Are You Speaking Too Quickly? Expert Advice

Executive Speech Coach, Patricia Fripp How to know if you are speaking too quickly and what to do about it.
FrippVT can equip you and your team with powerful persuasive presentation skills and give you a competitive edge.

Can Your Audience Understand Your Message? Not if you speak too fast.

Are you speaking too quickly? It can happen unconsciously. Sometimes public speaking can trigger an adrenaline rush. You might feel charged with energy or a bit nervous.

If you’re speaking too quickly, you are likely to lose your audience. You jeopardize the overall success of your message.

Even If You Are a Disney Fan…Don’t

For some speakers, speaking too quickly is coupled with a rise in voice pitch which makes even a knowledgeable speaker sound like Minnie Mouse.

Pay attention to audience feedback. If one person reports a problem with understanding you, this may be an individual perception or opinion. But if several do, you need to time yourself.

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Enjoy The Wit, Wisdom & World of Robert Fripp

Robert Fripp in His Own Words shares an inside look into King Crimson.
Robert Fripp Performing with King Crimson

By July 2018, Robert Fripp will have been getting out of vans and tour buses as a working musician for 57 years and a professional musician for 48 years. Would you like to know how he went from a tone-deaf 12-year-old with no sense of rhythm to an internationally acclaimed musician? In his own words?

While you might already know my brother, Robert Fripp as one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists,” you may not know him as a superb and entertaining speaker. He has an extraordinary ability to connect with an audience both intellectually and emotionally.

Robert captivates and reveals everything you ever wanted to know about him in The Wit, Wisdom, and World of Robert Fripp in His Own Words, available through Robert FrippVT. Robert went from novice to master and you can too.

Robert Fripp on Quality



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A Brilliant Perspective on The Three Qualities of A Hero

Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and David Bowie
Brian Eno, Robert Fripp & David Bowie

My brother Robert Fripp is an internationally acclaimed guitarist and a founding member of King Crimson. His discography includes an innovative performance on David Bowie’s Heroes. Remarkably, Robert is as brilliant a thinker, writer, and speaker as he is a musician. Experience The Wit, Wisdom, and World of Robert Fripp in His Own Words when you subscribe to Robert FrippVT.

I asked Robert to share his thoughts on what it takes to be a hero.  He said that heroes aspire to embody three qualities:

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How to Make Your Presentation Pithy and Powerful

A pithy presentation is a powerful presentation.
A pithy presentation is a powerful presentation. Edit until your message is to the point.

Subtle changes will make a tremendous difference

Both in your public speaking and writing. Here are a few of my inside secrets on editing to ensure that your presentation is a success. A “pithy” presentation is “to the point” and “forcefully expressive.”  That’s powerful.  The word “edit” is commonly misused as a synonym for “delete.” However, “edit” actually means, “correct, revise, or adapt.”

Four strong suggestions

1. Revise by deleting repetitions, digressions, fuzzy phrases, and meaningless clichés.

For example, “today” might be the most overused, impact-diluting word used in presentations and business communications. Simplify where you can without sacrificing meaning.

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Want to Be Regarded As A Brilliant Conversationalist?

You can be a brilliant conversationalist if you ask good questions and then listen, really listen.
You can be a brilliant conversationalist if you ask good questions and then listen, really listen.

What makes someone a brilliant conversationalist? Brilliant conversationalists engage others by asking excellent questions. You can improve the quality of all of your conversations, professional and personal, when you ask good questions and then listen, really listen, to the responses. This is also one of the best ways to get smarter.

Maybe you know of my brother Robert Fripp, the legendary guitarist? He’s one of Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. You might not know that he’s also a thoughtful and erudite writer and speaker. In truth, Robert is one of the most brilliant people I know and he listens well. He’s said:

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Do Your Presentations Bore The Boardroom?

