I talk very fast, I always have. I believe it's a negative in interviews.
Pre-interview mental gymnastics and breathing exercises haven't yielded results in slowing the fuck down. Has anyone who is a default fast-talker found a method that helped them speak at a rate less akin to a speed-freak and more akin to a normal person (aside from quitting speed, of course)?
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Focus on a longer perceived pause to you on the ends of sentences while you're talking.
Make sure you're forming complete, clear ideas to the person you're conversing with by being attentive to body language.
People generally like to talk. If you're taking up a majority of the conversation, you're doing it wrong, unless you are teaching.
Make it an active conversation. Don't just bounce words off each other, but take time to form an introspective view of where the other person is coming from. Work with that into conversation, ask questions, focus on your body language and your affirmations.
The first step is to beat nervousness and the subconscious feeling that the interviewer is rushing you and that you need to hurry. Those 2 things are what cause fast talking.
Agreed. Once you 1) have confidence in what you're saying, and 2) know how to concisely express it (comes from having a well-developed base of knowledge on the subject) you will very likely not feel the need to waterfall as many words out of your mouth as possible
If you learn to tell a story, and can place the correct emphasis in your verbal sentence structures you will inherently slow down your own speech. All great story tellers talk in a very slow, methodical and attention capturing manner that would benefit you!
From an interviewing perspective, telling a story can go a long way. Think of it as the subtle seduction of the interviewer to remember you!
I used to talk fast on the fast side. Advice that was given to me by career services in my undergrad days was to tap your foot gently when you speak. Doing so slows down your tempo and helps get you in a steadier rhythm.
For interviews, obviously do so discreetly (e.g. make sure only to do so when there's a desk between you and the interviewer so they can't see you doing it).
Talk slower. Works every time!
And always listen to the whispering eye.
Practice in the mirror
This is super helpful. Perhaps the most useful thing I've ever done for building my ability to speak confidently in interviews. If you can deal with the awkwardness of talking to yourself, you can deal with the uncomfortableness of interviews
I’ve had this issue during my first few interviews. As a few others mentioned above, I found it was quite helpful to get outside of your thoughts and really be current in the moment. (Your mind tricks you into thinking that you are not speaking quickly enough, when in reality what you consider slow speech is actually normally paced dialogue.) Treating it like a conversation between two people naturally makes it an easier conversation rather than one where your mind is putting a ticker tape of words/sentences that you feel compelled to zip through as quickly as possible so as to complete your thought. Another thing that helped me personally was learning to speak from my diaphragm rather than the base of my throat. You project more confidently when you speak this way, and you are also far more relaxed.
The first few steps are generally uncomfortable, as it requires unwinding some bad habits that tend to compound. Perhaps it would be helpful to schedule some low leverage interviews (whether that be mock interviews at your school, practicing with a friend, or having some informational interviews with contacts in your network who you are comfortable with).
It certainly gets better with time and repetitions as with anything else. Being on the other side of things gives you a perspective that I didn’t appreciate when I was being interviewed. At the fundamental level, it’s really just a round table discussion with a person or a few people that want to get to know a little bit about you, and whether you might be the right fit for the role. Just focus on adequately preparing on technicals and presenting thoughtful and cogent responses on the behaviorals. In due course you’ll start to wonder why you ever thought it was an issue in the first place. All the best :)
Silence is not a bad thing; it is okay to pause in a conversation. Keep that top of mind when conversing with family, friends, informal situations and you will come to adapt. Active listening always helps too. Good luck!
Much more common than you think – I used to talk quickly when I was younger, and would occasionally swallow/blend words when I spoke.
Pauses are necessary – think of it like an en dash in conversation, just like I used in this sentence. A better way to think about it is (in interviews) to take a quick second or two to think about how to respond to the question posed, and formulate your thoughts so you tend to not ramble, and therefore speak a bit slower because your train of thought is planned out. Helps to have the traditional "set" of stories pre-planned to answer interview questions to make that few second thinking process easier.
Calm down. Meditate before you interview or meet someone - this can involve focusing on your breath instead of simply breathing deeply. You won't sound like a machine gun anymore.
As a fellow fast talker, consciously focusing on clearly enunciating every word helped me. Maintaining good composure and speaking with confidence also helps build the right mindset that eases you into speaking more slowly.
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