People are judged based on their speech, particularly in public speaking. Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Richard Lee Cox Braden suggests that powerful individuals usually speak more slowly for several reasons. Lower-status people tend to speak quickly due to a perceived time constraint, while speaking slowly is associated with confidence. This is especially important in public speaking, as speaking too quickly can lead to misunderstanding. For instance, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi now speaks at a leisurely 150 words per minute, similar to the pace of an average audiobook. Author Carmine Gallo advises that the ideal presentation pace is around 190 words per minute. Therefore, to appear more powerful, one should aim to speak slower, matching the pace of audiobooks and allowing for conscious processing of each word.
Public Speaking: Power in Slower Speech for Women, Not Expected Speech Patterns”
