chapters (6)
Slow Down
The moment. You're a little nervous, so you speed up - the words run together and you sound like you want it to be over.
What most people do
Rush through it to escape the spotlight faster.
Why it misfires. Fast talking reads as anxious, and the listener misses half of it. Pace is the single loudest confidence signal you have - faster is not clearer, it's just more nervous.
The rewrite
Same sentence, roughly 60% of the speed, with a breath in the gap: "I looked into it. [breath] Here's what I found."
The move: pace over panic. Deliberately slow down and breathe between sentences. Slow, spaced speech sounds calm and in control - even when you don't feel it yet.
Your turn
Say one point out loud at half your usual speed, with a breath in the middle.
Edge cases. Slow doesn't mean flat - keep a little pitch movement so you sound deliberate, not like a drone.
This week
Pick one daily moment - a greeting, a quick update - and say it noticeably slower.