Speech Pace: do you talk too fast or too slow? Take this test:

This is an exercise in my public speaking class when we work on the concept of speech pace. The script below is exactly 170 words long. Use it to warm up, inspire discussion, get practice - and of course, to help gauge your pace of speech!
Video Script
Do you think you speak too fast, too slow, or just right? When it comes to public speaking, you'll want to talk at a conversational pace. This rate of speech typically ranges from around one hundred forty to one hundred seventy words per minute. If you speak much slower than one hundred forty words per minute, you're probably not speaking fast enough for your audience. You might be putting them to sleep. However, if you speak much faster than one hundred seventy words per minute, you could be talking too fast. An audience could have a hard time understanding you. You also need to vary your pace. Sometimes, you'll want to speak more quickly to demonstrate urgency or excitement. Other times, you'll want to slow down or pause for dramatic effect. To check your pace, record yourself. Listen to the playback. A recording not only lets you time your speech, but it also lets you evaluate how well you vary your pace within the conversational range. Give it a try.
/Script
(I shot this video in one take in my basement, on my cell phone. Nothing glamorous, just a speech pace test. Give it a shot!)

[@junling1]

Take you for posting this along with the script. It's very helpful for me. I was surprised to find my speed is too slow.

[@mrlithium69]

Thank you, this is what I wanted to know. 140-170 seems like a good range.

[@_ryxn]

I speak slow like a robot I was told

[@nashi._.7563]

Same😅

[@kim87351]

Same 😅 but i hate talking to slow or fast i want like a normal pace

[@evansmatoke5035]

So i am

[@MsEmm10]

I find most people speak too slow for me. I watch most youtube videos sped up to x1.25. I always get told I speak too fast but the reading took me 55 seconds so not too bad but using my own thoughts I probably speak a lot faster.

[@loadapish]

Valium will slow u down haha

[@Aritul]

@@loadapish Lol.

[@Theyoutuberpolyglot]

It took me around 1:05 minutes

[@GMAMEC]

Thanks for the tips. I also understand that pitch is very important too. A gradual increase in pitch is normally an effective way of keeping a conversation interesting. This obviously depends on the circumstances and the topics being discussed or presented.

[@MoreThanPowerpoint]

Ahh I never thought about how many words I say per minute. Helpful, quick video. Thanks!

[@screenplaygermany5221]

Okay, I think I definitely speak too fast... I was finished with that script after about 47 seconds xD

[@zohrakhorami504]

I got 50 is that bad?

[@savagenovelist2983]

38.47 seconds, but, I was trying to talk fast.

[@Jess-ih9bv]

I got 46 lmao

[@Christopherdaviddd]

Thank you for posting this content, it's very useful for me who's trying to start an educational podcast

[@alias_peanut]

thank you someone with an answer

[@apoptose1558]

I read this in 65 seconds, however in real time I pause a lot cause I'm anxious and also I tend to seek perfect words instead of the first working alternative.

[@senpaiii623]

I just realized that I talk wayyyyy too fast. I finished the script in 22 seconds, and I think that now when people say sometimes that they can hear what I am saying, but is hard at times to understand me, it makes sense.

[@DE3P_Beats]

Same

[@brianling2439]

lmfao that's bs. I tried to talk as fast as possible and finished it in 22 seconds. If you really talked at that speed you were probably trying to do it as fast as possible, there's no way you speak that fast normally.

[@senpaiii623]

@@brianling2439 i have a habit if im really into explainnig something ill go faster and faster and ill end up reaching a fast speed, ive been doing it all my life its a crappy habit

[@oofjeff3735]

@@senpaiii623 sadly me to, the habit often makes me stutter when it's too fast and it's embarrassing

[@HussainOmar-hn7kd]

Sta da moor kuass 👍🏼🥰

[@aebhs6140]

I’m always told I talk much too fast, even though I believe I don’t and think that a lot of people talk slowly. Examples of this happen all the time when I am asked to read in front of others, sometimes I am even trying to talk more slowly, but am still told I talk much to fast. This particular script I read in 29 seconds so it looks like I may have to slow down quite a bit...

[@LauraBergells]

Yes, I think 29 seconds is a new record for the fastest reading of this script!

[@DE3P_Beats]

@@LauraBergells *25

[@DEEJAYNH10]

I've been told I was speaking too slow and my voice is very unenergetic since I remember myself , now I got a job training where I realised I'll have to take phone calls , not fun times at all .

