I know I will need to ask people to repeat and speak very slowly. What's the best way to ask this?

"Può ripetere più piano, per favore?". But sating simply "Piano, per favore" would work too and be still polite. ^_^

hands in Italy are important ... so use them.Use your right hand like you have to slow down a car and say "piano, per favore non ho capito bene". If still you don't understand you can say "può ripetere un'altra volta per favore?"

Thanks, that helps. Special thanks to generous souls on SloTravl like Alice T. and Dragonpat. Your wealth of knowledge and generosity with it simply astounds me. I only hope that some day I can return the favor in some small way to this community. Gracie mille!

Or you could say "Puo dirlo piu lentamente?".