There is a rumor going around.

The faster you read, the longer you will hold listeners’ attentions. 

And that means that if you read faster, you’ll get hired more by producers and authors, right? Wrong.

I think this rumor began with the best of intentions. Audiobook narrators heard through the grapevine that listeners listen to audiobooks at 2x speed.

While that may be true in certain circumstances, that doesn’t mean that you should speed up your delivery to captivate listeners’ attentions.

In fact, I often find that when audiobook narrators speed up their performances, they lose the emotional resonance that makes their performances powerful.

Re-read that sentence again. I want it to sink in.

There is a very human element to listening to audiobooks. Just like in an engaging conversation, listeners become emotionally invested in what is being shared with them. That investment is fostered by the narrator’s emotional vulnerability, sensitivity, and presence. As a narrator, if you are skimming over the words - and thus their meaning - listeners’ brains will tune out. They will sense you’re tuned out and will do the same.

So, what can you do to ensure that doesn’t happen?

First off, if a listener wants to listen to a narration sped up, let them decide to do that. They have full power over the speed at which they listen.

Second, tune into the text. If you’re early on in your career, I highly recommend spending time marking up your scripts for both auditions and recordings. You are doing the hard work now to train yourself to tune into the words in front of you.

Often, when I tell narrators they are reading “too fast,” it’s actually because they have lost the thread of the story. They are no longer doing the emotional work to properly communicate it.

Be patient with yourself and your understanding of the text in front of you. The care you take to thoughtfully breathe life into every audiobook is what will ultimately resonate with listeners and captivate their attentions.

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