When I am counting things, like how many people in the room, I select chunks or groups of them. My grandfather taught me to do this while herding cattle.

Grandfather: How many we got?
Me: One, two, three . . .
Grandfather: Don't count 'em one at a time. It's take all day. Watch, three, seven twelve ...

So I look for a three and a five and a whatever other group my brain can recognize and sum up. The vocalized numerals come later.