How can listeners keep up with gabbling narrators?
Semi-serious point - I do find a lot of US narrated videos, probably largely narrated by younger people, have a word-per-minute narration speed that is just way too fast. If you are making an instructional/educational video, think about the audience, not about how much you can cram into every second of speech before risking losing our interest or attention. Do not assume we all have the attention span of a butterfly and try to cram more in before we leave. We will leave if you cram too much in and make it too hard to follow.
Or is younger Americans’ speech just gettting faster generally?
Which prompts another thought: Spoken English has a rhythm. (Tum ti tum ti tum) whereas many other languages have a much more consistent staccato delivery - which sounds alien and hard to follow, to many English speakers. Are some parts of the US more exposed to native staccato speakers who bring that to their spoken English, and thus influencing how spoken English is developing in such places?
