Coaching better by speaking slower

By Ryan Maloney, assistant women's volleyball coach

Head Coach Geoff Braun during preseason, 2016

Walter Cronkite, the famed anchorman of CBS Evening News, trained himself to speak at 124 words per minute. By contrast, the average American speaks at 165 words per minute. Fast talkers are upwards of 200 words per minute.

Being easily understood, Cronkite was commonly known as the most trusted man in America.

Good speakers, like good writers, use no unnecessary words. They eliminate  "uh" and "umm", and like a 140-character tweet, they force themselves to say only what's necessary.

Speaking, writing, texting, e-mailing, and tweeting are all ways to consume someone else's time. They're worth doing in the most respectful way possible.