How to Slow Down When You Speak Too Fast

By Buğra Günay, maker of Fenno

Find your speaking pace, learn why you speed up, and practise pausing between ideas. A short routine for presentations and interviews, measured with Fenno on iPhone.

Speaking quickly is common when you are nervous, excited or know the material too well. Listeners then miss details, and fast speech tends to bring more filler words. The goal is not to speak slowly everywhere, but to keep a steady pace and pause where your ideas change.

1. Measure your pace

Record yourself explaining something familiar for two minutes. Fenno shows your words per minute and how steady your pace was, so you have a number rather than a feeling.

2. Notice when you speed up

Replay the recording. Most people speed up at the start, when listing items and when they reach the part they care about most. Mark those points; they are where you need to pause.

3. Pause at the end of ideas

Instead of slowing every word, add a short silent pause after each idea or before an important point. Pauses give listeners time to follow and make you sound more confident.

4. Breathe before the first sentence

Take one full breath before you start. The first sentence sets the pace for what follows.

5. Practise with real material

Rehearse the presentation, interview answers or difficult conversation you actually have coming up. Record, check pace and pauses, and try again. Fenno compares each recording with your own normal over time.

When to get help

If fast speech comes with stuttering, words running together in a way people cannot follow, or it worries you in daily life, a speech-language therapist can assess it. Fenno is a practice tool, not a diagnostic one.

Frequently asked questions