Words per minute speaking test.

What is a normal speaking rate in words per minute?

A study of recorded talks measured an average of about 145 words per minute in university lectures and 169 in TED talks (Wingrove, 2017). Everyday conversation runs faster: a study of thousands of phone conversations found an average of about 196 words per minute, ranging from 111 to 291 between conversations (Yuan, Liberman and Cieri, 2006).

There's no single right speed. What matters is that listeners keep up: slow down on numbers and your main point, and pause after them. Speed that rises when you're nervous is the thing to watch.

How to use your number

• Over about 175 words per minute in an interview or talk: try the drills in how to stop talking too fast.
• Planning a speech: put your rate into the speech time calculator to see how long your script will run.
• Record a familiar answer and a harder one. Compare your pace, and listen for where you rush or lose your thread.

The test uses your browser's built-in speech recognition, which in Chrome, Edge and Safari is processed by the browser maker's speech service. Nothing is saved by Ace Coach.