FREE TOOL · WORDS PER MINUTE TEST
Speaking speed test
How fast do you talk? Read a short passage out loud, or just talk for a minute, and see your speaking rate in words per minute, what it means for the people listening, and one drill to try next.
Last spring my neighbour asked if I wanted to help with her vegetable patch. I said yes before I had thought about it, which is how most good things happen to me. In the first week, I pulled up a whole row of carrots because I thought they were weeds. She laughed so hard she had to sit down on the wheelbarrow. After that, she gave me one job at a time. Water the beans. Tie up the tomatoes. Keep the snails off the lettuce, which turned out to be a full-time job. By August we had more courgettes than either of us could eat, so we left boxes of them by the front gate with a sign that said help yourself. People did, and some of them even left notes.
Read at your normal pace, as if to a colleague across the table. Don't rush and don't perform. Tap the button to start, and tap again when you finish.
Tap to speak
About a minute
When you tap, you'll be asked to allow the microphone. Choose Allow.
No microphone? Estimate a speech from its word count instead.
How we measure your speaking rate
Your take is transcribed with a timestamp on every word. We count the words you said and divide by the time from the start of your first word to the end of your last. That gives words per minute.
- Silence at the start and end doesn't count. Taking a breath before you begin, or fumbling for the stop button, won't make you look slow.
- Pauses in the middle do count. Listeners hear them too, and good pauses are part of a good pace. If you stop for more than 2 seconds, the result also shows your pace without that gap, in case you just lost your place.
- Fillers aren't counted as words. “Um” and “uh” take time but carry no meaning, so a take full of them scores slower, not faster.
It's the same measurement our coach uses on every practice take, so the number you see here is the number you'll see if you save the take as your Voice Snapshot.
What your words per minute mean
There's no perfect speed, but there is a range most listeners find easy. Our coach aims for 130 to 165 words per minute for talks, meetings and interviews.
| Words per minute | Band | What listeners hear |
|---|---|---|
| Under 110 | Very slow | Slow enough that listeners may start to drift. |
| 110–129 | Unhurried | Calm and easy to follow, just under the usual range. |
| 130–165 | Easy to follow | Right inside the range our coach aims for. |
| 166–185 | Quick | Fine for a chat, quick for a room. |
| Over 185 | Very fast | Hard for most listeners to follow for long. |
Why reading is usually faster than talking
Reading aloud usually comes out quicker than speaking off the cuff, because the words are in front of you and you never stop to search for the next one. Try a passage and then the “Speak freely” option, and compare the two. If you're delivering a script, your reading number is the one to plan with; the speech time calculator turns it into a time for your whole talk.
How to change your pace
- Too fast? Lengthen the pauses, not the words. Most fast talkers say each word at a normal speed but skip the gaps between sentences. Count “one” silently at every full stop.
- Too slow? Speak in phrases. Group four or five words on one breath and only stop between groups. It keeps the calm without the drag.
- Already easy to follow? Vary it. Slow down for the one line that matters most and pause before it. Contrast is what makes a key line land.
Pace matters most when the stakes are high. See how it plays out in presentations and meetings, or check whether fillers are slowing you down with the filler word counter. Our guide to how to speak slower has six techniques that don't sound forced, and if your pace is fine but your voice sounds flat, read about a monotone voice.
QUESTIONS
Questions people ask
What is a good speaking rate?
Our coach aims for 130 to 165 words per minute for most talks and meetings: quick enough to sound energetic, slow enough to follow. Slower can be right for big rooms, serious moments and listeners in their second language.
How do you measure my words per minute?
Your take is transcribed with a timestamp on every word. We count the words you said (fillers like “um” are left out) and divide by the time from the start of your first word to the end of your last, so the silence before you start and after you finish never counts. Pauses in the middle do count, because listeners hear them too.
Why is my reading pace different from my talking pace?
Reading aloud usually runs faster than speaking off the cuff, because you never have to search for the next word. Try the “Speak freely” option too and compare the two numbers.
Is talking fast a bad thing?
Not always. Fast speech can sound enthusiastic and is fine in a quick chat. It becomes a problem when listeners are hearing new ideas, numbers or names, because they need time to take each one in. The fix is usually longer pauses, not slower words.
What happens to my recording?
It is sent to Deepgram to be transcribed and then measured by our coach. We don't store the audio unless you save your result as a free Voice Snapshot; the transcript and measurements wait 48 hours for you, then they are deleted.
How many times can I take the test?
Without an account you can measure up to three takes a day (shared with the free Voice Snapshot). With a free account you can keep practising every day.
Find the right pace, then keep it.
Practise one short take at a time. Your coach measures every take and tells you what to change for take two.
Start practising freeYour first Voice Snapshot is free. No account needed to try it.