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Average Speaking Rate and Words per Minute

November 8, 2022 - Dom Barnard

The speed at which you talk has a huge influence on how the audience perceives you and your speech. It’s important, therefore, to understand your speaking rate and how to alter it depending on the type of speech you are delivering.

In this article, you’ll learn how to calculate your speaking rate and how it compares to the average rate for popular talks to give you some context. Audio samples of speaking rates at the extremes are provided, so you can understand the difference in words per minute.

At the end of the article, exercises are provided to help you develop an adaptive speaking rate.

How to calculate your speaking rate

Speaking rate is often expressed in words per minute (wpm). To calculate this value, you’ll need to record yourself talking for a few minutes and then add up the number of words in your speech. Divide the total number of words by the number of minutes your speech took.

Speaking rate (wpm) = total words / number of minutes

You can record yourself with this  online voice recorder . Once you have the audio of your speech, there are two ways to get the number of words:

• Manually count the words as you listen back to the audio
• Upload the speech recording to a  speech-to-text platform

When you have the speech converted to text format, copy the text into a software package such as Microsoft Word, which provides a useful word count for the document.

Once you have the number of words, convert the time to minutes – for example, if your speech was 4 minutes 30 seconds, you need to divide the number of words by 4.5 (as 30 seconds is half of a minute).

John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, where he slowed his usually very high speaking rate down to below 100 wpm (his average was well above 150 wpm).

What is the average speaking rate?

The average speaking rate changes dramatically for the purpose of your speech. According to the National Center for Voice and Speech, the average conversation rate for English speakers in the United States is about  150 wpm . However, for radio presenters or podcasters, the wpm is higher.

Here is a list of average speech rates for different activities.

Average speech rates

• Presentations : between 100-150 wpm for a comfortable pace
• Conversational : between 120-150 wpm
• Audiobooks : between 150-160 wpm, which is the upper range that people comfortably hear and vocalize words
• Radio hosts and podcasters : between 150-160 wpm
• Auctioneers : can speak at about 250 wpm
• Commentators : between 250-400 wpm

To give these speech rates some context, if the speaking pace is 130 words per minute, you’ll finish reading an A4 page (Calibri, font size 11) in 4 minutes, 51 seconds.

Extremes of speaking rate – world record pace

Steven Woodmore  is a British electronics salesman and comedian known for his rapid speech articulation, being able to articulate 637 wpm, a speed four times faster than the average person.

Woodmore was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s fastest talker, a title which he held for five years, taking the helm from the previous record holder, John Moschitta, Jr.

A comparison of words per minute for popular TED Talks

Let’s compare different presentation styles to show you how speech rates can vary widely. We’ll use popular TED Talks to compare words per minute for different presentations.

We’ve analyzed five TED Talks, ranging from short speeches up to 22 minutes. When we were calculating the length of the presentation, we included time when the audience was clapping and when the presenter changed slides.

We tried to pick from a wide range of speech topics to get an unbiased average.

The average speaking rate was 173 words per minute. The speaking rate ranged from 154 to 201 words per minute.

Popular TED Talk speaking rates

• How great leaders inspire action (Simon Sinek) – 170 wpm
• The power of introverts (Susan Cain) – 176 wpm
• Do schools kill creativity? (Sir Ken Robinson) – 165 wpm
• Why we do what we do (Tony Robbins) – 201 wpm
• The power of vulnerability (Brené Brown) – 154 wpm

What influences your overall speaking rate?

Here are several factors that affect the overall speaking rate, most of which can be controlled by you.

• Regular speaking rate  – this is the result of your environment, where you grew up, your parents, culture, friends around you, and more.
• Nervousness  – you’ve probably noticed it yourself,  when you are nervous , you speak much quicker and take short shallow breaths as you rush through the content.
• Saying something urgent  – understandably, we speak much quicker when there is an emergency, for example calling an ambulance or explaining an incident to the police.
• Mental fatigue  – tiredness affects our thought process, making it harder for us to articulate ourselves, causing us to talk more slowly.
• Complexity of the words  – longer, more complex words will take slightly longer to say, and if you are counting words per minute, it will affect speech pace slightly (although somewhat negligible)
• Complexity of content  – if you are presenting complex content, you’ll want to speak slower than usual to give the audience time to comprehend the concepts and content.
• Verbal pauses  – pauses are a great way to break up the content and give emphasis to what you are saying. Naturally this will slow down your speaking rate. Read  10 Effective Ways to use Pauses in your Speech .
• Event driven pauses  – these are pauses caused by a change in slides, a demo of your product, checking your notes, and so on.
• Audience driven pauses  – these events are caused by your audience, for example, when they laugh and ask questions.

Example audio clips of different speech rates

Example 1 – why we do what we do (tony robbins).

Sample of ‘Why we do what we do’ speech, spoken at 201 wpm.

Example 2 – We Shall Fight on the Beaches (Winston Churchill)

Sample of ‘We Shall Fight on the Beaches’ speech, spoken at 128 wpm.

Tony Robbins giving his TED Talk, Why we do what we do, with an average speaking pace of 201 wpm.

Is speaking rate important?

In short, yes, your rate of speech does have an impact on how the audience perceive you and your message.

Generally, a slower rate is easier to understand for the audience. If you include pauses as well, you give the audience time to absorb the messages of your presentation.

However listening back to the Tony Robbins speech above, which was at over 200 wpm, you’ll probably find you were still able to understand what he was saying. This is because he clearly articulates his words and uses easy to understand language. Clarity is just as important as speech pace.

Try to vary your speaking rate

No matter what your average speaking rate is over the entire speech, you should vary it throughout the speech. Varying your speech makes it more interesting for the audience and adds emotion to the content. Without pace variation, you’re in danger of sounding monotone.

For example, you can speak faster to convey excitement, or slower to reflect sadness or importance.

When to change your speed

• Speaking fast  – indication of passion, urgency, excitement, and emotion
• Speaking slow  – indication of importance, sadness, confusion, the seriousness of a point

When you’re speaking quickly, initially it is exciting for the audience, but after a minute or two, it stops being stimulating and becomes overwhelming.

When you are speaking slowly, it can grab the attention of the audience and help them process every word, but an entire talk at a slow pace will bore your audience: while waiting for you to get to the point they will lose interest.

Remember: The rate we speak at is highly individual

This is an important point to remember. If you take some well-known speeches and change the pace of their delivery, the meaning would be lost. For example, the “ I Have a Dream ” by Martin Luther King was spoken at a slow rate.

The long pauses and carefully spoken words give us time to absorb the information and plenty of time for the audience to applaud throughout. Even if you did not understand the words, the slow pace indicates that the message is important and should be taken seriously.

Cultural differences

Culture plays a big role in the pace we naturally speak at. Even locations within the  same country  can make a difference – people in London typically speak faster than people from Yorkshire for example. Also, if English isn’t the speakers first language, they usually speak a little slower as well.

How to practice: Getting the right speaking pace

Test your speaking pace.

Practice reading a transcript aloud at different paces to better understand how different speeds sound. Learn More

Here are two ways to measure and practice your speaking pace.

Use a metronome

The metronome ticks at a certain rate depending on what you set it to. If you want to speak at 130 words per minute, set the metronome to this value and practice saying a word every tick of the metronome.

This is a good start, however when actually presenting to an audience, you’ll want to vary this pace to emphasise certain points – a speech at exactly 130 wpm throughout would sound very monotone and rehearsed.

Use practice exercises

Online exercises let you practice your speech in a variety of scenarios. Practice presenting at a conference, delivering a sales pitch, answering interview questions, and more. With  VirtualSpeech practice exercises , you can get feedback on your speaking rate after your speech and adjust it accordingly for your next speech.

Example practice exercises you can use to measure your speaking pace during a speech or presentation. See all the  practice exercises here .

5 exercises to develop an adaptive speaking rate

Tips taken from  Quick & easy tips for speaking rate

1. Reading children’s stories

Read a children’s story silently several times to familiarize yourself with the flow. Go through it again, noting which passages would suit taking more quickly and which should be slower. Then read it aloud and listen carefully to how speed alters interpretation. Repeat the exercise altering your speed over particular passages, noting the differences.

Record yourself if possible doing this and all the following exercises. Save all the versions you do. You’ll then have them to refer back to. Recording takes out the guess work as you can hear exactly what you did, rather than what you imagined you did. It doesn’t lie!

2. Read factual reports

Pick an information loaded report from a newspaper or magazine.

Go through it silently to familiarize yourself with the flow of material and then read it aloud. Make a note of which passages need careful or slow reading and which can be taken at a faster rate. Re-read aloud until you feel you have the mix of speeds right.

As an extension exercise, read the report as if you were reading for an audience who knew nothing about the subject. Note what changes you made and why.

3. Experiment with one of your own speeches

Record and time yourself delivering a speech of your own at your current ‘normal’ speaking rate.

Note the time down. Now go through again having marked passages for slower or faster treatment. Note the new time and your new insights.

4. Listen to good speakers

Listen to speakers you admire. They could be radio presenters,  commencement speeches , anybody accustomed to speaking in public. Note the different rates of speech they use over the course of their presentation and the effectiveness and experiment with them for yourself.

5. Play with material you are familiar with

Read or recite part of a text you know well quickly (or slowly). If you can record yourself, do so. If not, listen and note the effect it has on you. If you’ve recorded yourself, play it back.

Ask yourself where was the speed effective? Where was it detrimental? Mark those places on your script. Read again incorporating your changes.

Module 8: Delivering Your Speech

Articulation, pitch, and rate, learning objectives.

• Identify techniques to use effective articulation.
• Identify effective rates of speaking.

Articulation

Once you’ve mastered controlling your breath as you speak, next let’s look at how you speak. If you have ever had someone ask you to repeat a word, you may suffer from poor diction.  Articulation , or diction , is what helps the listener not just hear the spoken word but also understand it.

Articulation is how clearly the speaker pronounces words. When some sounds are slurred together or dropped out of a word, the word may not be understood by the audience. To use proper articulation, a speaker must use their articulators : tongue, teeth, and lips. When a speaker uses improper diction, the hearer cannot make out the word spoken and often requests a repeat of what was said. In public speaking, a hearer cannot request a repeat and therefore poor articulation can make a listener tune out. It is important to say all parts of the word in order to speak clearly. This often requires slowing down your speaking pace , more on that topic to follow, and using your lips, teeth, and tongue to their full capacity.

Tongue twisters are a great way to force the speaker to slow down and pronounce each part of the word. Try saying, “Seven silly swans swam silently seaward” three times quickly. If that was easy for you, s’s may be your forte! Each individual speaker will struggle with certain sounds specific to them, or have developed a regionalism that makes them pronounce a word the way they’ve always heard it that doesn’t work in other parts of the country. A technique to making sure your speech isn’t affected by problem words is to note which sounds are struggles and circling the parts of the word on the speech outline. This serves as a reminder to take extra care when speaking that word out loud. Identifying these barriers to communication will improve the understanding of the audience and give polish to your speech.

In addition to speaking clearly, finding vocal variety in your speaking voice will help the audience stay awake. A voice that lacks variety can be described as monotone. In comedies, teachers are often portrayed as having a monotone voice, as in this famous scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off :

You can view the transcript for “Bueller Bueller Bueller” here (opens in new window) .

When the audience hears a monotone voice, they don’t stay engaged.

Much like a keyboard, your voice has many notes to it called pitches. Your voice can speak on higher notes and lower notes much like when someone sings. To explore the notes in your voice, try this exercise. Stand up on your toes and lift your hands in the air. Say ah at the highest point of your voice, which makes sound come out, and drop your wrists, elbows, and head over as you slide down to your lowest note. Reverse it and come back up trying to go higher and lower each time. Having discovered how much pitch variety you have to work with, you can now put arrows into your speech outline reminding you to raise the pitch or lower it on some words or phrases to be more effective.

Chicago rapper Twista can clock 280 words per minute or 598 syllables in 55 seconds (a Guinness record). Don’t try to do this in your speech.

Next to being loud enough, the most commonly identified speech problem is speaking too quickly. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been told you’re a fast talker. Controlling the rate at which one speaks is often one of the most challenging things a speaker has to do. When nerves kick in, it can be really hard to pull back on the speed that you’re talking at as sometimes you just want to finish and get out of the spotlight. Speaking too quickly can also make your audience tune out from listening to the speech. You’ve put all this time into the speech, so let’s make sure the audience hears it. According to The National Center for Voice and Speech, the average speaking rate for English speakers in the U.S. is around 150 words per minute. In a public speaking situation, you’ll want to speak slower than average, around 125–150 words per minute.

One of the ways to control your rate of speech is to make sure you are taking enough breaths. As we discussed before, if you lose control of your breathing, the rate of speech also gets out of control. One of the ways to make sure you breathe enough is to place a mark next to the word in a sentence on your outline to remind yourself to breathe there. A backwards slash (/) is a good signal to use. In order to see if the breaths selected work, read it out loud. If you find yourself gasping for air at the end of that sentence, there should be another breath added. Punctuations are the clues for where to breathe in a sentence too, so let those be your guide.

Recording yourself is one way to get a sense of how quickly you’re going. Play the recording back and listen to see if you can hear and understand every word. If not, write notes on your notecards that say SLOW DOWN or BREATHE to remind yourself to do so. Once you’ve mastered a controlled rate of speech, then you are able to play with speeding up and slowing down certain sections. Finding this variety of speed will further engage your audience. Think about telling the climax of a story. Sometimes you pause at certain moments to build suspense. That’s what you want to do in public speaking too. Sometimes you speed up to tell a story with momentum so the audience goes along for the ride too. Finding variety in your rate can be thrilling and the icing to a great speech.

To watch: Rébecca Kleinberger, “Why you don’t like the sound of your own voice”

In this talk, MIT voice expert and researcher Rébecca Kleinberger talks about the three voices humans have: the outward voice, the inward voice, and the inner voice. Kleinberger’s account here helps to explain why our own voice—which we hear all the time—sounds so unfamiliar to us when we hear it in a recording. It also speaks to the need to  practice listening to your voice in recordings.

You can view the transcript for “Why you don’t like the sound of your own voice | Rébecca Kleinberger” here (opens in new window) .

What to watch for:

Kleinberger’s speech is fascinating, and offers a great deal of insight into the way we perceive (or fail to perceive) our own voices. Interestingly, although she speaks at length about why we don’t recognize  our voice, Kleinberger doesn’t really answer the question of why we don’t  like  our voices. At the end of the speech, some listeners may still be wondering why they don’t like the voice they hear in recordings of themselves, and what they could do about it. This should serve as a reminder that if you have a catchy title with a question in it, you have to make sure you answer the question in your speech!

