Sometimes when I'm speaking, I trip myself up. I want/need to say something, saying something is expected, there are certain accepted Things To Say...but, apparently, I Just Have To Say More. Say it differently. Which has often led to me surprising people into saying "What?," so I have to clarify. Or, as I've noticed recently, has sometimes led me to say more than what's expected, but say it really fast.

Take "thank you." We say it all the time. It can become rote. But I want to mean it when I say it. I found that I'm inclined to say instead "I appreciate it." But that's six syllables versus "Thank you"'s two, so a lot of times I find myself saying "PRECIATE-IT."

Yeah, it's possible I AM NOT BEING CLEAR THERE.

There's a hand gesture I make, mainly to myself so I don't know how other people read it: I slowly swirl my hand around and try to match the pace of what I'm saying to the pace of that slow swirl. I do this when I stammer, or stutter. It's like I'm pulling myself through the sentence. It's one way to make myself clearer. Because "PRECIATE-IT" might not be clear.

Say what I mean, mean what I say, and be understood doing it. Lifelong challenge. I'll get better.