Slow Down, You Move Too Fast   


So sang Simon and Garfunkel in their “59th Street Bridge” song. 
And, they went on, “You've got to make the morning last.” 

In our high-tech, nano-second world, the pace of life, and of 
speaking, have accelerated. Alas, there is a serious problem with 
rapid-fire conversational interchange: 

Speed kills. It kills authentic communication, the sharing of 
meanings. When spoken to in fast bursts, listeners do not have time 
to take in, consider, and truly understand what was said to them. 

As a society, we have come to value fast, instant, quick, just-in-time 
as superior to slow, leisurely, contemplative, and thoughtful. Many 
expect – and say they prefer -- fast everything. Instant gratification. 
Now! 

Fast Talk Makes Understanding Difficult 

However, a meal, wolfed down, often creates indigestion. That 
same meal, savored, provides more flavor, genuine experience, and 
actual nutrition. So it is with our meals of thoughts and words. 

One principal goal of conversation is to gain new knowledge. 
And many modern people want to do that quickly and efficiently. 
However, as David Orr describes in a brilliant essay, “Slow Knowledge,” 
“The fact is that the only knowledge we've ever been able to count on 
for consistently good effect over the long run is knowledge that has 
been acquired slowly through cultural maturation.” Gaining knowledge 
slowly, he points out, “does not imply lethargy, but rather thoroughness 
and patience.” (David Orr, The Nature of Design, 2002.) 

Slow Talk Allows Time to Think 

Acknowledging the value of a slower pace for thinking, the 3M 
company has instituted a period of “slack time” into the workday of 
its employees. Twenty minutes of leisure, just to cogitate or interact. 
As well, we know that planning retreats of many organizations are held 
in settings far away from the home office busy-ness, usually close to 
raw nature, which has a slower rhythm. Within these retreats are many 
periods for quiet reflection, a time to digest what has been shared. 

True knowledge is alive, is based on experience, and has a context. 
It has a viewpoint and judgement, a certain living “feel” to it. Those 
who are genuine experts hold knowledge that has been thought about 
and tempered by life's experience. Anything less is mere “information.” 

Surrounded by a fast-paced human environment, how can we slow 
down the speed of talk so that we can have time to think? 

Suggestions for Pacing Your Talk 

1. Model the behavior. Slow your rate of speech by 20%. Ask, 
“Give me a moment to think about what you said . . .” 

2. For meetings, ask the group to consider a few basic guidelines to 
include adequate time for consideration of the ideas expressed. 
Another useful rule is to ask that speakers be “lean” in their 
remarks, making their words count, instead of making speeches. 
“Less is more.” (Some groups have found it handy to give a 
3-minute egg timer to a speaker, which seems to make speakers 
more thoughtful.) 

3. Before another reacts, ask that person to reflect the gist of 
what you said to make sure s/he heard you correctly. This 
procedure, occasionally applied, enhances listening while also 
slowing down the rate of talk. 

Ideally, our conversations to gain knowledge or to make 
important decisions would be in the form of dialogue, not 
disputation. Many top business organizations now offer their key 
employees training in the art of dialogue because it is a form more 
effective than rapid discussion in producing valuable knowledge. 
Haste, they have discovered, truly does make waste. 

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Other book references you may wish to consider: 
Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total 
Efficiency, by Tom DeMarco. 2001. 
In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement Is 
Challenging the Cult of Speed. Carl Honore. 2004.