[@miadelique]

Normal: 39 seconds Try to slow down: 49 seconds Oh well..

[@tomfolan9760]

I used to speak fast in 2007 but ever since some people at my old college, all i got was what did he say? Like they didn't hear me or they didn't understand me. It made me feel sad that i started speaking so slowly like a robot and got depressed

[@zhuoyepan4947]

Okay. I got 143 words spoken in a minute LOL

[@Mahdster]

I think it’s Wakandan for speed

[@whatevers9055]

1:03!! I guess just right!!

[@loadapish]

Thats helpful. When i got my dictaphone i realised that i hated the way i talk but i managed to make adjustments. I think i speak to slowly (not tested yet) but i was trying to find out why i process information slowly, speak slowly, have a bad memory, have some trouble with decision making etc. Could it be brain damage?

[@DE3P_Beats]

Some people normally have the two things in common: they speak and process things at the same rate. Also, having short memory is normal these days, and it just might be a coincidence you have all these things. Also, if you mean by having trouble with making decisions is that you take too much time making decisions, that's a good thing. Time is never too much while making decisions, since then you have more time to think. If you take the least amount of time possible, that's just choosing whatever, and not even thinking.

[@loadapish]

@@DE3P_Beats very good thanks. This has been at the bk of ma mind for a long time. That makes me feel better about it

[@alias_peanut]

45 seconds omg i never thought. i always thought i spoke really slow.

[@Smashachu]

I have this issue at work, I get told to speed up.

[@asharedo]

I'm currently doing a ppt presentation and am finding myself to be at around 130 words per minute and it sounds fast as hell! Lol

[@LauraBergells]

At 130, you probably sound relaxing lol

[@2010Wilde]

This has been a God sent. I have put up with people saying that my speaking pace is slow and abnormal. Well, I have tried this speech five times now, and I usually finish it with 7-10 seconds to spare. So thank you for giving me the chance to prove those people wrong!

[@barkerbiz]

One Word; BEN SHAPIRO ! ! !

[@rukiyawilliams797]

Roughly 150 words per minute. I guess I talk normal then.

[@LauraBergells]

You can read the full exercise here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/speech-pace-do-you-talk-too-fast-slowor-just-right-laura-bergells/

[@scotwllm]

When you say "words," do you really mean syllables? One may find it easy to say the word "a" 140-170 times within a minute. Not many people would be able to hypothetically say "hypothetically" 140-170 times within a minute.

[@brendonteong8489]

did it in 64s. 157 wpm

[@winter4953]

Speed it up and slow it down.

[@UziDoesIt8818]

I talk slowly. I've been told by a few people that I must be mentally slow because of how I speak when, in reality, I'm not. My brain goes faster than my mouth.

[@Loverboy15469]

True slowed speech has nothing to do with intelligence

[@ZEROToWolf]

It took me 1m and 8s thought I was faster

[@aaliyah8424]

43 seconds

[@ShadowVXMaster]

Bruh 180-190 💀

[@Zacksleeps]

45 seconds.

[@thecalmcollective7833]

1:13 for me. I speak so slow and enunciate too much. 137 words spoken in the first minute.

[@thecalmcollective7833]

I did it faster and its exacly 1 minute long

[@thecalmcollective7833]

Speaking normal is fast to me. Must be due to slow-processing speed or autism as I also was told I sound forced and like a robot speaking in a montone voice.

[@jacobbailey2950]

This was painfully slow to watch, this is why I watch everything on 2x speed which definitly has an effect on how fast I speak

[@LauraBergells]

Presenters need to record at a slower pace, my friend! That way, when you speed it up, you can understand us! When you speak too fast AND people speed you up, it doesn't translate well. Neurodivergent people often like to listen at 2x or 3x speeds. It helps them focus. I often listen at 3x, myself! And people who speak English as a 2nd language might even slow us down to .5 or .75! Be kind to your audience! The 140-170 speech pace can help with clarity and understanding: whether you're being heard at .5x, 1x, or 3x!

[@s.akhtarjoomun263]

1 minute and 8 seconds

[@UNbowed62]

When I read posts on KZbin, I can tell who speaks faster than 170 wpm. Fast talkers never put spaces between paragraphs. They post long-running mumbo-jumbo~void of punctuations.

[@DE3P_Beats]

Not if they are really just fast talkers and do put spaces, but keep the spaces at the same speed as the letters. Example: people never told me that I speak too fast, since I always spoke clearly, and I finished that script in 25 seconds.