• Twista. Authored by : Adam Bielawski. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twista#/media/File:Twista_101109_photoby_Adam-Bielawski.jpg . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Bueller Bueller Bueller. Authored by : blc3211. Located at : https://youtu.be/f4zyjLyBp64 . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• Why you don't like the sound of your own voice | Rebecca Kleinberger. Provided by : TED. Located at : https://youtu.be/g3vSYbT1Aco . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• Articulation, Pitch, and Rate. Authored by : Misti Wills with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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What is the Average Speaking Rate?

What’s the average speaking rate ? Is it better to speak faster or is is better to speak slower?

In this article, we answer these questions and look at the factors which influence your speaking rate , a critical component of your delivery.

• Speech Pauses
• Filler Words (um, ah)
• Speaking Rate
• Vocal Volume
• Vocal Projection
• Vocal Strength Exercises

How to calculate your speaking rate

The most common way to express one’s speaking rate is in words per minute (wpm). To calculate this, simply take the total number of words spoken and divide by the number of minutes it took you to speak them.

Speaking Rate (wpm) = Total words / # of minutes

Another way to measure speaking rate is in syllables per minute (spm):

Speaking Rate (spm) = Total syllables / # of minutes

Why syllables per minute? Not all words are equal. Consider these two sentences:

• Modern readability tests are designed to indicate comprehension difficulty when reading a passage of contemporary academic English. (17 words; 41 syllables)
• Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. (17 words; 19 syllables)

If you were to speak these two sentences at the same rate in words per minute, the first passage would seem considerably faster because you are saying more.

Despite the sensibility of using syllables/minute, the words/minute measure is more commonly used, because it is generally easier to calculate.

How to determine your speaking rate

A really quick estimate of your speaking rate can be obtained by timing yourself while reading a selection of text with a known word count. Then, simply calculate using the method above.

But, this is not really your speaking rate. It’s your reading rate . Even if you read out loud, it’s not the same thing as a speaking rate.

The best way to determine your speaking rate is to time yourself delivering a real speech with a real audience. (Video helps — you can count your words from it too.)

What is the average speaking rate?

The average speaking rate will vary across languages and situations. But, rather than dodging the question entirely, let’s come up an estimate given a fairly narrow speaking situation —  TED talks  — which we often study in Six Minutes  speech critiques.

I analyzed 9 TED talks which have been critiqued on Six Minutes . These talks ranged from just under 7 minutes in length to just under 20 minutes. Some speakers used visuals, some did not. Their topics were widely variable. [Click the links in the table below to view these speeches and read the critiques. Note that the Steve Jobs talk was not delivered at a TED conference, but is included on the TED website.]

• For these 9 talks, the average speaking rate is 163 words per minute .
• Two thirds of the talks are clustered in a narrow range between 153 and 168 words per minute.
• Remember that this average and range do not necessarily apply to all speaking situations.

One can also calculate the speaking rate for the 9 TED talks in syllables per minute, and these results are shown below, sorted in the same order as in the words/minute chart above.

• The most notable difference using the syllables/minute measure is that of Majora Carter. She has a much higher syllables/word count (1.62) compared to the others, which all fall between 1.43 and 1.54. More frequent use of longer words is one factor which contributes to my perception that she’s talking too fast.

What influences your overall speaking rate?

There are many factors which influence your overall speaking rate:

• Your normal speaking rate This is a product of your birth, your culture, and your history (family, profession, etc.) Some people talk faster. Some people talk slower. Neither is inherently  good or bad .
• Nervousness and stress Speaking under pressure tends to make you speak faster. I am not immune to this trait. If I’m speaking with notes of any kind, I’ll often write “SLOW DOWN” in red ink in the margin as a reminder.
• Mental fatigue If you are tired, you will tend to speak slower. You’ll also tend to make more mistakes which further slows your effective speaking rate.
• Complexity of the words If you’re measuring speaking rate in words per minute, then longer words will usually slow down your speaking rate.
• Complexity of content Longer sentences and more complex speech content means more pauses are necessary, and this will slow down your speaking rate, too. This is desirable because it helps your audience — they need more time to mentally process longer sentences and more complex content. However, it would help them more to simplify your content and shorten your sentences.
• Verbal pauses Insertion of natural pauses in your verbal delivery will slow your speaking rate, but the gains in understandability are worth it!
• Extra pauses induced by you Every time you stop to checking your notes, think to search for a word, show a prop or slide, or demonstrate something, your speaking rate drops. Often, the benefits of doing these things outweighs the drawbacks. [Some of these pauses can be reduced by more thorough preparation.]
• Extra pauses induced by your audience When your audience applauds or laughs, this slows you down too. Larger audiences tend to induce larger delays.
• Extra pauses induced by the environment These are harder to predict, but you should allow for them. For example, loud noises outside the room or other distractions may force you to pause, or repeat yourself.

All but the last two factors are completely within your control, and even those last two factors can be predicted somewhat.

Is it better to speak faster or is is better to speak slower?

It depends, but if you are anywhere close to the range of the speakers analyzed above (133 to 188 words/minute), you’re fine.

Generally, slower is more intelligible than faster speech. Appropriate pauses allow your audience time to digest what you’ve said and begin to process it. However, instead of worrying too much about your numerical speaking rate, it probably would be better to focus on improving your clarity and lowering the complexity of your language.

• Clarity : Good enunciation, sharp pronunciation, and proper stresses will produce clear language and make it easy for your audience to hear each word.
• Complexity : By simplifying words and simplifying your sentences by eliminating unnecessary words, you become much more understandable.

Vary your speaking rate!

No matter what your average speaking rate is over the entire speech, you should always vary it within a speech. Don’t deliver sentence after sentence at the same exact rate. Varying your speech rate adds life to your vocal delivery, and allows you to convey both meaning and emotional content.

For example, you can speak a little faster to convey excitement, or a little slower to reflect sadness or confusion.

Final Thoughts

I know very few people who speak considerably too slow, but many who speak too fast. Because of the common tendency to put too much content into our presentations, we tend to speak at a blazing speed to get through it all. So, in general, slow down!

Like many delivery characteristics, the best way to be aware of whether you are doing it well is to solicit feedback. Ask trusted audience members whether your pace was too slow, too fast, or just right.

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27 comments.

Great post Andrew. I love the analysis. Research shows that Australians generally speak slower than other english speakers, and I recently ( http://wp.me/p2k3hy-Ev ) suggested that we speak around 100 wpm. Quite a difference! Despite this, I have a flash card that I take into every high school speech class and I use it a LOT. It says “slow down”.

Fascinating! I wasn’t aware of the speaking rate difference in Australians. Do you have a reference to the research handy?

it is said that the normalspeaking rate is 140_160 word per minute

Thanks for this post Andrew. I think it also depends on the nature of the speech. My experience in Toastmasters tells me that, when telling stories and trying to convey emotion, I’ll speak much slower than when speaking about plain facts and figures. Is this your case as well?

Yes, it certainly depends on the nature of the overall speech and, as you have pointed out, on the nature of what you are presenting at a given time within the speech.

I agree that emotional content and stories (which have more dramatic pauses) tend to be delivered slower than factual details, but even that isn’t a hard rule.

Andrew, As always I appreciate your thoroughness and your practical approach to dealing with the challenges of public speaking. I agree with this article and thank you for your approach using syllables rather than words to assess rate of speech. One thought, another situation affecting ROS is the fact that people may not practice speaking at the slower pace often enough. This is where it is helpful to read a piece aloud that has the desired number of words in it (or syllables) and time yourself to be able to read it at the correct pace. If you do that often enough, you get the “feel” of that pace and can more easily duplicate it under pressure. And you’ll also notice that when you slow down you are more able to add nuances and variety, making the slower pace actually MORE interesting than the faster one, in case you are worried about boring people when speaking more slowly.

Up to now, I’ve never seen syllables used to express speaking speed, but it makes such sense – as the comparison of sentences with the same word count but vastly different syllable counts clearly shows in this post.

A while ago, I published a piece about using fewer syllables when speaking. It lists 14 terms that people often use when speaking (or writing), and it gives low-syllable equivalents (up to 80% shorter) for each term: http://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/minimise-blur-firstframework-part-1m/#bb3

If you make simple changes like those, you can avoid rushing, and your audience can absorb your message far better.

Here’s another tip related to speaking rate, which I’ve found really handy when listening to recorded speeches or webinars: By using Windows Media Player (or a similar tool), you can play recordings slower or faster than normal speed.

Typically, speakers talk too fast. So you can use Media Player to slow down the recording, and/or you can keep clicking Pause to give yourself time to digest what was just said.

Conversely, for slow or well-paced speakers, you can play a recording at (say) 150% speed, so for instance you can hear a 1-hour webinar in only 40 minutes. What a timesaver! (I’m in Australia like Claire, above, but the slowest speaker I’ve come across is actually a well-known CEO from the US. In a live speech, the slow speed lets you absorb what he’s saying, but in a recording it can get frustrating unless you speed it up.)

If your version of Media Player’s like mine, you’ll find the speed control by choosing View > Enhancements > Play Speed Settings. (In Media Player on Windows 7, instead you choose Play > Play Speed, which gives you just 3 speeds to choose from.)

I hope you find that as handy as I have!

Thanks for the tip, Craig. I’ll have to try that out.

Andrew, This is extremely helpful for novice public speakers. I am forever being asked how much can I say in a minute? What’s interesting about the numbers for me is that they look so high. Once you allow time for audience reaction and time to pause to let your points sink in, I always find that even the fastest public speakers struggle to get much more than 140 words per minute. 150 tops. It’s our nervous novices that speak at 180. I’d be interested to know: Why is it that these experienced hands say so many words? Does their experience mean that they can command an audience’s attention and compress more content into less time? Or would they be better if the slowed down?

Without a great deal more data, it’s hard to answer your questions. However, I think it is fair to say that these TED speakers are able to deliver at a higher words/minute rate because [1] they are extremely well-prepared, and thus rarely make any verbal slips which would slow them down and [2] the culture of TED talks tends to allow for a pretty high information density.

As for whether these talks would be better if slowed down, I leave it up to the audience.

As a trainer of professional actors I can assure you that there seems to be more of a correlation of slower speed with “reading” and faster speed with passion. Perhaps the TED speakers are a bit more passionate about their ideas?

Wow. I couldn’t disagree more. If a person is aligning operative words then TEMPO has almost no bearing on the speech. If someone is passionate then they are going to speak at a faster rate (SPM), but they will also hit words in such a way as to convey meaning. Anything between 160-210 (wpm) is common in everyday speech. Why should conveying ideas in a “speech” be different?

Love your pages! However, please take caution when using the word ” slower”. It is an adjective. When speaking of how something is done, the proper use is ” more slowly”. 😉

I agree with you SO much that I filed a federal lawsuit asking court and other public officers to SLOWDOWN. My lawsuit is called Ovitsky v. Washington County, etc. It’s less about money and more about understanding what people are speaking, for me most of the time it is “too fast,” quite literally. Federal relay types about 60 wpm. Court officers speak 100+ wpm. If I can walk away with one non financial gain, it would be a federal order asking the locals to slow down and also asking FCC to hire faster typists to transcribe calls for deaf. I write for myself, I cannot read 100+ wpm, I can read about 80 wpm and I can hear maybe 60 wpm with pauses and repeats, which is why I use deaf telecom, I need a SLOWDOWN more than I need the visual but after seven years, I’m accustomed to doing both. I am in Oregon, not far from where ye hail from? Au Canada? In any event, thank you for your wonderful article and I appreciate your posting it. I re-posted it on my FaceBook page with a link back to this site.

Hi, Andrew, Congratulations for your blog! It’s terrific! I also write about public communication, but I focus on phonetics. I’ll keep reading your posts, thanks!! Carolina (Madrid, Spain)

Ray Hull, Ph.D. recommended 124 wpm.

That was great to read your research Please advise the top 10 speech or speaker in a world

Many Thanks

Nice article, I came here looking to learn what speed I wanted to be able to play guitar at. I was wondering if you might have an article you could direct me to which delves deeper into the mood tone/frequency or as you put it an article that tells me what speed rates convey what sorts of meanings and emotions?

Andrew, thank you! One of the 1st training segments of Accent training ( Not “accent reduction” – rather “Accent Addition”) is to train folks how to monitor their speaking rate. We do this by doing an analysis of TED speakers on the # of words per minute ( WPM). The Syllables Per Minute (SPM) analysis that you have done is phenomenal. A person cannot change how they move their speaking/articulator-voice muscles until they can be attuned to and control the speed of their speaking movements. Additionally, they cannot be attuned to how their listeners are responding or understanding if they cannot use effective pauses. Your analysis of the WPM and SPM of top TED speakers helps others to strategically garner specific tactics to be more effective speakers. Again, Thank you!!!

Thank you for this post Andrew! I learned a lot of details about public speaking while browsing through your blog. It actually inspired me to create an app which estimates the speaker’s speaking rate, pauses, pitch and volume (a digital presentation coach). Now available for free on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quantle/id1241930976 Thanks again for your valuable pages!

a very good job. I hope you will creat a a android version of the app. Thank you.

Hi Andrew. Thank you for your very interesting post on speaking rate. I am interested in doing this at a more academic level, in a paper, for instance. Do you have any papers/references on calculating speaking rate? Thank you in advance for your help.

Interesting that the fact of deafness are not being dealt with enough. Some deaf persons (especially older persons) has big difficulties in following newsreaders. It must be remembered that with the years all functions slow down a little bit with extreme cases here and there.Also older persons tend to listen more to radio and tv and find it very difficult in understanding than in the past.I am very fond of news channels but find that some readers (especially women ) are faster readers than their male colleges.To all out there please speak slower!

Do you have DVDs to help with practice sounds

Recently I reviewed a video where the speaker talked at 230 wpm! (I linked to this post for comparison with other talks.)

You might think that’d be WAY too fast, but in that case I think the speaker pulled it off.

If done well, one benefit of speaking so fast is that it conveys passion for the topic. See what you think…

The reason why Majora Carter’s spw is so much higher is because she says ‘sustainability’, ‘environmental’ and ‘sustainable development’ a lot.

You could also say that: • the avg wpm of those “2/3 between 153 and 168 wpm” is 160; and that • the avg spm of those talks is 274, and 237 amongst without the 3 fast-talking women and slomo Gore.

Personally, I’m more interested in how fast can people listen. Any clues?

