQ. Think you're a genius? Take this Mensa quiz to find out. Generally speaking, the more often people socialize with friends, the happier they feel.
Fast speech rates lower a person's ability to comprehend and understand what the other person is saying and why they are saying it. The more you slow down your speech, the more the listener's comprehension will increase. When you speak many words at high speed, you are "setting the table" for miscommunication.
It's admirable to care about what you say, but if you speak too slowly, you may be perceived as boring, tired, or less intelligent than you are. To keep people awake and interested, learn to increase your speaking speech without losing articulation and thought clarity.
Speech rate guidelines
Slow speech is usually regarded as less than 110 wpm, or words per minute. Conversational speech generally falls between 120 wpm at the slow end, to 160 - 200 wpm in the fast range. People who read books for radio or podcasts are often asked to speak at 150-160 wpm.
Most of the best public speakers in English speak slowly. Speaking slower makes you sound more confident and trustworthy and will also have an impact on how you feel. As well as making you feel more confident, it gives you a bit of time to think about what you are going to say next.
It can also make you look impatient, aggressive or even lacking empathy for the listener. You may appear as someone just trying to get a transaction over with as quickly as possible without regard to the other person. At the other end of the spectrum, talking fast can be perceived as nervousness or lacking confidence.
While just about half (50.2%) of men and women agreed that they would like an even split between fast and slow pace, more women (31.7 %) chose a fast pace 'most or all of the time' than men (20%), who didn't want it that fast nearly as often.
We speak more rapidly when we have something urgent to say, when we're nervous, when we feel like we are running out of time, or when we're trying not to be interrupted. We tend to speak slower and with more pauses when we are tired or bored. Remember to make adjustments as necessary.
Research in Britain shows that on average, females have a significantly larger vocabulary, they acquire skills and words more quickly and they also are ahead of males in their gesturing skills. Overall, girls also begin speaking an average of 1 month sooner than boys.
It's admirable to care about what you say, but if you speak too slowly, you may be perceived as boring, tired, or less intelligent than you are. To keep people awake and interested, learn to increase your speaking speech without losing articulation and thought clarity.
When it comes to public speaking, you'll want to talk at a conversational pace. This rate of speech typically ranges from around one hundred forty to one hundred seventy words per minute. If you speak much slower than one hundred forty words per minute, you're probably not speaking fast enough for your audience.
For highly intelligent people, whilst they are most interested in finding solutions for real-life problems, they also enjoy pondering deep philosophical ideas and abstract concepts. From a young age, they have an insatiable curiosity about life; They thrive on learning.
Introverts can also sometimes be considered loners. These are people who enjoy time alone, not necessarily because they don't like being around other people, but rather because they are more interested in their own inner thoughts and feelings. Spending quality time by themselves is how they are able to regain energy.
They successfully start each of their conversations with the right tone and energy. Smart people make eye contact, they pay attention to their body language, they ask smart questions, and they give compliments. They also make you laugh, they really listen, and they tell a great story.
Some individuals speak quickly out of nervousness and anxiety—they increase their rate in order to get their communication “over with,” but at the expense of clarity and diction, resulting in mumbling or jumbled speech. This particular phenomenon may apply to introverts as well as extroverts.
Why do some people speak fast? There is much speculation about this. Some people say it is a sign of nervousness; some say it comes from having to always compete to be heard; others say it shows that you think fast and are trying to keep up with your thoughts.