do not put a reostat on the fan. it will make a horrible humm, and it will blow out the capacitors in the fan. you can get a casablanca or hunter 4 speed remote, that will slow it down to like in the old movies. best thing is to put the fan in reverse, but it depends on how far down the fan is hanging from the ceiling. over 3 feet dont reverse. just put the fan in low.

just a little info i picked up while working for a major fan manufacturer for 4 years.