Recent Tweets

163 words per minute is an average speaking rate for presentations. http://t.co/Tknk8f0A0O #speaking — @anthea_rowe Sep 10th, 2015

This was helpful to me as I’m preparing a talk: What is the Average Speaking Rate? https://t.co/oA8Scl26sx by @6minutes — @cesarbrea Oct 19th, 2015

@AlexWattsEsq about 90 hours by my very unscientific estimate. Used average speaking rate here: https://t.co/8CHXhuUt5K — @InfiniteClock Dec 2nd, 2015

What is the Average Speaking Rate? Very insightful 🙂 @GitteWBruhn and @SCThatcher https://t.co/UmmT6sa4N3 by @6minutes — @ClaireLauper Dec 18th, 2015

@grace_elliot Varies quite a lot. Some useful info here https://t.co/lXLdUZty91 😊 — @DamianSomebody Apr 20th, 2016

The average speaking rate of English as 1st Language TED speakers in Words & syllables https://t.co/ekitKC9jw6 — @accentcoach Jun 14th, 2016

#TuesdayTips Too fast, too slow, or just right? Good article by @6minutes on pace of speech. https://t.co/hPXErFUsVX — PitchVantage (@pitchvantage) Jul 5th, 2016

.@6minutes Found today. Looking forward to following. https://t.co/yWCQwBzJjg — @realestaterossi Nov 19th, 2016

¿sabías que la velocidad media de hablar óptima en un discurso está entre 153 y 168 palabras? #apor1600kwds https://t.co/bbwrBgo7BU — @DanielRDelPino Oct 17th, 2017

What is the Average Speaking Rate? https://t.co/Th6LajR5J8 — @BigDru Jul 6th, 2018

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Your speech pace: guide to speeding and slowing down

Average: 5 ( 2 votes)

John F. Kennedy talked fast, very fast. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for rate of speaking. During a speech in 1961, he spoke 327 words in just one minute. That’s about 3 times faster than the normal conversation rate.

During JFK's inaugural address, however, he remarkably slowed down his speaking rate to 96.5 words per minute; the slowest in the past 60 years of inauguration speeches.

JFK was a master in the art of pacing: he knew when to get the audience fired-up with a blasting fury of words, and when to slowly and carefully measure out each word to emphasize the meaning of his message.

As a speaker, the art of pacing can be one of your greatest tools.

Too fast or too slow?

The ultimate goal is to speak at a conversational pace. Do not attempt to speak in a even, steady pace: this will come off as monotone and boring. The combination of slow, fast, and medium speed will make your speech more engaging.

When to change your speed:

Fast: an indication of passion, urgency, excitement, and emotion.

Slow: an indication of importance, sadness, confusion, the seriousness of a point, or the introduction of a new idea.

When you’re speaking quickly, initially it is exciting for the audience. But, after a minute or two, it stops being stimulating and becomes overwhelming.

When you are speaking slowly, it grabs the attention of the audience and helps them process every word. Although, an entire talk at a slow pace, will bore your audience . While waiting for you to get to the point, they will lose interest.

Mix it up! Keep the majority of your talk in an ordinary conversation range, then change your pace to emphasize points in your message and influence the emotions of your audience.

Speech rate guidelines

How can you tell if you are speaking too fast, or too slow?

While in your head you might think your pace is perfect, in reality, you might be off-the-mark.

This is where finding out your speech rates can be helpful.

Speech rate is simply the speed at which you speak. It's calculated in the number of words spoken in a minute (wpm.)

Speech rate guidelines:  

Slow: less than 110 wpm

Conversational: between 120 wpm and 150 wpm

Fast: more than 160 wpm

Radio hosts and podcasters speak at 150-160 wpm.

Auctioneers and commentators speak between 250 to 400 wpm.

Still having a difficult time imagining these speeds? We’ve pulled together a list of 7 TED Talks with varying speeds, to help you get a better idea of the effect it can have on your presentation.

Examples of speeds:

Martin Luther King Jr. , Steve Jobs , Barack Obama , and Amy Tan are all examples of fantastic, and well-paced, speakers. Give them a listen to see what a well-paced speaker sounds like.

Do you need to adjust your speech rate? The first step is to figure out how fast you speak. There are a number of methods you can use to figure out how fast you are speaking.

Finding your speech rate

One of the most straightforward ways of figuring out your speech rate is to count your words over a few minutes of talking.

Speaking Rate (wpm) = Total words / # of minutes

You can either record a few minutes of your talk with your smartphone (or any other recording device) or watch one of your own videos.

Top tip: If you use a mobile device, have it convert your speech to text. Talk for one minute to capture the text then cut and paste the text into a word counter.

One of the best ways to get used to speaking at a slower or faster rate is to use a metronome to rehearse.

There are several free metronome apps available for Apple and Android which can help keep time as you practice your presentation. The click of the metronome can be set to your desired speech rate. For instance, begin with 100 ticks per minute, to get a feel for your pace, then adjust accordingly.

Want to practice your speed? Here are 2 smartphone apps that can help :

• Metronome Beats   Android | iOS Metronome Beats has easy-to-use controls for increasing and decreasing the tempo in small increments. The visual beat indicators help you to keep track and it is very easy to mute the metronome while visually monitoring your tempo.
• Pro Metronome Android | iOS Pro Metronome was created for all kinds of stage performers to improve their rhythm (think: musicians) but it is a fantastic app for public speakers who are working on their pacing. It offers a variety of ways to keep your tempo: screen color changes, vibrations, or sounds.

You can also practice in front of someone, either a colleague or a presentation coach, and ask whether or not you are speaking too quickly or too slowly.

They can offer you feedback on where to pick up the speed or slow down to make a  point more impactful .

Be understood when presenting to international audiences

How to give an online presentation in a different language

What are some of your struggles when it comes to setting your pace? We would love to help you in one of our future articles. Please contact us  here .

Are you looking for more speaking and training opportunities? SpeakerHub is the fastest growing network of speakers and trainers, connecting presenters with event organizers from around the world.  Find out more here.

Disclaimer: this article includes a paid product promotion.

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I Talk Too Slowly

What is the ideal rate of speech?

Lynda Stucky July 30, 2015 Build Your Brand , Develop Your Speech , Public Speaking

Are you fast talker? If you are, you may be losing the most important person in the room: the listener! A good rate of speech ranges between 140 -160 words per minute (wpm). A rate higher than 160 words per minute can be difficult for the listener to absorb the material. There may be some areas of the country that speak at faster rates but a slower rate is preferable. Too slow of a rate may give the listener the perception of slow thinking, incompetence and being uneducated. If you have a foreign accent though, speaking slowly is crucial since pronunciation may be a challenge for the listener. Use a speed that is closer to 140 words per minute.

Have you ever heard the difference between different rates? I encourage you to “hear” for yourself! I have recorded the same passage for you so that you can compare. What might be most helpful (especially if you don’t have time to listen to them all) is just listen to 140, 170 and 200 wpm. Take note of the differences you hear (intonation, pronunciation, etc.) and the way each rate makes you feel.

Rainbow Passage 140 wpm

Rainbow Passage 150 wpm

Rainbow Passage 160 wpm

Rainbow Passage 170 wpm

Rainbow Passage 180 wpm

Rainbow Passage 190 wpm

Rainbow Passage 200 wpm

The rate of speech that we speak at is highly individual. Speech rate affects the listener’s perception of the speaker and the relative importance of the message. Imagine “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King spoken at a fast rate. The length of time that the speech was spoken gives us time to imagine and to process the information. We wouldn’t process this meaningful and complex information if it had been spoken more quickly. In fact, we would most likely lose interest. A slow rate signals importance and sends a message that the content should be taken seriously.

Now if the content is unimportant and spoken too slowly, the listener may become impatient and bored and consequently lose interest, too. A slow speaker telling a story about a trip to the grocery store or a meeting agenda or something else less important, may find the listener watching with glazed over eyes.

Second language learners often speak the new language at the same rate they adopted in their first language. Given that there are generally some language errors present, speaking at a slower rate of speech will increase non-native English speaker’s chances of being better understood.

Humor, and light, frivolous messages are best expressed at a faster rate because we process that information a lot quicker.

When determining the rate of speech you want to use, analyze the content of your message. No matter what speed you choose, be sure to show enthusiasm through vocal variety and facial expression.

Tags: clearly speaking , ideal pace , lynda stucky , presenting , rate of speech , speaking executive , words per minute

Is the rate of speech need to be slower when speaking over the phone?

Yes, Anne. That’s a great idea because there are no visual cues for your listener. You’ll want to speak even more slowly on the phone.

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Harmonizing the Art and Science of Vocal Expression

Mastering Rate Of Speech In Communication: A Comprehensive Guide

October 27, 2023 By David V. Risner Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen people talk fast or slow? that is their rate of speech. 

In this blog, we will explore the rate of speech in communication and how it affects our ability to connect with others.

Rate Of Speech In Communication

The rate of speech in communication is how many words you say per minute.  

Ever had a chat with someone who talks like a turbocharged motor?

Or maybe you’ve met the slow-motion speaker who takes forever to get to the point? 

Speech speed can impact how well we understand and engage in conversations.

Example:  Imagine you’re at a coffee shop ordering your favourite brew. The barista asks if you want whipped cream. 

If they rattle off options at lightning speed, you might end up with an unexpected latte topping.

On the flip side, if they take ages to finish their sentence, your order could turn into a novella.

Importance Of Rate Of Speech In Communication

Speaking rate is important in communication. Here’s why:

1. Understanding: If you talk too fast, people might not understand you. If you talk too slowly, they might get bored.

2. Clarity: Speaking at the right speed helps people understand you better.

3. Engagement: The right pace keeps people interested in what you’re saying.

4. Expression : How you speak can show your emotions. Talking quickly can show excitement while speaking slowly can show seriousness.

5. Audience: You should adjust your speed to fit your audience. Different groups may need different speeds.

Speaking at the right rate is crucial for clear communication. It helps people understand and stay engaged with your message.

What Effects Rate Of Speech In Communication

Your speaking speed depends on many things:

1. Context and Purpose:  Where and why you’re talking matter. For example, formal presentations need a different speed than casual chats.

2. Topic Complexity:  How hard the topic is affects your speed. Complicated stuff might need slower talking for clarity.

3. Audience:  Who you’re talking to matters. Experts might want faster talk, but beginners need it slower.

4. Emotion and Tone:  Feeling excited makes you talk fast, but serious things slow you down.

5. Clear Words:  Making sure your words are clear is important. Speaking too fast can make it unclear.

6. What People Think:  People see slightly faster talkers as more skilled and likeable.

7. Personal Stuff:  Your physical traits, like how you talk and your training, influence your speed.

8. Cultural Ways:  Your region’s communication style can also play a part.

Your talking speed can change, and understanding these things helps you talk effectively.

Average Speech Rates In Different Types of Speech

Speech rates change depending on where and why you’re talking. Here’s the speed you’d typically talk at in different situations:

1. Casual Chats:  In everyday talks with pals, you’d speak at about 125-150 words per minute (WPM) . It’s comfy and helps everyone follow along.

2. Public Speaking:  When giving speeches or TED Talks , you’d aim for 150-160 WPM . This keeps the audience engaged without feeling rushed.

3. Clear Teaching:  In teaching or broadcasting, speech slows down to about 150 WPM . This clarity ensures everyone understands the message.

4. High-Energy Chat:  In exciting settings like sports commentary, you might go as fast as 170 WPM . It matches the action.

5. Audiobooks and Podcasts:  Narrating audiobooks or hosting podcasts, you’d stick to 150-160 WPM . It’s a balance of storytelling and understanding.

6. Slow and Precise:  For things like instructions or announcements, a slower pace of 100-120 WPM lets the audience grasp every detail.

Different situations call for different speaking speeds. It’s all about keeping things clear and engaging for your audience.

Perfect Rate Of Speech In Communication

Finding the ideal speech rate is essential for effective communication . Here’s how you can develop a perfect rate of speech:

1. Practice Daily:  Practice speaking at different speeds, from slow to fast. This helps you become comfortable with various rates and adapt to different situations.

2. Record Yourself:  Use a recording device or app to record your speech. Listen to the recordings to identify areas where you can improve your pace and clarity.

3. Metronome:  Try using a metronome to set a consistent pace. It’s like music for your speech. Practice speaking in sync with the metronome to develop a consistent rate.

4. Get Feedback:  Seek feedback from others, such as teachers, peers, or mentors. They can provide valuable insights into your speech rate.

5. Read Aloud:  Read books, articles, or scripts aloud at different speeds. This enhances your ability to adjust your pace while maintaining clarity.

6. Analyze Great Speakers:  Study the speech rates of effective communicators, like TED Talk speakers. Look at how they pace their speech to engage the audience and convey their message.

7. Use Pauses:  Incorporate deliberate pauses in your speech. Pauses can emphasize key points and allow the audience to absorb information.

8. Adapt to the Audience:  Consider your audience’s preferences and needs. Adjust your speech rate according to your listeners.

9. Stay Relaxed:  Nervousness can lead to speaking too quickly. Focus on staying calm and relaxed, which can help maintain a steady pace.

10. Get Professional Help:  If you’re struggling, consider a speech coach for personal guidance. 

Remember, the perfect rate of speech in communication, adaptability is key. Developing a wide range of speech rates will serve you well in different situations.

5 Exercises To Improve Your Rate Of Speech In Communication

These exercises will help you adjust your speaking speed for effective communication. 

1. Reading Children’s Stories

– Read a children’s story silently to get a sense of the flow.

– Identify passages to speak faster and slower.

– Read aloud, noting how speed affects interpretation.

– Record yourself to review and learn from your performance.

2. Reading Factual Reports

– Choose an information-rich report from a newspaper.

– Familiarize yourself with the content and read it aloud.

– Identify sections for slow or fast reading.

– Practice until you find the right mix of speeds.

– Imagine explaining the report to a novice audience for added practice.

3. Experiment with Your Speech

– Record your speech at your usual rate.

– Time yourself and note the duration.

– Revisit the speech, marking areas for speed adjustments.

– Record it again and note the changes in time and insights.

4. Listen to Skilled Speakers

– Listen to accomplished public speakers, like radio hosts etc.

– Observe their varying speaking rates during their presentations.

– Experiment with different rates inspired by what you observed.

5. Work with Familiar Material

– Recite a well-known text at different speeds.

– Record if possible or listen and assess the impact.

– Identify where speed was effective and where it wasn’t.

– Adjust your script accordingly and practice.

How To Make Your Speech Interesting?

To make your speech interesting, change how fast you talk. Don’t talk at the same speed all the time.

It can make your speech boring. Instead, switch between talking fast and talking slow.

