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Clarity, Pronunciation, and Why Clean Speech Matters

I've sat through hundreds of presentations. Some speakers nail it. Others... well, let's just say I spent more time counting their "ums" than listening to their actual point. This article is about why that happens and what Speech Score actually measures to help you avoid becoming that person.

The Trust Thing

Last month I watched two pitches back to back. First guy had a decent idea but said "like" probably 40 times in 10 minutes. Second person? Slower, fewer fancy words, but barely any fillers. Guess who got the follow-up meeting.

There's research backing this up. A study from 2021 found that cutting down on filler words improved how much people remembered by almost 40% [Cordova et al., 2021]. That's huge. But here's what really got me: when they surveyed business professionals about what they wanted in presentations, clear delivery beat out enthusiasm. It even beat expertise [Morgan & Lee, 2023].

Think about that for a second. You can know your stuff inside and out, but if you're packing your sentences with "uh" and "sort of," people tune out. Not because they're mean. Because their brain is working overtime just to decode what you're saying.

What We Actually Measure

Ok, so here's the honest breakdown. Speech Score doesn't do fancy acoustic analysis or measure your vocal cords. What it does is track the stuff that actually matters when you're trying to sound competent in front of other humans.

Filler words (all of them)

"Um." "Uh." "Like." "You know." "Sort of." "Basically."

We count every single one. Most people have no idea how often they do this. I recorded myself once and was convinced I'd have maybe 5 filler words in a 3-minute talk. Turned out to be 23. Twenty three! The tool also shows you filler density, which is just how many you're using per 100 words. If that number goes up as your talk progresses, you're getting tired or nervous.

Research shows even a handful of extra fillers makes you seem less prepared [Han & Dupoux, 2020]. Fair or not, that's how people perceive it.

How fast you talk

Words per minute. Simple concept but most people get it wrong. Talk too fast and your audience misses half your points. Too slow? They're checking email.

The range that works for most situations is 130 to 170 WPM. News anchors usually hit around 150. If you're way outside that, the tool flags it. I once gave a demo at 195 WPM because I was nervous. Nobody understood a thing. Slowed down to 145 the next time and suddenly people had questions. Good questions.

Word variety

This one surprised me. The tool looks at how many unique words you use compared to total words. If you keep repeating the same 20 words over and over, you sound like a robot reading from a script.

A diversity score above 50% means you're mixing it up enough to sound natural [Bradlow et al., 2022]. Below that? Time to expand your vocab or stop memorizing word-for-word.

How your sentences flow

Average sentence length matters more than you'd think. All short sentences sounds choppy. All long sentences and people get lost.

We also catch weird patterns, like if you start every sentence with "so." I had a coworker who did this. "So, the numbers look good. So, we should move forward. So, any questions?" Drove everyone nuts. He had no clue until someone showed him the data.

Bottom line: fix the distracting patterns in your speech and people will actually hear what you're saying.

Why You Need Numbers (Not Just Practice)

Here's the thing about practicing in front of a mirror or just winging it. You have no idea what you actually sound like. None. I've watched people practice a presentation five times and still not notice they're saying "um" every third sentence.

The numbers don't lie. When Speech Score shows you that your filler count went from 3 in the first minute to 12 in the last minute, that's not subjective. That's fatigue. When your pace drops to 110 WPM halfway through, you're losing steam and your audience is losing interest.

But here's where it gets really useful. Track the same talk over a few weeks. Last Tuesday your filler density was 8 per 100 words. This Tuesday it's down to 3. That's not you "feeling" like you got better. That's proof you actually did. And when you're prepping for something that matters (investor pitch, conference talk, job interview), you want proof, not vibes.

Try this

Pick any paragraph. About 150 words. Record yourself reading it out loud. Run it through Speech Score and look at two things: filler count and pace.

Now do it again. Same paragraph. This time aim to cut your fillers in half and land somewhere between 130 and 170 WPM.

You'll be amazed how much harder it is than you think. But practicing with actual targets beats "just practice more" by a mile [Raymond & Ito, 2019].

One Last Thing

Look, I'm not trying to turn you into a robot. The goal isn't to speak perfectly. It's to stop doing the things that make people stop listening.

Speech Score gives you numbers, yeah. But it also tells you what they mean in plain English. Instead of "your clarity score is 72" (what does that even mean?), you get "you used 8 filler words in a 2-minute talk. Try replacing them with pauses."

Once you know what's actually holding you back (filler words, rambling sentences, talking too fast when you're nervous), you can fix it. And when your speech cleans up, everything else gets easier. People ask better questions. Meetings don't run over because someone needs you to repeat yourself. You stop second-guessing how you sounded.

That's really all this is about.

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