How many times have you met someone for the first time, who rattled through their name so fast, you had no idea of what they just said?

If you are like most people, you may or may not ask them to repeat their name once, but would you do it twice or as many times as necessary to get it right? At that point it gets kind of weird. No?

So you blow it off and next time you simply say “Hey . . .Fella” And they become that dude or dudette with no name. Not a great situation to be in and just out of curiosity . . . have you ever been the one talking gibberish?

Before you give me the old “Hell no”, check this out!

Have you ever had to replay a voice mail an inordinate amount of times because the genius at the other end rattled through their digits like they were practicing to be an auctioneer?

I’ll tell you flat out that I have been guilty of both of these scenarios and quite frankly, many people are. Think about it, things like our name and phone number are presented numerous times a day in our world. Because of that, the tendency is to rush through them. Its quite natural, but very confusing for the other party.

So if you or someone you love suffers from “FTSM” (Fast Talking Syrup Mouth) there’s hope! 🙂

Pausing and Parting: The folks at Dale Carnegie teach this wonderful technique in their courses. To pause and part you would simply pause (briefly or people will pat you on the head and say “bless your heart”) after saying my name is . . . This is important because it captures the attention of the other person. Now comes the “Parting”! To part, you separate or part you first and last name. Example Paul (part) Castain. Doing this prevents one big tapestry of babble and lets you communicate your most important asset, your name. The same technique can be used for your phone number.

Slow down: Remember, to fight your tendency to rush through things you present often. Be mindful of your nerves and how your adrenaline will speed up your rate of speech. You might even want to video tape or simply tape record other things you communicate often such as:

Your 30 second commercial (elevator speech)

The voice mails you leave

Directions (Note: Please make sure everyone in your organization who answers your phone owns this one. I’ve witnessed situations ranging from not knowing one’s own neighborhood to rattling off directions in a completely incoherent manner)

Instructions

Plant Tours

Reevaluate what you are saying. Is it confusing? Is your message compelling enough where it will capture the attention of your audience?

Are your words filled with energy and enthusiasm or do you sound like someone who has communicated the message a thousand times too many?

So, there you have it. Some simple things you can do to avoid getting that confused, head tilted look from the people who hear your message.