That's a very good point about the fluency-shaping philosophy (which I am not a huge fan of). Speech should *always* sound natural. It is better to be natural and disfluent than fluent and "robotic" or "sexy" sounding (I always compare fluency-shaping style to Marilyn Monroe speech...). I think it's also important to understand why you're slowing down, if you choose to do so. If it's just to be "more fluent", in my experience the ROI is not worth it. Fluency aside, slowing down offers more *overall* speech control, clearer articulation, allows you to organize your thoughts, reduces the use of "ums" and "ahs", conveys a sense of confidence and authority, and helps the listener. You're right that it does feel very uncomfortable-- anytime we alter our speech pattern, it feels "wrong". And for passionate, dynamic speakers, you sometimes risk losing the passion and personality if you focus too much on reducing the speed. It's all about finding what works *for you*. Being yourself and being a confident communicator is what matters.