How to slow down when you speak: 7 exercises that work
Updated October 27, 2026 · Anthony Delmotte
Short answer. First measure your rate: above 170 words per minute, most listeners struggle. Then slow down by pausing, not by stretching words: short sentences, a breath at every full stop, one stressed word per sentence, and a full second of silence after each key idea.
Why we speak too fast
Nerves speed us up, and so does knowing the text too well: you rush through what is obvious to you and new to the audience. On camera it gets worse, because there is no audience reaction to slow you down.
1. Measure, don’t guess
Read a minute of text out loud with the speaking rate test. 140 to 160 words per minute is a comfortable conversational pace; above 170, people start to lose you. Measure again after each exercise.
2. Pause at every full stop
Most “fast” speakers don’t say words faster; they skip the pauses. Mark a slash after every sentence in your script and stop for one breath at each.
3. Write shorter sentences
Long sentences make you speed up to reach the end before you run out of breath. Split anything longer than about 20 words.
4. Stress one word per sentence
Pick the word that matters and lean on it: slightly louder, slightly longer. Stress forces a natural slow-down around it.
5. Hold the silence after a key idea
After the sentence you want remembered, count “one, two” in your head before going on. It feels long to you and sounds confident to them.
6. Read to a slower recording
Record yourself, then read the same text along with the recording at a set pace in a teleprompter. A steady scroll at 130 words per minute trains the rhythm until it sticks.
7. Let the text wait for you
A fixed-speed prompter pushes you; a prompter that follows your voice waits when you pause. That makes pausing feel safe, which is most of the battle. SmoothCue does this on iPhone, word by word.