Talking Fast:  Use this when you want to show excitement or urgency. It adds emotion to your speech. But if you talk fast for too long, it can become too much for your audience.

Talking Slow:  This is good for important or serious parts of your speech. It helps people focus on what you’re saying. Yet, if your whole speech is slow, it might make your audience lose interest.

So, mix it up. Talk fast when you need to, and slow down when it’s important. This keeps your audience engaged and adds feeling to your speech.

How to Calculate Rate Of Speech In Communication

To calculate it, you’ll need a stopwatch and a transcript of what you said. Here’s how it works: 

1. Get a Timer : First things first, grab your phone or a good old-fashioned watch – something with a timer.

2. Choose a Sample : Next, pick a piece of text, like a paragraph from a book or even this article.

3. Time Yourself : Start the timer and read the text out loud. Stop the timer once you’re done.

4. Count the Words : Count the words you read. Let’s say it’s 150 words.

5. Do the Math : Now, divide the number of words (150 in our example) by the number of minutes it took you to read. So, if it took you 2 minutes, the rate would be 150 words divided by 2 minutes, which equals 75 words per minute (wpm).

The way you speak can make a big difference in how well your message comes across.

We’ve looked at what speech rate is, why it matters, and how to improve it.

Remember, it’s important to find the right balance in your speech rate. Don’t talk too fast or too slow.

Varying your pace can make your message more interesting.

As you continue communicating with others, keep these tips in mind.

Effective communication isn’t about what you say, but how you say it. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is prosody and the rate of speech .

Prosody is the way we express feelings through elements like rhythm, and tone in our speech. It’s like the melody of language. 

The rate of speech is how fast or slow we talk.

Prosody and speech rate are important because they help us convey emotions, and make sure others understand us. 

If we talk too fast, it can be hard for people to follow, but if we talk too slowly, it might get boring. 

What Is The Best Rate Of Speech? 

The best speaking rate is approximately 143 words per minute. This pace allows you to communicate effectively without rushing or becoming boring. 

But, it’s essential to adapt your rate based on the context and audience.

Practice is key to finding your optimal speaking rate and adjusting it for different situations. 

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Rate of Speech

Published Date : November 5, 2020

Reading Time :

Rate of speech , also known as speaking rate or tempo, refers to the speed at which you speak, measured in words per minute (wpm). It plays a crucial role in effective communication, impacting comprehension, engagement, and overall delivery in various contexts, including public speaking . While speech coaches can offer personalized guidance, public speaking courses can also provide valuable techniques for controlling your speaking rate for clear and impactful communication.

Factors Influencing Rate of Speech:

• Nervousness:  Anxiety can increase speaking rate, making it harder for listeners to understand.
• Complexity of information:  Technical vocabulary or complex concepts may require a slower pace.
• Target audience:  Tailor your rate to the audience’s understanding level and cultural norms.
• Purpose of the speech :  Informative speeches benefit from a moderate pace, while persuasive speeches might involve strategic variations.

Ideal Rate of Speech:

There’s no single “perfect” rate, depending on various factors. However, research suggests an ideal range between 150-180 wpm for optimal comprehension and engagement in general communication. This range may vary in public speaking depending on the specific context and purpose.

Benefits of a Controlled Rate of Speech:

• Improved clarity and understanding:  Allows listeners to process information easily, reducing confusion.
• Enhanced emphasis and impact:  Strategic slowing down can highlight key points and evoke emotions.
• Increased audience engagement:  A balanced pace keeps listeners focused and prevents tune-out.
• Greater credibility and professionalism:  Projects confidence and control over your message.

Tips for Controlling Rate of Speech:

• Be mindful of your pace: Pay attention to how fast you speak and consciously slow down if needed.
• Practice with a recording:  Listen back to identify areas where you can adjust your rate.
• Use pauses effectively:  Strategic pauses for emphasis and audience reflection can also pace your speech .
• Focus on breathing: Deep breaths help control vocal cords and naturally slow your speech .
• Join a public speaking course:  Gain feedback and practice exercises to refine your pace control.
• Consider working with a speech coach :  They can provide personalized guidance and tailored techniques for specific settings.

The rate of speech is a powerful tool for optimizing communication. By understanding its importance, mastering pace control through dedicated practice, and considering resources like public speaking courses and speech coaches, you can deliver your message with clarity and impact and connect with your audience more effectively.

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Quick & easy tips for speaking rate

- how to pace your speech for maximum impact.

By:  Susan Dugdale   | Last modified: 02-03-2022

If you habitually speak too fast, or too slowly, and you want to communicate well it's time to learn more about adapting your rate of speech to meet the needs of your audience and your content.

What you'll find on this page:

• an overview of the result of speaking too fast or too slowly
• w hy flexible speaking rates have more impact
• how speech rate is interpreted
• 6 exercises to develop an effective speaking rate
• links to more articles on speech rate : how to calculate it - 2 easy methods and a quick reference guide on the average number of words per minute in speeches 1 through to 10 minutes long.  

 You need these tips if you speak too quickly

If you've ever been called a motor-mouth, you'll know it's because the words rocket out of your mouth.

Maybe you have so many ideas you want to share, and maybe you need to get them out quickly because there are so many more coming up fast behind them!

It's fun and exciting to listen to fast speech, for a while.  However when your speech stops being stimulating and starts being uncomfortable, ears switch off.

And you need them if you speak too slowly

Slow word-by-very-slow-word turns ears off too.

People wait-and-wait for you to get on with it, eventually losing interest.

The answer is variety - developing a flexible speaking rate

The solution to the speaking too fast or too slowly problem is not the middle ground. Rather it is to vary your speaking rate: to match it to meet the needs of your audience and, your content.

Let's imagine your speech as a journey

Picture in your mind the layout of your speech.

You'll have an introduction, followed by a series of main ideas with supporting examples or illustrations. To finish there'll be a conclusion.

Now think of the thread, (the theme, the main ideas), linking it altogether.

That thread is similar to a road.  When you give a speech you are taking your audience on a journey, a road trip.

Your mouth is the vehicle carrying both your message and your audience along.  And you are its driver.

You are in complete control of how you deliver, or drive your speech from beginning to end.

Making choices on how you deliver your speech

As the driver you make choices affecting your message, and your audience.

Choosing to deliver your speech too fast

You can whirl them through your speech so fast the scenery blurs. So while you're busy negotiating a series of complicated hair pin bends at full throttle, that is rattling off a complex series of ideas with examples, your poor audience is gazing out the back window trying to work out what they've missed and where they are.

One by one your listeners will get dizzy and exhausted through the effort they're making to keep up with you. Then they'll close off their ears and sit quietly waiting for the ride to stop.

Choosing to speak too slowly

Or by contrast you can proceed so cautiously your passengers want to get out and walk. Listening to your speech is pure tedium.

Becoming a responsive speaker

If you were a responsive driver (speaker) you would be continually adjusting your speed to meet the road conditions (your speech content) and the needs of your passengers (audience).

There would be places to slow and perhaps even stop for the audience to catch their breath. There would also be places where a quick burst of acceleration would give an exciting thrill.

Interpreting speech rate

A FASTER speaking speed signals urgency, excitement, passion or raw emotion. 

In contrast a SLOWER speaking rate signals importance, seriousness or significant ideas. Slow says: 'LISTEN UP! YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS.'

A new concept or complex information may need to be delivered slowly to give the audience time to grasp it before moving on. 'Slow' is also useful for summarizing material.

The combination of slow, fast, and medium speeds makes your speech easier to listen to.

Negative connotations of going too fast or too slow 

Both fast and slow rates of speech can be interpreted negatively by those listening to it.

Speaking too quickly could be seen as evidence of anxiety or fear.

Speaking too slowly could be interpreted as a lack of intelligence or, a lack of knowledge about the speech subject.  

6 exercises to develop flexible speaking rate

1. reading children's stories.

Read a children's story silently several times to familiarize yourself with the flow. Go through it again noting which passages would suit taking more quickly and which should be slower. Then read it aloud and listen carefully to how speed alters interpretation. Repeat the exercise altering your speed over particular passages, noting the differences.

Record yourself if possible doing this and all the following exercises. Save all the versions you do. You'll then have them to refer back to. Recording takes out the guess work as you can hear exactly what you did, rather than what you imagined you did. It doesn't lie!

2. Read factual reports

Pick an information loaded report from a newspaper or magazine.

Go through it silently to familiarize yourself with the flow of material and then read it aloud. Make a note of which passages need careful or slow reading and which can be taken at a faster rate. Re-read aloud until you feel you have the mix of speeds right.

As an extension exercise read the report as if you were reading for an audience who knew nothing about the subject. Note what changes you made and why.

3. Experiment with one of your own speeches

Record and time yourself delivering a speech of your own at your current 'normal' speaking rate.

Note the time down. Now go through again having marked passages for slower or faster treatment. Note the new time and your new insights.

4. Practice with a partner

Practice with a partner. Go through any of the exercises above. Explain what you doing and ask them to listen for effectiveness. Get them to note examples where you did well and where you needed to alter your speech rate and why.

5. Listen to good speakers

Listen to speakers you admire. They could be radio presenters, preachers ... anybody accustomed to speaking in public. Note the different rates of speech they use over the course of their presentation and the effectiveness and experiment with them for yourself.

6. Play with material you are familiar with 

Read or recite part of a text you know well quickly (or slowly). If you can record yourself, do so. If not, listen and note the effect it has on you. If you've recorded yourself, play it back. Ask yourself where was the speed effective? Where was it detrimental? Mark those places on your script. Read again incorporating your changes.

Exercise patience

And lastly, be patient with yourself. Changing your normal speaking rate is challenging. The habitual speed of words leaving our mouths is deeply ingrained. As children we are very effective sponges. We soak up everything around us, including the speech rates used by our significant adults. What was their normal speech speed becomes ours. It feels natural, comfortable and right!

Altering rate is not impossible but it does require awareness, effort and PRACTICE!

Related pages:

Developing a flexible speech rate is only PART of the skill set used by a successful speaker. You can put more in your tool box.

The magic of silence

Remember the image of your mouth as the driver? When your tongue is high revving, it's accelerating away. When you're stuck in first gear, it's crawling forward one little word at a time.

Now you've got control over rate, it's time to turn your attention to the brakes. Skilled use of the brakes are the key to effective silence.

Find out how to use the  Power of the Pause .

PS. More on speaking rate!

Did you know the average 'natural' (ordinary conversational speech) speaking rate ranges between approximately 130-200 words per minute?

Speaking rate has multiple variations including regional and national. Listen to what is regarded as 'normal' to make any adjustments needed  before  you speak in public.  To find out more click  speech rate .

Speech rate and words per minute

When you have a speech to give with a strict time limit it's useful to have an estimate of how many words will fit comfortably into the time allocated, before you begin to write.

For more see:  How many words per minute in a speech: a quick reference guide  for 1 through to 10 minute speeches.  

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The Truth About Speech Rates: Why People Talk Fast or Slow

Thanks for visiting InnerSelf.com , where there are 20,000+ life-altering articles promoting "New Attitudes and New Possibilities." All articles are translated into 30+ languages .  Subscribe to InnerSelf Magazine, published weekly, and Marie T Russell's Daily Inspiration. InnerSelf Magazine has been published since 1985.

 French, Spanish and Japanese are spoken faster than German, Vietnamese and Mandarin, with English somwhere in the middle. Aaron Amat/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Pop culture abounds with examples of very fast talkers. There’s the Judy Grimes character played by Kristen Wiig on “Saturday Night Live,” or that guy from the 1980s who did commercials for Micro Machines and FedEx . Of course, there are also extremely slow talkers, like the sloth in “Zootopia” and the cartoon basset hound Droopy .

Real-life fast talkers are staples in some professions. Auctioneers and sportscasters are known for their rapid delivery, though the slower commentary in golf shows there is a range for different sports.

As professors of English who study linguistic variations , we know that how fast a person speaks is a complicated phenomenon. It depends on a range of factors, including the types of words used, the language spoken, regional differences, social variables and professional needs.

Different countries, different speeds

Speech rate refers to the speed at which a speaker verbalizes “connected discourse” – essentially anything more than a sentence. It is measured by counting segments of sound and the pauses in a specific time frame. Typically, these segments are counted as syllables. Remember clapping syllables in elementary school? SYL-LA-BLES.

There is also global variation within the dialects of a language. In English, for example, one study found that New Zealanders spoke the fastest , followed by British English speakers, then Americans and finally Australians.

Stereotypes don’t hold up

Many people have expectations and assumptions about different speech rates within English dialects. For example, there’s the often-observed “drawl” of those living in the U.S. South . The term drawl denotes a slower, drawn-out speaking pace. And, indeed, some research supports this perception. One study found that participants in western North Carolina spoke more slowly than participants in Wisconsin.

Other research has demonstrated that some Southerners may speak more slowly only in certain contexts – for example, they may pause more often when reading aloud . And certain elongated vowels in southern American dialects can also slow down the speech rate. This can be heard in the pronunciation of “nice” as something like “nahhce.”

But it’s important to recognize that language also varies within regions, including the U.S. South. For example, a study involving North Carolinians found that speakers in western and central North Carolina spoke more slowly than those in the state’s eastern and southern parts . And some North Carolinians spoke about as fast as Ohioans – suggesting the stereotype of the slow-talking Southerner doesn’t always hold up.

Age, gender and other variables

Sex and gender may also influence speech rates, although results have been conflicting here, too. Some research shows that men speak faster than women , while other studies find no significant difference in speech rate between genders.

The demographic variable that seems to have the most significant and consistent impact is age. We speak slowly when we are children, speed up in adolescence and speak our fastest in our 40s. Then we slow down again as we reach our 50s and 60s .

While geography, gender and age may affect speech rates in certain cases, context plays a role as well. For example, certain professions use oral formulaic traditions , meaning there’s a framework script when performing those jobs. An average person can speak about as fast as an auctioneer – 5.3 syllables per second – when saying something they’ve said many times before.

However, auctioneers use certain patterns of speech that make it seem like they speak incredibly quickly. They have few pauses in speech and repeat the same words frequently. They also use unfamiliar phrasings and rhythms, which makes listeners have to process what was said long after the auctioneer has moved on to the next topic. And auctioneers have a constant rate of articulation – meaning they rarely stop talking.

While recognizing differences in speech rates can help people to better understand linguistic, cultural and professional identities, it also has technological and other applications. Think of how computer scientists must program Alexa and Siri to both produce and recognize speech at different rates. Speaking more slowly can also improve listening comprehension for beginner and intermediate language learners.

