What is a good speaking pace?

What words per minute measures

Words per minute is the number of words you say divided by how long you spoke, pauses included. To find yours, record a minute or two of a real talk, get a transcript, count the words and divide by the minutes. A 300-word answer that takes two minutes is 150 words per minute.

Typical speaking speeds

The National Center for Voice and Speech puts the average for American English speakers at about 150 words per minute (NCVS). That is a good reference point for ordinary speech.

For a talk, PitchCoach AI treats 110 to 170 words per minute as the normal range, and treats it as a guide rather than a rule. Faster can work when the material is familiar and every word still lands. Slower suits a technical point, a big number or a serious moment. What matters is whether the pace fits what you are saying.

Why your average matters less than your range

Two talks can both average 140 words per minute and sound nothing alike. One stays at 140 the whole way through. The other drops to 115 for the main point and picks up to 165 during a story. The second is more interesting to listen to, because the changes in speed tell the audience what matters.

That is why PitchCoach AI looks at your pace minute by minute instead of only the average. In its grading, a spread of less than about 15 words per minute between your slowest and fastest minutes usually reads as flat. A spread above about 40 usually means you are giving some moments more weight, as long as the slower minutes line up with the parts that deserve it. A fast talk that varies can earn a better pace score than a slower one that never changes. It takes at least two full minutes of audio to judge this, so a shorter clip is judged on its overall pace and its content instead.

Pauses are part of pace

A pause after an important line gives people a moment to take it in, and it makes you sound in control. PitchCoach AI counts every pause of a second and a half or longer, and its grading treats deliberate pauses as a strength. A talk of two minutes or more with almost no pauses in it is usually a sign of rushing.

Signs your pace is off

You may be going too fast if:

• you run out of breath before the end of a sentence,
• you trip over words you know well,
• people ask you to repeat things,
• your recording has almost no pauses in it.

You may be going too slowly if:

• you leave long gaps in the middle of sentences rather than between them,
• you repeat points to fill time.

How to slow down

• Mark pauses in your notes. A slash after each important line is enough.
• Breathe at the end of every point, not in the middle of one.
• Take the first minute slowly. Nerves tend to speed people up right at the start.
• Say your most important line, then stop for a beat before moving on.
• Let yourself speed up in stories and familiar material. The goal is variety, not a slower average.
• Record yourself and look at your slowest and fastest minutes, not only the overall number.

If you need to speed up

When a talk feels slow, the cause is often where the pauses fall rather than how fast you speak. A pause in the middle of a sentence sounds like searching for a word, while the same pause between sentences sounds deliberate. Practice the talk until you know what comes next, and the gaps in the middle of sentences tend to close up on their own. Filler words often show up in those same gaps, which our guide to filler words covers.

How PitchCoach AI measures pace

Your report's Delivery Vitals show your overall words per minute and the range between your slowest and fastest minute, your longest pause and how many pauses ran past a second and a half, and your filler words a minute. Those numbers come from the timing of each word in your recording, so they come out the same every time. Your pace score then judges them against your content and the kind of talk you are giving, using the rules above.

Source: National Center for Voice and Speech, voice qualities tutorial.