Improving Speaking Pace

I'm Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, a licensed speech-language pathologist. I help people who speak English too fast find a pace that listeners can follow.

Prefer one-on-one help? See my private accent reduction training.

Want to start for free? English Pro Lite is my free online American accent course, with 45 lessons and 2.5 hours of video.

Ready for the full program? English Pro, for intermediate learners and above, is $49.99 a month or $479 for lifetime access, with a 10-day money-back guarantee.

Do you speak English too quickly?

People ask you to repeat yourself, or they nod but don't follow what you said.
Colleagues think you're nervous or rushed, even when you're well prepared.
Your words run together, and the ends of words disappear.
You feel frustrated when conversations end in misunderstandings.

Why fast speech is hard to follow

When you speak fast, words blend together and syllables get skipped. Listeners need a little time to process what you say, especially on the phone or in a large room. Many non-native speakers also speed up when they're nervous, or because they want to sound fluent.

Slowing down helps, but pausing in the right places helps even more. Native speakers group words into short phrases called thought groups, with a small pause between them. Those pauses give your listener time to understand you, and they give you time to breathe and think.

How I help you improve your speaking pace

In private training, we listen to how you speak now and find where you rush. Then we practice:

pausing between thought groups
breathing at natural points in a sentence
stressing the important words, so they stand out even at a natural speed
finishing the ends of words clearly

We practice with your own presentations, calls and conversations, so the new habits carry over into real life.

Start improving your speaking pace now with these lessons:

Questions about training? Contact me.

Common questions about speaking pace

What problems does speaking English too fast cause?

The most common are listeners missing what you said, sounding nervous or rushed, losing your audience's attention, and frustration when conversations end in misunderstandings.