Perhaps the most valuable takeaway when considering speech rate variation is the fact that linguistic perceptions don’t always match up with reality. This is a perspective we often emphasize in our own work because linguistic stereotypes can lead to assumptions about a person’s background .

Recent studies of perceptions of U.S. dialects confirm that, despite variation in speech rates within regions, people persist in labeling large regions of the South as “slow” and the North and Midwest as “fast.” Moreover, these evaluations are also typically associated with negative stereotypes . Slow talkers are often assumed to be less intelligent or competent than fast talkers, while very fast talkers can be seen as less truthful or kindhearted.

About The Author

Michelle Devereaux , Professor of English and English Education, Kennesaw State University and Chris C. Palmer , Professor of English, Kennesaw State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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Thanks for visiting InnerSelf.com , where there are 20,000+ life-altering articles promoting "New Attitudes and New Possibilities." All articles are translated into 30+ languages . Subscribe to InnerSelf Magazine, published weekly, and Marie T Russell's Daily Inspiration. InnerSelf Magazine has been published since 1985.

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How to Adjust the Rate of Speech in Innovative Presentations

Innovative presentations for dummies.

Sign up for the Dummies Beta Program to try Dummies' newest way to learn.

Rate of speech is how fast you talk in words per minute (wpm) and is an important component of innovative presentations. Rate of speech is also called speed, pace, tempo, and rhythm. The typical or average speech rate is about 125 wpm, and most people recommend that you speak between 110 to 180 wpm, although not consistently.

How can you tell if you speak within the 110 to 180 words-per-minute guideline? Read one or two pages of a prepared (scripted) speech or presentation out loud and time yourself for a minute. Count the words you read and divide it by 60 to get your average wpm.

A constant rate of speech almost always accompanies a dull, monotone speaking voice. Using an unvarying speed and pitch works great for a hypnotist (“you are getting very sleepy … ”), but it’s not so effective for a presenter. Like a fine passage of music, which alternates between speeding up and slowing down, your voice should vary in rate throughout your talk.

Changing your pace sounds more natural and makes your delivery come across more animated and conversational.

Fast talking at higher speeds can confuse an audience, make it difficult for them to concentrate, or just plain annoy them. Other than your attempts at vocal showmanship, speaking quickly during your presentation suggests nervousness, lack of confidence, irritability, or being rushed — the audience may get the impression you have somewhere else to be!

This feeling is magnified when you accompany fast talking with poor eye contact, stiff posture, and lack of gestures. Worse, with certain glib personality types, fast talking can be perceived as slick or smarmy. However, when combined with sincere smiling, meaningful gestures, and effective eye contact, a somewhat faster pace indicates enthusiasm, excitement, and enjoyment.

The term fast is relative: Trisha Paytas, a model and actress from Los Angeles, has a black belt in fast talking. She set a world record by speaking (if you call it that) 710 words in only 54 seconds! It sounds like gibberish until you slow down the recording and find her articulation is nearly flawless!

Don’t pack your presentation with overflowing information if you have a limited amount of time. That forces you to rush through your presentation by talking fast and furiously.

Varying your speaking rate in a presentation is like shifting gears in a car — you use each speed for a purpose as the situation and needs dictate: starting out, going up hill, straightaway cruising, speeding up to pass, or coming to a stop.

About This Article

This article is from the book:.

• Innovative Presentations For Dummies ,

About the book authors:

Ray Anthony has helped Fortune 500 clients close multi-million dollar deals by designing and developing extraordinarily innovative, solution-selling presentations with superior value propositions for his clients. Barbara Boyd has worked as a marketing and technology consultant for more than 10 years and is the author of several books.

This article can be found in the category:

• Business Communication ,
• Innovative Presentations For Dummies Cheat Sheet
• Innovative Presentations Model and Process
• Presentation Evaluation Sheet
• 10 Apps to Enhance Your Presentations
• Overcoming a Language Barrier When Giving Presentations
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English with Kim

Explore Your Pitch in American English – Pitch, Stress, Intonation, and Tone of Voice

Ever asked yourself one of these questions about pitch?

• I don’t understand how to use pitch. Why can’t I hear pitch in my own voice?
• What’s the difference between pitch and volume? Are they the same thing? They sound like it.
• How do you use pitch to communicate meaning in English?
• What does tone mean in English? Is English a tonal language?
• What’s the difference between pitch, stress, and intonation? Some people talk about them as if they’re the same thing.

As you probably know by now, I talk a lot about how to use pitch, intonation, and your voice here on my website and my YouTube channel.

Subtle changes in how you use your voice can affect how clearly you communicate your meaning in American English.

In this video, I’m going to answer the most common questions you ask me about pitch, stress, tone, and intonation. Let’s get started!

How We Use Pitch: Word Stress, Sentence Stress, and Intonation

Let’s start with the basics. What is pitch anyway?

When we’re talking about languages, pitch is the highness or the lowness of your voice .

In other words, it’s the frequency of the sound waves that you produce when you’re speaking.

We often think about pitch when we’re talking about singing or playing a musical instrument, but it’s also extremely important when you’re speaking English .

In American English, we use changes in pitch to emphasize key words through word and sentence stress .

By stepping up to a higher pitch , we emphasize a certain syllable of a word.

Pitch is one of the key elements that you need in order to emphasize a syllable with word stress .

Native English speakers are listening for this higher pitch in order to hear you pronounce a word correctly .

Listen to how I say these common words in the video:

• communi CA tion
• ge O graphy

Can you hear when my voice steps up to a higher pitch?

We also use pitch to highlight the most important words in the entire sentence.

In other words, we focus attention on the key words using our pitch.

We stress or emphasize the key syllable of these words in order to indicate that they’re the most important ones.

When we move up and down between these pitch levels when speaking, we create the natural melody of English .

I like to think of the spoken melody of English in terms of waves . 🌊

We rise up to a higher pitch ↗️ and then fall afterwards ↘️, rise up to a higher pitch ↗️ and then fall afterwards ↘️, rise up to a higher pitch ↗️ and then fall afterwards ↘️.

You can hear this up and down, this rise and fall in pitch, between stressed syllables of stressed words , and unstressed or reduced syllables that seem to become a little less obvious.

If you listen closely, you can hear a consistent rise and fall in pitch, kind of like your breathing or watching waves crash on the beach. 🏖️

We also use changes in pitch to communicate meaning through intonation.

We’ll talk more about intonation and tone of voice in just a moment, so stay tuned.

Find Your Pitch in American English

At this point, you may be wondering how to find your pitch, how to use pitch in your voice.

You may not be able to hear pitch changes in your voice .

The most important thing to understand is that the pitch you use is relative to you and your own voice .

The pitch levels available to you in your own voice will be different than the ones that I can use.

You may have a broader pitch range than I do, or you may have a smaller one.

That’s why it’s so important that you explore what’s possible for you in your own voice , that you play around with pitch using the exercises I’m going to recommend, so that you understand what you can do with your voice.

Four Pitch Levels in American English

Before we start experimenting with pitch using some of my favorite pitch exercises, I want to remind you that we generally speak within four main pitch levels in English .

Check out this clip from Find Your Voice in American English: Vocal Exercises for Non-Native English Speakers where I explain the four main pitch levels.

In American English, we normally speak within  four main pitch levels .

At times, our pitch will go even higher and at times it may go even lower.

When you’re speaking English, you want to  feel comfortable moving up and down within these four pitch levels.

Your  baseline pitch  is where your voice naturally rests.

You’re going to come down to your baseline pitch when you’re saying  words and syllables that don’t really matter .

These are what we call  unstressed words and syllables .

Think about how you may say function words like “of,” “at,” “by,” “to.”

As you can hear, those words are said at a  slightly lower pitch.  This is your baseline pitch.

When you’re  emphasizing key words and syllables , your pitch is going to  rise one step above the baseline pitch .

At this pitch level, your voice should have  richness, depth, and fullness .

It should sound really nice and feel really comfortable and really natural.

When you’re  emphasizing the most important words  in the sentence, your pitch is going to hit  two steps above your baseline .

In other words, you’ll hit the  highest pitch level  when saying the most important words in a thought group or sentence.

You’ll hit the  lowest pitch level  at the end of a declarative sentence when using  falling intonation . That will be  one step below your baseline .

Explore Your Pitch: Practice with Pitch Exercises

Now that you understand the relationship between the different pitch levels that we use to express meaning in English, let’s explore your pitch.

As I mentioned in the video, it’s important to identify your baseline pitch.

This is the pitch where your voice naturally rests.

Your baseline pitch should feel comfortable for you.

Watch the video to hear what my baseline pitch sounds like.

This is the pitch I’m going to use on unstressed words and syllables.

I can comfortably speak at my baseline pitch because it’s where my voice naturally rests.

Now take a moment and try to find your baseline pitch by repeating the sound “la”: la la la la la la la.

It may be higher or lower than what you’re used to in your native language.

Just experiment until you can find it.

Now we’re going to practice pitch steps up and down .

(This is the same exercise that I teach in The Power of Pitch , so if you need more practice, you can check it out.)

As I mentioned, we just need to move one and two steps above the baseline pitch .

Let’s start at the baseline and repeat the sound “la”: la la la la la la la la.

Now let’s shift our pitch up one step : la la la la la la la.

It should be a natural move one step above the baseline .

Now let’s move one more step above the baseline: la la la la la la la.

You can start at the baseline and move up one step at a time so that you can hear the gradual increase.

As you can hear, there’s a noticeable difference between my baseline, one step above and two steps above.

Can you hear the difference in your own voice?

Now let’s move back down to the baseline from this higher pitch, stepping down while repeating the sound “la”: la la la la la la la.

Now let’s practice moving one step below the baseline : la la la la la la la.

It can be a little challenging to drop one step below your baseline, but remember we only drop below the baseline using falling intonation .

We only hit that bottom pitch level when we are finishing a statement.

We don’t speak for extended periods of time at that step below the baseline.

As you explore your pitch, remember that the most important thing is to be able to noticeably show a difference between your baseline, one step above, two steps above and one step below.

• We use our baseline pitch when we’re saying unstressed words or syllables.
• We use one step above our baseline when we’re stressing words and syllables.
• We use two steps above the baseline for the stressed syllable in the most important word in a sentence or a thought group.
• We also use two steps above the baseline when we’re using rising intonation.
• We use one step below the baseline when we’re using falling intonation.

For more practice on stress and intonation, check out these resources:

• Word Stress in American English
• Sentence Stress in American English
• Falling Intonation in American English
• Rising Intonation in American English

Play Around with Your Voice: Practice Pitch Slides

At this point you may be saying, “Kim, I understand what you’re talking about with regards to pitch, but I can’t do it myself. I can’t hear pitch in my own voice.”

This is why I encourage you to play around with your pitch using pitch slides .

In order to practice pitch slides, we’re going to say a vowel sound and then hold that sound while sliding our pitch up and down.

It may feel a little silly, but it will definitely help you understand how much pitch is available to you in your voice .

Let’s start with the long vowel sound /i/. We’re going to slide our pitch up and down from low to high, high to low: eeee ↗️ , eeee ↘️, eeee ↗️ , eeee ↘️, eeee ↗️ , eeee ↘️, eeee ↗️ , eeee ↘️.

Now let’s try it with the long vowel sound /oʊ/: oooo ↗️, oooo ↘️, oooo ↗️, oooo ↘️, oooo ↗️, oooo ↘️, oooo ↗️, oooo ↘️.

Now let’s try it with the long vowel sound /u/: uuuu ↗️, uuuu ↘️, uuuu ↗️, uuuu ↘️, uuuu ↗️, uuuu ↘️, uuuu ↗️, uuuu ↘️.

How do you feel about your pitch now?

You probably found out that you can actually hit a number of pitch levels with your voice , not just the four we practiced a moment ago.

Pitch variation and vocal variety.

As you continue to explore your voice, you’re going to want to have more pitch variation and more variety in how you use your voice.

This will help you sound more interesting, engaging, and expressive when you’re speaking!

In my experience, many non-native speakers tend to move between two pitch levels .

To sound more expressive and interesting, you want to include more variety in your speech .

At the very least, you want to feel comfortable moving within the four main pitch levels.

However, to express a wider range of emotions including excitement, enthusiasm, interest, and curiosity, it’s helpful to move beyond these four pitch levels .

When you only speak within one or two pitch levels, you may start to sound monotonous .

Listen to the video to hear what I mean: It’s nice to finally meet you.

You can definitely hear that there’s two levels there, but my voice doesn’t sound as expressive.

When you use a wider pitch range, your voice expresses how you feel.

Listen to hear a more expressive version: It’s so nice to finally meet you!

Can you hear the difference?

Difference Between Pitch and Volume in English

Now let’s move on and talk about the difference between pitch and volume .

When you’re exploring your pitch, you may start thinking that pitch seems to be the same thing as volume.

Volume is the loudness or the softness of your voice .

The reason pitch and volume are often confused is that they work together to create meaning.

When we stress a syllable in English , we make it longer, louder, and higher in pitch.

You’ll hear an increase in volume at the same time that you’ll hear a higher pitch level.

It may also be confusing if you’re used to using volume to stress or emphasize words in your native language .

If it’s easier for you to increase your volume than to increase your pitch, you may be substituting this louder sound when you’re stressing words.

Beyond that, you might find yourself dropping your pitch when you’re speaking quietly.

When you speak at a higher pitch level, your voice may be more obvious, it may draw more attention.

So if you’re trying to be quieter, you might drop down to a lower pitch.

Or you may naturally increase your volume and your pitch at the same time when you’re excited or you’re trying to project your voice.

Practice Volume with This Exercise

Let’s try to understand volume with this exercise.

Let’s try saying “The weather is great today” while imagining these situations.

First, try saying “The weather is great today” to someone who’s sitting across a table from you .

They’re just a couple of feet away from you or a meter; they can hear you without extra volume.

Try it: The weather is great today. The weather is great today. The weather is great today.

Now try saying “The weather is great today” to someone across the room .

Say it again: The weather is great today. The weather is great today. The weather is great today.

Hopefully you can hear how y our voice got a little bit louder .

You may also notice a slight increase in pitch. It may help you project your voice a little more.

Now, let’s say “The weather is great today” to someone in a library .

Remember, you need to be quiet in a library, so you need to lower your volume .

Try it again: The weather is great today. The weather is great today. The weather is great today.

As you can hear, when you start whispering, your volume also falls.

Now let’s try saying the weather is great today to someone across a stadium or standing on a different mountain.

One more time, extra loud: The weather is great today. The weather is great today. The weather is great today.