Learn the Right Way to Prepare a Presentation

When you open your mouth at every stage of your career, you sell yourself, your ideas, your value, and your ability. Fortunately, even if you’re not a born communicator, the ability to deliver a powerful presentation can be learned. I share this story about one intelligent and ambitious MBA:

Mary might have been the smartest in her class, but public speaking wasn’t part of her MBA program. Even with extensive planning and preparation, she made some prevalent mistakes. These mistakes bored them and ultimately lost her audience. When you learn the right way to prepare a presentation, you will save yourself time. You will deliver your presentation knowing that your words will not bore your audience but will hold their attention and get your message heard.

When you improve your public speaking and presentation skills, you increase your confidence and gain a valuable tool in furthering your career goals. If you avoid public speaking at the high cost of your success, why not get the training you need to speak confidently in public?

Can You Relate to Mary the MBA?

If you need help, let’s talk.

“Patricia Fripp is a genius speech coach. Even for seasoned professional speakers.” Tracy Hooper, President, The Confidence Project

“As a seasoned speaker coached by Patricia Fripp has helped me deliver my game-changing message with more power and eloquence.  My client testimonials and feedback prove it.” Ron Karr, CSP, Past President, National Speakers Association

“Your coaching, along with FrippVT, helped us land one of our biggest sales ever.”  Mike Stryczek, President & CEO, AB&R

“As a speech coach, Patricia Fripp is a miracle worker.” Larraine Segil, Chairman and CEO, Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation.

“I would have paid $3000 for a year of FrippVT.”  Mitzi Perdue, Professional Speaker and Author.

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How to Ensure That Your Audience Is Interested

Keeping the audience interested... Executive Speech Coach and Creator of Fripp Virtual Training, Patricia Fripp.
Executive Speech Coach and Creator of Fripp Virtual Training, Patricia Fripp knows how to keep an audience interested.

Q: What is the secret of delivering a good presentation?
A: The audience is interested.
Q: How do I know that they will be?
A: If it is interesting, entertaining, and your audience can see themselves in your presentations… your audience will be interested.

Therefore, ask yourself these three questions:

  • Who is my audience?
  • What is their interest in my subject?
  • If they embrace my subject what is the result to them?

In other words, we are often “selling” the result of what we are addressing in our presentation, not the presentation itself. I share more on capturing your audience’s interest in this brief video:

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Want to Know the Secret to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas to Senior Management?

Conference Room Report to Senior Management
You can report to senior management without being nervous, whether it’s a formal presentation or a boardroom conversation.

As a Presentation Skills Expert, I’m often asked, “Patricia, how do I report to my senior management without being nervous?” The secret is to be prepared, clear, concise, and to act confident. Now, how do you appear confident when you’re nervous?

First, prepare. Script out exactly what you are going to say, at least the opening of your presentation or conversation. It could be as simple as, “Thank you for the opportunity to update you on our project”, or “The purpose of our meeting is to . . . ” or “As you will remember, at our last meeting, you challenged us to . . .”

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What Do You Really Mean? Specificity Is The Key to Credibility

Presentation expert Patricia Fripp reminds her speech coaching clients that specificity is the key to credibility.
“Specificity builds credibility,” Patricia Fripp reminds her presentation skills coaching and virtual training clients.

What Do You Really Mean?

Every day in my role as an executive speech coach and the creator of FrippVT, I always say, “Specificity builds credibility.”

I listen to intelligent engineers, experienced leaders, and true experts in every field and find that too many are sloppy speakers. If you want to build your credibility, listen to what you say.

Here is a simple solution. You need to recognize both your strengths and areas to improve.

You Will Not Improve What You Are Not Aware Of

Record casual conversations and your side of a phone call or when you are leading a meeting. If you are like most of my clients and you will find out how often you use sloppy and not specific language.

Even my most intelligent clients fall into the trap of using the word stuff.

Stuff is rubbish. What do you really mean? At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I will give you a break if you are talking about the turkey.

Of course, in everyday conversation we don’t normally prepare what we’re going to say – so, it can feel natural to be non-specific. However, I guarantee that your important conversations and presentations will be much better if you examine your current speaking habits and then consciously build specificity into your everyday language.

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