How do you discuss non-functional requirements without sounding rehearsed?

I find that when discussing non-functional requirements (NFRs) like availability, latency, consistency, and scalability, I sometimes sound very rehearsed in system design interviews. It feels like I'm just checking boxes: 'And for availability, we'll aim for 99.9%...' instead of naturally integrating it into the conversation. How do you weave NFRs naturally into the discussion without it feeling robotic? Is it better to ask the interviewer upfront about their priorities (e.g., 'What are the key availability and latency targets for this system?') or to make reasonable assumptions and state them? Sometimes, I try to introduce them as I'm designing specific components, for example, 'To achieve low latency for reads, we'll introduce a caching layer here.' Any techniques to make this part of the interview flow more organically and demonstrate a deeper understanding rather than just reciting a checklist?