Talking fast can lead to a lack of clear enunciation, articulation and an engaging tone, preventing your message from taking hold in the listener's mind. They may hear your words but end up misunderstanding the full message.
Pressured speech is often a sign of mania or hypomania. That's when your energy level or mood is very high. It's linked to bipolar disorder.
People talk fast because they are nervous. It's their culture, they want to get to the point, or they are worried others aren't interested in what they have to say. Let's dive a little deeper into each of these and look at some solutions for whichever reason you talk fast.
Key points about fluency disorders
That's when you speak fast and jam words together or say “uh” often. It's important to assess and address speech disorders early. A fluency disorder can be diagnosed by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). A fluency disorder can't be cured.
Fast talkers are people who articulately and assertively say things faster than they can be assessed as a way of pushing their agenda past other people's examination or objections. Fast talking can be especially effective when it's used against people worried about appearing stupid.
According to research, you sound more intelligent if you speak relatively slowly. (Think of it as the Jeff Goldblum effect.) Speaking at a measured pace makes you seem smarter--as if your words are better thought-out (even if they aren't).
Rapid Fire Speech and Excessive Talking
One of the trademarks of ADHD is rapid fire thought and excessive speech. These signs of ADHD exist under the hyperactive-impulsive sub-type of ADHD. This symptom may cause problems within a person's professional and personal relationships.
Talking fast seemed to signal confidence, intelligence, objectivity and superior knowledge. [However, another study in a different context has found that speaking slowly is linked to sounding intelligent, so the link is far from proven.]
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): People with ADHD may talk excessively and interrupt frequently.
Slower or faster speakers weren't as effective at getting people to listen to their pitch. That's not surprising, the researchers said, since people who talk fast tend to be seen as not trustworthy, while those who speak too slowly are usually perceived as slow-witted or overly pedantic.
Avoid speaking very slow because the listener can get lost in what you are trying to say if it takes you a long time to say it. Alternatively, don't speak very fast as you may lose your coherence and the words might not be clear or easy to understand. Instead: Keep a steady, even pace when you are talking.
Smaller hippocampus and amygdala sizes can cause impairment in the regulation of memory, emotion, and behavior, which is a common symptom of kids with ADHD. While these regions of the brain may remain smaller in people with ADHD, studies have shown that they do continue to grow and mature as children get older.
People with ADHD tend to talk — a lot. We talk because we're excited or nervous, or because we just want to be a part of the conversation. Sometimes we talk simply to fill the silence because silence is hard for us.
People with ADHD often exhibit such behaviors as blurting out answers, interrupting, oversharing, and speaking at too high a volume. These things break away from the social norms of interaction and conversation. This can cause difficulties when relating to and interacting with others.
Can intelligent people be talkative? For people presented as very intelligent, the mean rating of talkativeness was 0.32, which was in the direction of being above average, but not significantly so [t(30) = 1.66, p < . 10].
Some fast talkers come from families where there is a lot of competition for the floor. Fast talking was originally a way to get their parents' attention, and the habit stuck. Others come from families that seem to have a genetic speed streak—they walk fast, work fast, and also talk fast.
Over-talking often arises from social anxiety, which creates a troubling feedback loop. The more people talk, the more anxious they become about their social selves, and the more they talk. At that point, over-talking can feel like an uncontrollable habit.
Rapid speech
Some people are naturally talkative; we all know a motormouth or Chatty Cathy. But "pressured speech" is one of the most common symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Being too talkative actually undermines your personal power and influence with others. First, if you talk too much, people can't get their opinions and ideas into the conversation. People shy away from conversations with talkative people because ...