How Many Words Do We Utter in One Minute?
I am a research rabbit; I love going down the rabbit hole of
a particular topic related to nonverbal communication. This weekend I’m customizing
a speech on nonverbal communication and selling for an upcoming program. No
matter how many times I have given a speech on a particular topic I always
spend at least three hours reading the latest research and information on the
topic and or industry. I love research so much that can spend entire days on one
small topic. (Today I spent hours on an academic
website and bought two textbooks. I have a serious research rabbit problem.)
I am updating my section on how we process nonverbal cues vs
verbal cues. Here is one section.
Are you a fast talker, a moderate speed talker, or a slow
talker?
How many words do people utter in one minute? Of course,
there are a lot of factors, and not all researchers agree but the range is
between 120 and 180 words per minute.
Most experts say that people who are presenting should speak
more slowly at 100 to 150 words per minute. But I believe, that unless you are talking about something highly technical or difficult you should speak quickly to keep the attention of your audience. In an average speech only 2 out of ten audience members are thinking about the topic, the rest, according to research are mainly thinking about what is called the top three, food, sex, and religion. In that order.
Top professional speakers tend to speak more quickly. For example, an analysis of the top five most popular Ted Talks found the
speaking rates fell between 154 words per minute for relationship Guru Bren’e
Brown and 201 Words per minute for motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
Audiobook narrators, radio hosts, and podcasters speak
slightly faster than they would during a regular chat: around 150 to 160 words
per minute.
It makes sense to speak quickly to keep your audience engaged. In college, I was a reader for the Blind Service Office, and I read textbooks into their special recording equipment that would speed up the recording for the listeners because we can understand at a faster rate than most people speak. The average speech rate is 140 words per minute. Research shows the average adult can readily comprehend spoken audio at two times that speed, roughly 275 words per minute.
I am a professional speaker and I speak very quickly when I give speeches because I know we can think faster than most people talk and I don’t want my audiences to have time to drift off and think about lunch. I want them to focus on the speech content.
