Free words-per-minute checker
Speaking Speed Test
Read this passage aloud
137 words · about a minute at your normal paceThanks for joining us today. Over the next few minutes I want to walk you through three things: where the project stands, what changed since our last update, and what happens next. First, the numbers. We shipped on schedule, and early feedback has been stronger than expected. Second, the changes. We simplified onboarding, cut the setup time in half, and fixed the two issues most of you reported. Third, the road ahead. Next quarter we focus on reliability, faster support, and one major feature we have wanted to build for a long time. None of this happens without the team behind it, and I want to close by thanking every one of you for the work you have put in. Questions are welcome at the end, and the full notes will be shared right after this session.
Your recording is sent once to our speech-recognition provider and is not stored. 10 free tests a day, 30 when signed in.
Find out how fast you talk. Read a short passage aloud or speak freely for 30 seconds, and the test counts your words per minute — then shows where that sits between presentation and conversation pace, and which AI voice speaks closest to you. Free, no sign-up, and your recording is not stored.
How it works
Three steps, about a minute
- 1
Read the passage, or just talk
Read the 137-word passage aloud, or switch to Talk freely and speak about anything for 30 to 60 seconds. No microphone? Upload a recording.
- 2
Get your words per minute
A few seconds later you see your pace, where it sits between presentation and conversation speed, and how many words were counted.
- 3
Hear a voice at your pace
Play the passage in the AI voice closest to your speed, or a slower one, and compare it with how you sounded.
Examples
Scripts to practise your pace on
Every clip below was generated here on the free tier — no account, no credits. Play one to hear the voice on that kind of writing, or load the script into the generator and make your own version of it.
Phone greeting
IVR or voicemail line — the classic use for a consistent voice.
“Thank you for calling Northgate Supply. Our team is available Monday to Friday, eight until six. For an existing order, press one. For everything else, stay on the line and someone will be with you shortly.”
Product ad
Thirty seconds of ad copy, the hardest thing to read naturally.
“You already own the shoes. That's the annoying part. They're at the back of the cupboard, they still fit, and the only thing standing between you and Saturday morning is the fifteen minutes it takes to find them. We can't help with that. But everything after it, we can.”
Podcast opener
Cold open that sets up the episode without a sponsor read.
“This week: a bank that lost four hundred million dollars because of a rounding error, the intern who found it, and the eight months it took anyone to believe her. It's a story about arithmetic, and it is somehow also a story about how hard it is to be right early.”
Included
What you get
- Silence isn’t counted
- The clock starts at your first word and stops at your last, so a slow start or a late stop does not drag the number down.
- Reading or real talk
- Reading a passage gives a steady, repeatable number. Talking freely shows your natural pace, thinking pauses included.
- Compared with real voices
- Your result sits next to the measured speeds of five of this site’s AI voices, from George at 160 wpm to Emma and Adam at 181, so the number has a reference you can hear.
- Works from an upload
- Record on your phone and upload the file instead: MP3, WAV, M4A and most other formats work.
- Recording not stored
- The audio is converted in your browser, timed once, and dropped. Nothing is saved to your account or used for training.
- Free, no sign-up
- 10 tests a day as a guest and 30 with a free account. No app to install.
How the speaking speed test works
Your pace is words divided by speaking time. A speech-recognition model writes down what you said and notes when each phrase started and ended. We count the words, and the clock runs from the start of your first phrase to the end of your last — so the seconds before you begin and after you finish are left out, while the pauses in between stay in, because a listener hears them too.
The result is a single number in words per minute, the unit speech coaches, teleprompters and script calculators all use. It describes one recording, so if the first take felt rushed, take it again: nerves speed most readings up.
What is a normal speaking speed?
There is no single right speed, only a right speed for the situation. Prepared talks run slower than conversation — slides, emphasis and an audience taking notes all cost time — which is why planners use about 130 words per minute for an average presentation, 100 for a slow formal one and 160 for a quick informal one. Everyday conversation is faster, roughly 150 to 190.
The AI voices in the table read this page’s passage at their default speed. They are useful as references you can actually hear: if your result matches Bella’s 171 wpm, playing her version is a fair preview of how your pace lands on a listener. They were timed the same way the test times you.
| Speaking | Words per minute | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Slow, formal delivery | about 100 | Planning pace for a deliberate talk |
| Average prepared talk | about 130 | The standard planning number for presentations |
| Fast, conversational delivery | about 160 | Planning pace for a quick, informal talk |
| Everyday conversation | 150–190 | Typical range for relaxed talk |
| Reading aloud | about 183 | Average across reading-rate studies (Brysbaert, 2019) |
| George, AI voice | 160 | Measured reading this page’s passage at default speed |
| Bella, AI voice | 171 | Measured reading this page’s passage at default speed |
| Oliver, AI voice | 178 | Measured reading this page’s passage at default speed |
| Emma, AI voice | 181 | Measured reading this page’s passage at default speed |
| Adam, AI voice | 181 | Measured reading this page’s passage at default speed |
Reading aloud or talking freely?
The two modes measure different things. Reading the passage removes the thinking time: you know every next word, so the number reflects how fast you articulate. It is the better choice for comparing yourself over time, and for voiceover or presentation practice where you will be reading a script anyway.
Talking freely includes the pauses where you decide what to say next, which is how you sound in a meeting, a call or an interview. Free talk often comes out slower than reading for that reason, and the gap itself is informative: a large one points to long searching pauses rather than slow words.
How to slow down — or speed up
To slow down, pause where the punctuation is. A full stop is a breath, a comma a half-beat; most fast speakers run straight through both. Mark the pauses in your script the first few times, and finish each sentence before starting the next thought. Then listen to a slower reading of the same passage — George at 160 wpm, or any voice with the generator below set to 0.75× — and match it.
To speed up, cut the filler rather than rushing the words: um, so and you know add time without content, and a planned first sentence removes the longest pause of all, the one at the start. Re-run the test after a week of practice on the same passage; that is the comparison that tells you whether anything changed.
Hear the passage at a measured pace
The generator below holds the same 137-word passage. George reads it at 160 words per minute, Bella at 171, and Emma and Adam at 181; slow any of them down to 0.75× to hear a calm presentation pace, then read along and test yourself again.
Speech studio
34 voices · 18 languages
What happens to your recording
Your browser converts the recording to a small mono audio file and sends it once to our speech-recognition provider, which returns the words and their timing. We do not store the audio or the transcript, attach either to your account, or use them to train anything. The only thing we keep is a daily count of tests per visitor, so the free limit works.
Questions
Frequently asked
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