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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 5, 2016 11:50:38 GMT
I speak more fast than slow. And only ramp it up when I'm super excited.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
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Post by mallie on Feb 5, 2016 14:23:19 GMT
I am from New York, so my default is loud, fast and clipped. I dial the speed and volume down living in the Midwest. I also worked on losing my accent. It is pretty much gone except for an occasional word. Regardless of the accent, however, the clipped and clear nature of my speech means I am very easy to understand.as.long as I slowed it down. I was always popular with older clients, because they could always understand me.
So, yes, it is possible to alter your speech patterns if you have to. It was made clear to me at my first job here that I spoke too fast and too loudly, but it was the speed that was the real issue --.people.said they could hear the individual words , but I spoke too fast for them to comprehend the meaning. If I'd said "listen faster".at any job, I would have been fired -- especially since being an "outsider" (not born here) meant I was already suspect. I schooled myself and at work and in public for the last 25+ years, I have used my fake voice.
When I forget and use my real voice, someone will ALWAYS make a comment that they can't comprehend me. In fact, just the other day, one of my staff waved her hands around and said, "I can hear your words, but I can't think fast enough to put the meaning together." Everyone cracked up and agreed. Then I returned to my fake voice and a few minutes later, another staffer said, "wait. This voice you're using now and use all the time is a fake voice, isn't it?" So it took them almost a year to realise that the voice coming out of my mouth is fake.
It is such a relief to go back home and talk like normal!
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