You can definitely hear a difference when you start shouting to someone who’s far away!

As you can hear, pitch and volume work together when we stress words and syllables, but they’re not the same thing.

Because volume is commonly used to emphasize words in languages besides English, it’s easy to get confused.

Tone and Tone of Voice in American English

Let’s talk about the meaning of the word “tone” in English.

When you hear people talk about the word “tone” when they’re speaking English, they’re usually referring to your tone of voice .

In other words, “tone” is the short way to talk about your tone of voice.

If you hear someone say, “I don’t like your tone,” they’re referring to the emotion or the attitude that’s being expressed through your tone of voice or your intonation.

We often use the words “tone,” “tone of voice,” and “intonation” interchangeably.

“Tone” and “tone of voice” are more common to hear in everyday conversations .

“Intonation” is a more specific technical term that we use when we’re talking about improving your voice, or improving how you play a musical instrument.

“Tone” can also mean a vocal or musical sound , as well as the quality of that sound when we’re talking about music.

Remember, if you hear someone mention your tone or your tone of voice, and they’re not talking about playing a musical instrument, they’re probably referring to your intonation, or the meaning that you’re expressing through rises and falls in pitch .

Is English a tonal language?

Now that you understand how we use the word tone in everyday speech, let’s talk about whether English is a tonal language .

When people hear us mention the word “tone,” they get confused. They think that English is a tonal language.

It’s important to understand that English is not a tonal language.

In a tonal language, the way you enter or exit a sound can change its meanin g.

That means one sound can have several different meanings , depending on the way pitch changes as you enter the sound, leave the sound or even during the sound.

In other words, in a tonal language, words can have different tones , different qualities.

In American English, tone or intonation changes throughout an entire sentence .

Pitch changes in English happen across an entire sentence, an entire thought group, an entire utterance.

We interpret your tone or your intonation over the entire sentence, not just on a particular word.

The rise and fall throughout the entire sentence as well as any pitch changes communicate meaning.

In other words, pitch changes in English affect the entire sentence , not just the word.

You’ll hear rises in pitch to a certain word and then from a certain word.

But how you enter and exit the syllable doesn’t change the meaning.

It’s how the pitch rises and falls in comparison to the rest of the words in the sentence.

How to Use Pitch Naturally in American English

As I mentioned a moment ago, in order to use pitch naturally, you want to remember that your pitch rises and falls like a wave .

We gently climb up to stressed syllables, and then fall down afterwards.

You’ll hear this natural melody throughout neutral statements and questions .

We can change the meaning of a sentence by emphasizing one word more than the others or by changing the rise and fall on an entire idea.

Let’s look at a few examples so you can hear what I mean.

How to Change Meaning by Changing Stress

First, let’s look at a neutral statement:

He lost his keys at the store.

In a normal, neutral sentence, you can hear that rise and fall between stressed syllables of stressed words .

He LOST his KEYS at the STORE.

Can you hear that wave?

By changing our pitch on a certain word, we can change the meaning of the sentence.

For example, I might stress “he” more than the rest of the sentence:

HE lost his keys at the store.

When I increase my pitch on the word “he,” which wouldn’t normally be stressed with so much emphasis, I change the meaning.

If I say “He lost his keys at the store,” I may be clarifying .

Maybe the other person misunderstood me and they thought somebody else lost their keys, or maybe they thought I was talking about myself.

We can also emphasize the verb:

He LOST his keys at the store.

We may choose to stress the verb for clarity .

Maybe the other person thought he forgot his keys at the store or he found his keys at the store.

By emphasizing the word “lost,” we prioritize this word above the rest of the sentence .

When you stress a word that wouldn’t normally receive the most stress and emphasis, it draws extra attention to that word .

We do this using our pitch!

Let’s try one more example.

He lost his KEYS at the store.

By emphasizing “keys” more than the rest of the other words, I may be clarifying .

Maybe the other person didn’t hear me, they thought I said “wallet,” or maybe I just want to emphasize the word “keys” because that’s something that’s not good to lose.

How to Change Meaning by Changing Intonation

Now let’s look at how a change of pitch at the end of a statement or question can change the meaning.

When we say normal, neutral statements, our voice will fall at the end . ↘️ For example:

They’re not ready. ↘️

In this sentence, I’m just stating a fact :

However, if I include a rise in pitch at the end of the sentence, I change its meaning. ↗️

They’re not ready? ↗️

By adding this rise in pitch, I’m asking a question .

I may need the other person to confirm what they just told me or I may be a little bit surprised.

If I want to express shock or surprise, my pitch will go even higher.

They’re not ready?! ↗️

As you can see, an obvious change in pitch can completely change the meaning of the sentence.

It helps us express additional emotions and attitudes.

Let’s try one more example. Here’s a normal, neutral statement:

That sounds like a good idea. ↘️

By saying this statement with falling intonation at the end, I’m showing confidence. I believe this sounds like a good idea.

However, if I rise in pitch at the end of the sentence, I can change the meaning.

That sounds like a good idea? ↗️

As you can hear, I’m asking this statement as a question and I’m suggesting that I don’t think it sounds like a good idea.

You can also say this with more tentative intonation and show uncertainty.

That sounds like a good idea…

As you can hear, I’m not speaking with confidence. I’m showing that I’m not that sure .

Pitch, Stress, and Intonation in American English

Now that we’ve looked at these examples, I hope you can hear how changes in pitch can affect the meaning of the entire sentence.

As we’ve discussed, pitch plays an important role in word and sentence stress as well as intonation.

People often confuse stress and intonation because they work together .

You need to consistently stress words so that your intonation makes sense.

We use changes in pitch for word stress , sentence stress , and focus word stress .

That’s when we emphasize one word more than the others in order to change the meaning.

Intonation is how we change our pitch across sentences, phrases, and thought groups in order to communicate meaning and our emotions and attitudes.

These rises and falls in pitch happen after stressed syllables.

Now that you’ve had a chance to explore your pitch and how we use pitch to communicate meaning in American English, I’d love to hear from you!

Have you been able to find your pitch range using these exercises?

Can you tell the difference between pitch and volume?

Are there any questions about pitch, stress, and intonation you’d like me to answer in a future video?

Leave a comment and let me know.

If you’d like a deeper understanding of pitch and intonation, be sure to check out the Intonation Clinic .

Intonation Clinic will help you get even more control over how you use your voice in American English .

3 thoughts on “Explore Your Pitch in American English – Pitch, Stress, Intonation, and Tone of Voice”

Through this I’ve learnt alot about pitch and Intonation

I’m happy to hear this helped you!

Excellent Kim

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

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19.7 Spotlight on … Delivery/Public Speaking

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Implement various technologies effectively to address an audience, matching the capacities of each to the rhetorical situation.
• Apply conventions of speech delivery, such as voice control, gestures, and posture.
• Identify and show awareness of cultural considerations.

Think of a speech you have seen or heard, either in person, on television, or online. Was the speech delivered well, or was it poorly executed? What aspects of the performance make you say that? Both good and poor delivery of a speech can affect the audience’s opinion of the speaker and the topic. Poor delivery may be so distracting that even the message of a well-organized script with strong information is lost to the audience.

Speaking Genres: Spoken Word, Pulpit, YouTube, Podcast, Social Media

The world today offers many new (and old) delivery methods for script writing. While the traditional presidential address or commencement speech on a stage in front of a crowd of people is unlikely to disappear, newer script delivery methods are now available, including many that involve technology. From YouTube , which allows anyone to upload videos, to podcasts, which provide a platform for anyone, celebrities and noncelebrities alike, to produce a radio-like program, it seems that people are finding new ways to use technology to enhance communication. Free resources such as YouTube Studio and the extension TubeBuddy can be a good starting place to learn to create these types of media.

Voice Control

Whether the method is old or new, delivering communication in the speaking genre relies not only on words but also on the way those words are delivered. Remember that voice and tone are important in establishing a bond with your audience, helping them feel connected to your message, creating engagement, and facilitating comprehension. Vocal delivery includes these aspects of speech:

• Rate of speech refers to how fast or slow you speak. You must speak slowly enough to be understood but not so slowly that you sound unnatural and bore your audience. In addition, you can vary your rate, speeding up or slowing down to increase tension, emphasize a point, or create a dramatic effect.
• Volume refers to how loudly or softly you speak. As with rate, you do not want to be too loud or too soft. Too soft, and your speech will be difficult or impossible to hear, even with amplification; too loud, and it will be distracting or even painful for the audience. Ideally, you should project your voice, speaking from the diaphragm, according to the size and location of the audience and the acoustics of the room. You can also use volume for effect; you might use a softer voice to describe a tender moment between mother and child or a louder voice to emphatically discuss an injustice.
• Pitch refers to how high or low a speaker’s voice is to listeners. A person’s vocal pitch is unique to that person, and unlike the control a speaker has over rate and volume, some physical limitations exist on the extent to which individuals can vary pitch. Although men generally have lower-pitched voices than women, speakers can vary their pitch for emphasis. For example, you probably raise your pitch naturally at the end of a question. Changing pitch can also communicate enthusiasm or indicate transition or closure.
• Articulation refers to how clearly a person produces sounds. Clarity of voice is important in speech; it determines how well your audience understands what you are saying. Poor articulation can hamper the effect of your script and even cause your audience to feel disconnected from both you and your message. In general, articulation during a presentation before an audience tends to be more pronounced and dramatic than everyday communication with individuals or small groups. When presenting a script, avoid slurring and mumbling. While these may be acceptable in informal communication, in presented speech they can obscure your message.
• Fluency refers to the flow of speech. Speaking with fluency is similar to reading with fluency. It’s not about how fast you can speak, but how fluid and meaningful your speech is. While inserting pauses for dramatic effect is perfectly acceptable, these are noticeably different from awkward pauses that result from forgetting a point, losing your place, or becoming distracted. Practicing your speech can greatly reduce fluency issues. A word on verbal fillers , those pesky words or sounds used to fill a gap or fluency glitch: utterances such as um , ah , and like detract from the fluency of your speech, distract the audience from your point, and can even reduce your credibility. Again, practice can help reduce their occurrence, and self-awareness can help you speak with more fluency.

Gestures and Expressions

Beyond vocal delivery, consider also physical delivery variables such as gestures and facial expressions . While not all speech affords audiences the ability to see the speaker, in-person, online, and other forms of speech do. Gestures and facial expressions can both add to and detract from effective script delivery, as they can help demonstrate emotion and enthusiasm for the topic. Both have the ability to emphasize points, enhance tone, and engage audiences.

Eye contact is another form of nonverbal, physical communication that builds community, communicates comfort, and establishes credibility. Eye contact also can help hold an audience’s attention during a speech. It is advisable to begin your speech by establishing eye contact with the audience. One idea is to memorize your opening and closing statements to allow you to maintain consistent eye contact during these important sections of the script and strengthen your connection with the audience.

Although natural engagement through gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact can help an audience relate to a presenter and even help establish community and trust, these actions also can distract audiences from the content of the script if not used purposefully. In general, as with most delivery elements, variation and a happy medium between “too much” and “too little” are key to an effective presentation. Some presenters naturally have more expressive faces, but all people can learn to control and use facial expressions and gestures consciously to become more effective speakers. Practicing your speech in front of a mirror will allow you to monitor, plan, and practice these aspects of physical delivery.

Posture and Movement

Other physical delivery considerations include posture and movement. Posture is the position of the body. If you have ever been pestered to “stand up straight,” you were being instructed on your posture. The most important consideration for posture during a speech is that you look relaxed and natural. You don’t want to be slumped over and leaning on the podium or lectern, but you also don’t want a stiff, unnatural posture that makes you look stilted or uncomfortable. In many speeches, the speaker’s posture is upright as they stand behind a podium or at a microphone, but this is not always the case. Less formal occasions and audiences may call for movement of the whole body. If this informality fits your speech, you will need to balance movement with the other delivery variables. This kind of balance can be challenging. You won’t want to wander aimlessly around the stage or pace back and forth on the same path. Nor will you want to shuffle your feet, rock, or shift your weight back and forth. Instead, as with every other aspect of delivery, you will want your movements to be purposeful, with the intention of connecting with or influencing your audience. Time your movements to occur at key points or transitions in the script.

Cultural Considerations

Don’t forget to reflect on cultural considerations that relate to your topic and/or audience. Cultural awareness is important in any aspect of writing, but it can have an immediate impact on a speech, as the audience will react to your words, gestures, vocal techniques, and topic in real time. Elements that speakers don’t always think about—including gestures, glances, and changes in tone and inflection—can vary in effectiveness and even politeness in many cultures. Consideration for cultural cues may include the following:

• Paralanguage : voiced cultural considerations, including tone, language, and even accent.
• Kinesics : body movements and gestures that may include facial expressions. Often part of a person’s subconscious, kinesics can be interpreted in various ways by members of different cultures. Body language can include posture, facial expressions (smiling or frowning), and even displays of affection.
• Proxemics : interpersonal space that regulates intimacy. Proxemics might indicate how close to an audience a speaker is located, whether the speaker moves around, and even how the speaker greets the audience.
• Chronemics : use of time. Chronemics refers to the duration of a script.
• Appearance : clothing and physical appearance. The presentation of appearance is a subtle form of communication that can indicate the speaker’s identity and can be specific to cultures.

Stage Directions

You can think proactively about ways to enhance the delivery of your script, including vocal techniques, body awareness, and cultural considerations. Within the draft of your script, create stage directions . An integral part of performances such as plays and films, stage directions can be as simple as writing in a pause for dramatic effect or as complicated as describing where and how to walk, what facial expressions to make, or how to react to audience feedback.

Look at this example from the beginning of the student sample. Stage directions are enclosed in parentheses and bolded.

student sample text Several years ago, I sat in the waiting area of a major airport, trying to ignore the constant yapping of a small dog cuddled on the lap of a fellow passenger. An airline rep approached the woman and asked the only two questions allowed by law. (high-pitched voice with a formal tone) “Is that a service animal? (pause) What service does it provide for you?” end student sample text

student sample text (bold, defiant, self-righteous tone) “Yes. It keeps me from having panic attacks,” the woman said defiantly, and the airline employee retreated. (move two steps to the left for emphasis) end student sample text

student sample text Shortly after that, another passenger arrived at the gate. (spoken with authority) She gripped the high, stiff handle on the harness of a Labrador retriever that wore a vest emblazoned with the words “The Seeing Eye.” (speed up speech and dynamic of voice for dramatic effect) Without warning, the smaller dog launched itself from its owner’s lap, snarling and snapping at the guide dog. (move two steps back to indicate transition) end student sample text

Now it’s your turn. Using the principle illustrated above, create stage directions for your script. Then, practice using them by presenting your script to a peer reviewer, such as a friend, family member, or classmate. Also consider recording yourself practicing your script. Listen to the recording to evaluate it for delivery, fluency, and vocal fillers. Remember that writing is recursive: you can make changes based on what works and what doesn’t after you implement your stage directions. You can even ask your audience for feedback to improve your delivery.

