Think about why you might be bored listening to someones presentation. Perhaps it is because they are speaking at exactly the same rate throughout the speech. There is no variety in the presentation.

Rate is simply the fastness or slowness of the speech utterance. Rate is more commonly accepted among speech teachers as the overall slowness or rapidity of speech, and especially the time allotted to pauses.

Ah, the pause. So important, yet so underused. When we write, we uses commas and periods to mark the time needed to pause, breathe and give affect to what we are writing. But when we speak, so often the speaker forgets to use the same rules and just rushes through what he/she has to say. The listener is either left with a poor understanding of what was said since it was spoken too quickly or, fell asleep halfway through since there was no vocal variety.

Rate is often measured in the number of words spoken in a minute. This can easily be assessed by a Speech Consultant or, you can learn to do it yourself. The average rate for material of average complexity is between 145 and 175 WPM or Words per Minute. If you are speaking at a rate between 115 and 130 WPM, you might be speaking too slowly and might lose the attention of the audience. If you find you are speaking from 130-145 you may be speaking slower than average, however, you might be doing this on purpose if the material is a bit more complex requiring you to give more pauses for the listeners to be able to retain the information.

You definitely dont want to bore the audience and assist them in falling asleep.

Vocal variety is important to keep the audience engaged. Practice difference vocal changes and see what works for you. You want to be sure you pause at the right place. IF you tell a joke or an anecdote, pause before the important punch line. Pause before telling the audience an important piece of information.

What is pausing? The time allotted between sentences, phrases or words. The absence of sound. Pauses require careful timing to be effective. The timing is used to be effective during the presentation. Too short a pause may fail to give the listener the needed time for absorption of the sounds and images presented. A pause that is too long may result in the loss of the listeners attention. How you use your pauses will help distinguish you from other speakers. The variety you use in your voice during your speech will help keep the audience engaged. Great speakers tend to pause longer.

However, dont have a meaningless pause in the middle of a thought group. This can result from poor breathing techniques. Your Speech Consultant can work with you to improve your breathing techniques to help you become more effective during your speeches.

Telling jokes can change the pace and get your audience to laugh. When the audience laughs, you are changing the pace of the presentation. If your intension is that they laugh, than be sure to pause long enough to allow them the time to laugh and not interrupt your speech.

How do we use a pause?

We can use the pause for punctuation. Note the difference below just by changing the punctuation.

Nobody cares why you were the winner.

Nobody cares why-you were the winner.

Pausing can be used to emphasize.

She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

She/ was the most/ beautiful girl I had ever seen.

You can now see that the ideal speaking rate can be more complicated than you thought. Understanding and practice can help you to become the effective communicator you want to be.

Good luck and have fun!

Jayne Latz is a licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologist who is teaching presentation skills at New York University as well as in the Corporate world.