What is right? Speech Rate: Too fast, too slow?
Speech rate or the number of words spoken per minute varies hugely. That said there are some widely accepted guidelines. What’s a normal speech rate? Their question really is: how many words do I need for a 3 (insert the number you require) minute speech? The answer is infuriating: ‘It depends’. If possible rehearse in front of family or friends to make it as close to the real thing as you can. When you’re finished ask for feedback
on speech rate and be guided by what they tell you. This will serve you much better and solve your too fast or too slow problem if you have one. After the last instance I decided to answer it in Blogging Aloud because there’s probably more of you that want to know too! Studies have shown it can alter because of the speaker’s culture, subject matter, gender, emotional state, fluency, profession or audience. The best way to gauge whether you have too much or too little material for your time allowance is to practice and time yourself. People who read books for radio or podcasts are often asked to read at 150-160 wpm
Auctioneers or commentators who practice speed speech are usually in the 250 to 400 wpm range. These are:
A slow speech rate is usually regarded as less than 110 wpm, or words per minute. Rather than focusing on how many words you need for your speech find out more about developing a flexible speaking rate. That’s a question I get asked a lot. Conversational speech rate generally falls between 120 wpm at the slow end to 150 - 200 wpm in the fast range. Mostly people want to know what a normal speech rate is so they can calculate how many words they need for a timed speech.
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