Podcast Publication

If possible, work with your instructor and classmates to put together a single podcast or a series of podcasts according to the subject areas of the presentations. The purpose of these podcasts should be to invite and encourage other students to get involved in important causes. Work with relevant student organizations on campus to produce and publicize the podcasts for maximum impact. There are many free resources for creating podcasts, including Apple’s GarageBand and Audacity .

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Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction

• Authors: Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Writing Guide with Handbook
• Publication date: Dec 21, 2021
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/19-7-spotlight-on-delivery-public-speaking

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SpeakUp resources

English proficiency levels: a guide to determining your level.

• By Matthew Jones

Understanding English Levels with CEFR

The Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for language ability and comprehension. This standard includes 6 distinct English levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. Some institutions also recognize the pre-A1 level, though it is not as common. What do these designations actually mean about your English abilities?

All CEFR language levels were originally created by the Council of Europe in order to standardize language ability. These standards are used to determine language ability for speakers all over the world. Let’s take a closer look at each English level to see what they mean:

A1 – Beginner (Basic)

The A1 level refers to speakers who have a basic grasp of the English language. If you are at the A1 level, you can understand some common phrases and words in English. You can ask and answer simple questions (i.e. How old are you? Where do you live? What’s your favorite color?).

Your interactions will be relatively basic, and you may need other people to speak slowly with you in order to understand.

This level is common among those who have only been studying English for a short time (less than 6 months) or those who have not studied English for many years and do not practice regularly.

A2 – Beginner (Basic)

At the A2 level, you can speak in full sentences and phrases on simple topics. Your vocabulary covers a broader array of subjects than it did at the A1 level, but your interactions are still limited to direct exchanges of information.

You can likely have a full conversation about yourself and various parts of your life. While your listening comprehension has improved, you might still need others to speak slowly or repeat themselves from time to time.

This level is common among adults in their first year of study or those who have not studied English for many years.

B1 – Intermediate (Independent)

Once you reach B1 level English, your English abilities are at the “intermediate” level. This means that you can speak and understand English for matters related to your daily routine. You can also be much more descriptive about your life and experiences. Finally, you can talk (using relatively simple terms) about more abstract or subjective topics, like aspirations, dreams, or opinions.

This level is common among adults who have been continuously studying English for more than one year or those who have the opportunity to practice English on a semi-regular basis.

B2 – Intermediate (Independent)

The B2 level is often referred to as the “upper intermediate level.” As a B2 English speaker, you can take part in conversations on a variety of concrete and abstract topics. You may not know a lot of technical vocabulary, but you can still convey complex thoughts, explanations, experiences, or concepts with moderate accuracy.

This English proficiency level is common among adults who have been studying English for several years and practice regularly.

C1 – Advanced (Proficient)

Once you have reached the C2 level, you are considered an advanced student of the English language.

You now have a firmer grasp of more complex grammar structures, implicit meaning in both text and speech, as well as the ability to speak English fluently in almost any environment. Though you will naturally make some errors from time to time, they are likely small and infrequent.

In order to reach the C1 level, you will likely need to study English formally for several years and practice speaking or reading English on a regular basis. This level of English proficiency is common among those who have lived in an English-speaking country for an extended period of time.

C2 – Advanced (Proficient)

C2 is the highest assessment of all 6 CEFR levels.

At this level, you can understand the vast majority of English, spoken or written, that you encounter. Though you may make rare errors, your proficiency is near or equal to that of a native English speaker. You can understand the finer nuances of tone, pacing, and word choice, even in complex texts or situations.

C2 level speakers have likely been studying English for many years, practicing the language regularly or even on a daily basis with native speakers.

How to Determine your English Proficiency Level

Great! Now you know the 6 different English proficiency levels. But how can you determine your own English level? While the summaries above may give you a rough idea of where you are on a scale from A1 to C2, you’ll want to test your abilities in order to know for sure. You can easily check your English level with our free English speaking test .

Additionally, there are a number of free online resources and English proficiency tests to help you assess your English abilities:

• Cambridge English language proficiency test online
• Online English level test from British Council
• EFSET English proficiency test online

We recommend using more than one source to test yourself, as no single test will give you a perfect assessment. Learning how many words you know is yet another fun way to find out your English level .

IETLS, TOEFL, and CEFR

You can also gauge your English level by evaluating your scores on the IETLS or TOEFL. Here’s a helpful chart to see what your scores mean for your English level:

That being said, these tests are designed to give you a general idea of where you stand on the CEFR English scale. Once you know your English level, you will be in a better position to develop a study plan that is right for you!

Few products in the market give you real human assessment of your speaking skills. Even when you take an expensive in-person test, say IELTS for example, and get your grades/level back, you still don’t know how to improve from where you are now. Today, we are bringing you two bonuses.

• SpeakUp’s lead teacher will talk about specific areas/concepts students from different levels need to focus on, in order to level up
• We are bringing you a free, personalized, human-graded diagnostic test , so you can not only know what your level is but also how to take it from here

Matthew Jones

Free practice (Facebook group)

Phone: +1 (510) 560-7571

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10.3 Vocal Delivery

Learning objectives.

• Identify elements of vocal delivery that make a speech more engaging.
• Identify elements of vocal delivery that make a speech clearer.
• Discuss the relationship between vocal delivery and speaker credibility.

Vocal delivery includes components of speech delivery that relate to your voice. These include rate, volume, pitch, articulation, pronunciation, and fluency. Our voice is important to consider when delivering our speech for two main reasons. First, vocal delivery can help us engage and interest the audience. Second, vocal delivery helps ensure that our ideas are communicated clearly.

Speaking for Engagement

We have all had the displeasure of listening to an unengaging speaker. Even though the person may care about his or her topic, an unengaging delivery that doesn’t communicate enthusiasm will translate into a lack of interest for most audience members. Although a speaker can be visually engaging by incorporating movement and gestures, which we will discuss more later, a flat or monotone vocal delivery can be sedating or even annoying. Incorporating vocal variety in terms of rate, volume, and pitch is key to being a successful speaker.

Rate of speaking refers to how fast or slow you speak. If you speak too fast, your audience will not be able to absorb the information you present. If you speak too slowly, the audience may lose interest. The key is to vary your rate of speaking in a middle range, staying away from either extreme, in order to keep your audience engaged. In general, a higher rate of speaking signals that a speaker is enthusiastic about his or her topic. Speaking slowly may lead the audience to infer that the speaker is uninterested, uninformed, or unprepared to present his or her own topic. These negative assumptions, whether they are true or not, are likely to hurt the credibility of the speaker. Having evaluated thousands of speeches, I can say that, in terms of rate, the issue speakers face is speaking too fast. The goal is to speak at a rate that will interest the audience and will effectively convey your information. Speaking at a slow rate throughout a speech would likely bore an audience, but that is not a common occurrence.

Some people naturally speak faster than others, which is fine, but we can all alter our rate of speaking with practice. If you find that you are a naturally fast speaker, make sure that you do not “speed talk” through your speech when practicing it. Even if you try to hold back when actually delivering your speech, you may fall back into your practice routine and speak too fast. You can also include reminders to “slow down” on your speaking outline.

Volume refers to how loud or soft your voice is. As with speaking rate, you want to avoid the extremes of being too loud or too soft, but still vary your volume within an acceptable middle range. When speaking in a typically sized classroom or office setting that seats about twenty-five people, using a volume a few steps above a typical conversational volume is usually sufficient. When speaking in larger rooms, you will need to project your voice. You may want to look for nonverbal cues from people in the back rows or corners, like leaning forward or straining to hear, to see if you need to adjust your volume more. Obviously, in some settings, a microphone will be necessary to be heard by the entire audience. Like rate, audiences use volume to make a variety of judgments about a speaker. Softer speakers are sometimes judged as meek, which may lead to lowered expectations for the speech or less perceived credibility. Loud speakers may be seen as overbearing or annoying, which can lead audience members to disengage from the speaker and message. Be aware of the volume of your voice and, when in doubt, increase your volume a notch, since beginning speakers are more likely to have an issue of speaking too softly rather than too loudly.

Speak a couple steps above your regular volume for speeches that occur in typically sized classrooms or meeting rooms that seat twenty to forty people. A microphone may be necessary for larger groups or rooms.

Speaker at Podium – CC BY 2.0.

Pitch refers to how high or low a speaker’s voice is. As with other vocal qualities, there are natural variations among people’s vocal pitch. Unlike rate and volume, there are more physiological limitations on the control we have over pitch. For example, males generally have lower pitched voices than females. Despite these limitations, each person still has the capability to intentionally change their pitch across a range large enough to engage an audience. Changing pitch is a good way to communicate enthusiasm and indicate emphasis or closure. In general, our pitch goes up when we are discussing something exciting. Our pitch goes down slightly when we emphasize a serious or important point. Lowering pitch is also an effective way to signal transitions between sections of your speech or the end of your speech, which cues your audience to applaud and avoids an awkward ending.

Of the vocal components of delivery discussed so far, pitch seems to give beginning speakers the most difficulty. There is a stark difference between the way I hear students speak before and after class and the way they speak when they get in front of the class. It’s like giving a speech temporarily numbs their ability to vary their pitch. Record yourself practicing your speech to help determine if the amount of pitch variety and enthusiasm you think you convey while speaking actually comes through. Speakers often assume that their pitch is more varied and their delivery more enthusiastic than the audience actually perceives it to be. Many of my students note this on the self-evaluations they write after viewing their recorded speech.

Vocal Variety

Overall, the lesson to take away from this section on vocal delivery is that variety is key. Vocal variety includes changes in your rate, volume, and pitch that can make you look more prepared, seem more credible, and be able to engage your audience better. Employing vocal variety is not something that takes natural ability or advanced skills training. It is something that beginning speakers can start working on immediately and everyone can accomplish. The key is to become aware of how you use your voice when you speak, and the best way to do this is to record yourself. We all use vocal variety naturally without thinking about it during our regular conversations, and many of us think that this tendency will translate over to our speaking voices. This is definitely not the case for most beginning speakers. Unlike in your regular conversations, it will take some awareness and practice to use vocal variety in speeches. I encourage students to make this a delivery priority early on. Since it’s something anyone can do, improving in this area will add to your speaking confidence, which usually translates into better speeches and better grades further on.

Speaking for Clarity

In order to be an effective speaker, your audience should be able to understand your message and digest the information you present. Audience members will make assumptions about our competence and credibility based on how we speak. As with other aspects of speech delivery, many people are not aware that they have habits of speech that interfere with their message clarity. Since most of our conversations are informal and take place with people we know, many people don’t make a concerted effort to articulate every word clearly and pronounce every word correctly, and most of the people we talk to either don’t notice our errors or don’t correct us if they do notice. Since public speaking is generally more formal than our conversations, we should be more concerned with the clarity of our speech.

Articulation

Articulation refers to the clarity of sounds and words we produce. If someone is articulate, they speak words clearly, and speakers should strive to speak clearly. Poor articulation results when speakers do not speak clearly. For example, a person may say dinnt instead of didn’t , gonna instead of going to , wanna instead of want to , or hunnerd instead of hundred . Unawareness and laziness are two common challenges to articulation. As with other aspects of our voice, many people are unaware that they regularly have errors in articulation. Recording yourself speak and then becoming a higher self-monitor are effective ways to improve your articulation. Laziness, on the other hand, requires a little more motivation to address. Some people just get in the habit of not articulating their words well. I’m sure we all know someone who mumbles when they speak or slurs their words together. From my experience, this is a problem that I’ve noticed more among men than women. Both mumbling and slurring are examples of poor articulation. In more informal settings, this type of speaking may be acceptable, but in formal settings, it will be negatively evaluated, which will hurt a speaker’s credibility. Perhaps the promise of being judged more favorably, which may help a person become more successful, is enough to motivate a mumbler to speak more clearly.

When combined with a low volume, poor articulation becomes an even greater problem. Doing vocal warm-ups like the ones listed in Section 10.1 “Managing Public Speaking Anxiety” or tongue twisters can help prime your mouth, lips, and tongue to articulate words more clearly. When you notice that you have trouble articulating a particular word, you can either choose a different word to include in your speech or you can repeat it a few times in a row in the days leading up to your speech to get used to saying it.

Pronunciation

Unlike articulation, which focuses on the clarity of words, pronunciation refers to speaking words correctly, including the proper sounds of the letters and the proper emphasis. Mispronouncing words can damage a speaker’s credibility, especially when the correct pronunciation of a word is commonly known. I have actually heard someone, presenting on the topic of pronunciation, mispronounce the word pronunciation , saying “pro-NOUN-ciation” instead of “pro-NUN-ciation.” In such a case, it would not be unwarranted for the audience to question the speaker’s expertise on the subject.

We all commonly run into words that we are unfamiliar with and therefore may not know how to pronounce. I offer my students three suggestions when faced with this problem. The first is to look the word up in an online dictionary. Many dictionaries have a speaker icon with their definitions, and when you click on it, you can hear the correct pronunciation of a word. Some words have more than one pronunciation—for example, Caribbean —so choosing either of the accepted pronunciations is fine. Just remember to consistently use that pronunciation to avoid confusing your audience. If a word doesn’t include an audio pronunciation, you can usually find the phonetic spelling of a word, which is the word spelled out the way it sounds. There will occasionally be words that you can’t locate in a dictionary. These are typically proper nouns or foreign words. In this case, I suggest the “phone-a-friend” strategy. Call up the people you know who have large vocabularies or are generally smart when it comes to words, and ask them if they know how to pronounce it. If they do, and you find them credible, you’re probably safe to take their suggestion. The third option is to “fake it ‘til you make it” and should only be used as a last resort. If you can’t find the word in a dictionary and your smart friends don’t know how to pronounce it, it’s likely that your audience will also be unfamiliar with the word. In that case, using your knowledge of how things are typically pronounced, decide on a pronunciation that makes sense and confidently use it during your speech. Most people will not question it. In the event that someone does correct you on your pronunciation, thank him or her for correcting you and adjust your pronunciation.

Fluency refers to the flow of your speaking. To speak with fluency means that your speech flows well and that there are not many interruptions to that flow. There are two main disfluencies, or problems that affect the flow of a speech. Fluency hiccups are unintended pauses in a speech that usually result from forgetting what you were saying, being distracted, or losing your place in your speaking notes. Fluency hiccups are not the same as intended pauses, which are useful for adding emphasis or transitioning between parts of a speech. While speakers should try to minimize fluency hiccups, even experienced speakers need to take an unintended pause sometimes to get their bearings or to recover from an unexpected distraction. Fluency hiccups become a problem when they happen regularly enough to detract from the speaker’s message.

Verbal fillers are words that speakers use to fill in a gap between what they were saying and what they’re saying next. Common verbal fillers include um , uh , ah , er , you know , and like . The best way to minimize verbal fillers is to become a higher self-monitor and realize that you use them. Many students are surprised when they watch the video of their first speech and realize they said “um” thirty times in three minutes. Gaining that awareness is the first step in eliminating verbal fillers, and students make noticeable progress with this between their first and second speeches. If you do lose your train of thought, having a brief fluency hiccup is better than injecting a verbal filler, because the audience may not even notice the pause or may think it was intentional.

Common Causes of Fluency Hiccups

• Lack of preparation. Effective practice sessions are the best way to prevent fluency hiccups.
• Not writing for speaking. If you write your speech the way you’ve been taught to write papers, you will have fluency hiccups. You must translate the written words into something easier for you to present orally. To do this, read your speech aloud and edit as you write to make sure your speech is easy for you to speak.
• A poorly prepared speaking outline. Whether it is on paper or note cards, sloppy writing, unorganized bullet points, or incomplete/insufficient information on a speaking outline leads to fluency hiccups.
• Distractions. Audience members and the external environment are unpredictable. Hopefully audience members will be polite and will silence their phones, avoid talking while the speaker is presenting, and avoid moving excessively. There could also be external noise that comes through a door or window. A speaker can also be distracted by internal noise such as thinking about other things.

“Getting Plugged In”

Delivering Presentations Online

As many people and organizations are trying to do more with smaller budgets, and new software becomes available, online presentations are becoming more common. Whether using a Webinar format, a WebEx, Skype, FaceTime, Elluminate Live, or some other program, the live, face-to-face audience is now mediated through a computer screen. Despite this change in format, many of the same basic principles of public speaking apply when speaking to people virtually. Yet many business professionals seem to forget the best practices of public speaking when presenting online or don’t get that they apply in both settings. The website TheVirtualPresenter.com offers many tips for presenting online that we’ve covered in this book, including be audience focused, have engaging delivery, and use visual aids effectively (Courville, 2012). Yet speakers need to think about some of these things differently when presenting online. We have natural ways to engage an audience when presenting face-to-face, but since many online presentations are only one-way in terms of video, speakers have to rely on technology like audience polls, live chat, or options for audience members to virtually raise their hand when they have a question to get feedback while speaking. Also, in some formats, the audience can only see the presenter’s computer desktop or slide show, which pulls attention away from physical delivery and makes vocal delivery and visual aids more important. Extemporaneous delivery and vocal variety are still key when presenting online. Reading from your slides or having a monotone voice will likely not make a favorable impression on your audience. The lesson to take away is that presenting online requires the same skills as presenting in person, so don’t let the change in format lead you to make mistakes that will make you a less effective speaker.

• Have you ever presented online or been an audience member for an online presentation? If so, describe your experience and compare it to face-to-face speaking.
• What are some of the key differences between presenting online and presenting in person that a speaker should consider?
• How might online presentations play into your future career goals? What types of presentations do you think you would give? What could you do to ensure the presentations are effective?

Key Takeaways

• Speakers should use vocal variety, which is changes in rate, volume, and pitch, to make a speech more engaging.
• Speakers should use proper articulation and pronunciation to make their message clear.
• Interruptions to the fluency of a speech, including fluency hiccups and verbal fillers, detract from the speaker’s message and can lessen a speaker’s credibility.
• Record yourself practicing your speech. How does your speech sound in terms of vocal variety? Cite specific examples.
• Listen to your recorded speech again. How would you evaluate your articulation and pronunciation? Cite specific examples.
• Over the course of a day, take note of verbal fillers that you tend to use. List them here so you can be a higher self-monitor and begin to notice and lessen your use of them.

Courville, R., “Delivery,” TheVirtualPresenter.com, accessed November 5, 2012, http://thevirtualpresenter.com/category/delivery .

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Speech Rate Varies With Sentence Length in Typically Developing Children

Meghan darling-white.

a Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson

Symone Whitney Banks

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sentence length on speech rate and its characteristics, articulation rate and pauses, in typically developing children.

Sixty-two typically developing children between the ages of 10 and 14 years repeated sentences varying in length from two to seven words. Dependent variables included speech rate (syllables per second), articulation rate (syllables per second), and proportion of time spent pausing.

Speech rate and articulation rate significantly increased with increases in sentence length, but proportion of time spent pausing did not increase with sentence length. There were no significant main effects of age.

Conclusions

This is the first study to suggest that sentence length differentially impacts the component parts of speech rate, articulation rate and pause time. Increases in sentence length led to increases in speech rate, primarily due to increases in articulation rate and not increases in pause time. Articulation rate appears to be highly sensitive to the impact of sentence length, while a higher cognitive–linguistic load may be required to see sentence length effects on pause time.

Speech rate has long been recognized as an important factor in an individual's ability to communicate a message in an effective manner. In fact, speech rate is a common target in speech intervention to improve speech production in individuals with speech motor involvement. As a result, a primary focus of the speech rate literature has been to interrogate the factors that influence speech rate in order to place the speech rate performance of individuals with speech motor involvement in the appropriate context. These factors include, but are not limited to, age and cognitive–linguistic load (i.e., formulation demands) of the speaking task.

Like many speech motor processes, speech rate follows a protracted developmental time course (e.g., Haselager et al., 1991 ; Hodge & Gotzke, 2014 ; Kent & Forner, 1980 ; Kowal et al., 1975 ; Logan et al., 2011 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walker et al., 1992 ; Walsh & Smith, 2002 ; Whiteside, 1999 ) with increases throughout development until approximating adultlike speeds between 12 and 13 years of age ( Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walsh & Smith, 2002 ).

Developmental increases in speech rate are thought to relate to increased efficiencies in both the speech motor and the cognitive–linguistic systems ( Kowal et al., 1975 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ). Speech rate is the product of the rate in which our articulators move to produce an utterance (i.e., articulation rate) plus pause time. Articulation rate is often thought to reflect speech motor control, whereas pausing is thought to reflect cognitive–linguistic processes related to the load (i.e., formulation demands) of the speaking task. Developmental increases in speech rate are achieved through both increases in articulation rate ( Haselager et al., 1991 ; Logan et al., 2011 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walker et al., 1992 ; Whiteside, 1999 ) and decreases in pause time ( Kowal et al., 1975 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Whiteside, 1999 ). While both systems are important to this process, the work of Nip and Green (2013) suggests that increased efficiency in cognitive–linguistic processing is the driver of the developmental increases in speech rate.

Despite the influential role that cognitive–linguistic processes play during the development of speech rate, the way in which the cognitive–linguistic load of any particular speech task influences speech rate is an emerging area of research. Evidence suggests that both articulation rate and pause time vary with cognitive–linguistic load ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ; Haselager et al., 1991 ; Logan et al., 2011 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ). While pause time consistently increases with cognitive–linguistic load ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ; Greene, 1984 ; Greene & Cappella, 1986 ; Mitchell et al., 1996 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ), the way in which articulation rate varies with cognitive–linguistic load is much more complicated. Articulation rate has been found to increase ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ; Haselager et al., 1991 ), remain the same ( Logan et al., 2011 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ), and decrease ( Logan et al., 2011 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ) as cognitive–linguistic load increases. One reason for these mixed results is the way in which these studies varied cognitive–linguistic load. Cognitive–linguistic load was either varied by changing sentence length and/or complexity within a task (e.g., four-word sentences vs. five-word sentences in a repetition task; Darling-White et al., 2018 ; Haselager et al., 1991 ; Logan et al., 2011 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ) or by changing the task itself (e.g., sentence repetition vs. narrative retell; Logan et al., 2011 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ). Evidence also suggests that there may be an interaction between the impact of cognitive–linguistic load and age given that speech rate follows a nonlinear developmental course such that there are periods of stability followed by periods of growth or reversal ( Smith & Kenney, 1999 ). For example, 13-year-olds produced faster speech rates than 16-year-olds during diadochokinetic, syllable repetition, and sentence repetition tasks, but not during a narrative recall task ( Nip & Green, 2013 ).

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of cognitive–linguistic load on speech rate and its characteristics, articulation rate and pauses, in typically developing children between the ages of 10 and 14 years. Cognitive–linguistic load was varied by systematically altering sentence length from two to seven words during a sentence repetition task. To ensure that any changes in speech rate with sentence length could not simply be explained by development, we also examined the effect of age. The results of this study will provide (a) a better understanding about the impact of cognitive–linguistic load on speech rate during typical development and (b) normative data for a commonly used task in speech intervention, sentence repetition, that will allow clinicians and researchers to place the speech rate performance of children with speech motor involvement in the appropriate developmental context.

Participants

Sixty-two typically developing children (28 boys, 34 girls; M = 12.25 years) divided into the following age groups participated in this research study: 10-year-olds (seven boys, seven girls; M = 10.40 years), 11-year-olds (seven boys, seven girls; M = 11.35 years), 12-year-olds (four boys, six girls; M = 12.35 years), 13-year-olds (four boys, nine girls; M = 13.29 years), and 14-year-olds (six boys, five girls; M = 14.45 years). According to parent-reported race and ethnicity information, 4.84% of participants were Asian, 8.06% of participants were Black or African American, 14.52% of participants were more than one ethnicity, 1.61% of participants had unknown ethnic origins, 70.97% of participants were White, and 14.52% of participants were Hispanic or Latino.

Participants were recruited via community postings and public websites that prompted parents or guardians to contact the research team if interested. Participants were included in this study if they were fluent speakers of American English and had no speech, language, learning, or hearing problems per parent report. Prior to data collection, legal guardians provided written consent and participants provided verbal assent. Based on the perceptual assessment of the first author, a certified speech-language pathologist, all participants demonstrated typical speech production skills. Each participant demonstrated average or above average language scores as determined by the core language score of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Fifth Edition ( Wiig et al., 2013 ). All participants passed a pure-tone hearing screening at 20 dB HL for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz bilaterally, except one. One of the 10-year-old male participants had a threshold of 25 dB HL for 500 Hz bilaterally. This participant had recently been diagnosed with bilateral ear infections, which were the likely cause of the elevated thresholds at 500 Hz. As this participant did not have a history of hearing problems per parent report and passed at 20 dB HL for all other frequencies, he was included in the study. Participants were compensated $30 for their time. All study procedures were approved by the University of Arizona Human Subjects Review Board (Protocol 16055837A005).

Acquisition of Speech Samples

Participants were part of a larger study that consisted of two 60- to 90-min sessions that occurred approximately 1 week apart. Acoustic data were collected within a period of 30 min during one of the sessions at the Motor Speech Research Laboratory at The University of Arizona. The larger study contained six different speech tasks. The speech tasks were initiated approximately 30 min into the session. The speech task presented in the current study was one of the first four speech tasks in the protocol. The order of those speech tasks was counterbalanced across participants. Participants were given frequent breaks to prevent fatigue.

The acoustic signal was transduced via an omnidirectional headset microphone (Shure WBH53) with a flat frequency response up to 20 kHz and recorded to a digital audio recorder (Marantz PMD-671) with a compact flash card. The mouth-to-microphone distance was a constant 6 cm. The acoustic signal was transferred to a computer and resampled at 18 kHz with a low-pass filter at 9 kHz for anti-aliasing using Goldwave.

Speech Task

Participants were asked to produce sentences from the Test of Children's Speech ( TOCS+ ; Hodge & Daniels, 2009 ) using their comfortable pitch and loudness. The TOCS+ procedure employs an imitation paradigm in which participants repeat each stimulus sentence following a prerecorded adult model. Stimulus sentences ranged from two to seven words in length. The stimulus sentences were presented, both visually and auditorily, to participants via a laptop computer.

Prior to data collection, the TOCS+ software was used to create 30 unique lists of sentences (from a pool of 2,000 phrases) that varied in length from two to seven words. The software randomizes the order of sentence length presentation. Each TOCS+ list contained 34 sentences. The number of sentences at each length varied slightly with each TOCS+ list, but a representative TOCS+ list contained four 2-word sentences, five 3-word sentences, six 4-word sentences, seven 5-word sentences, six 6-word sentences, and six 7-word sentences. The order of TOCS+ list presentation was counterbalanced such that each TOCS+ list was generally produced 1 time per age group. One TOCS+ list was repeated in the 13-year-old age group, and two TOCS+ lists were repeated in the 14-year-old age group.

The adult model in this study was prerecorded by the first author in a sound-attenuating booth. As there were 30 different TOCS+ lists, it was important to verify that the speech characteristics produced by the adult model were reliable from list to list. There were no pauses in the adult model, so articulation rate and speech rate were identical. A series of t tests with an alpha level of .05 revealed that there were no significant differences in speech rate between any of the TOCS+ lists.

Measurements

Acoustic analyses for this study were performed on 2,108 sentences (62 participants × 34 sentences). Members of the research team listened to each sentence to determine the number of words and syllables produced. There were 249 two-word sentences, 311 three-word sentences, 370 four-word sentences, 437 five-word sentences, 373 six-word sentences, and 368 seven-word sentences. The majority of sentences ( n = 1,696) contained only single-syllable words, but 412 sentences contained multisyllabic words. Sentences contained between two syllables and 12 syllables.

Sentence duration was defined as the amount of time (in seconds) between the initiation of the sentence and the termination of the sentence. Using the software Praat ( Boersma & Weenink, 2016 ) to display the spectrographic signal, sentence initiation was marked as the onset of acoustic energy associated with the first phoneme of the sentence and sentence termination was marked as the offset of acoustic energy associated with the final phoneme of the sentence. Pauses were defined as any period of silence within the sentence greater than or equal to 0.150 s ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ). The dependent variables included:

• Speech rate (syllables per second): Speech rate was calculated by dividing the number of syllables produced by sentence duration.
• Articulation rate (syllables per second): Articulation rate was defined as sentence duration minus total pause time divided by the number of syllables produced.
• Proportion of time spent pausing ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ): Proportion of time spent pausing was calculated by dividing the total pause time by the sentence duration. Values closer to one indicate that a sentence contained mostly pauses.

Data from 10 participants (one boy and one girl from each age group) were randomly chosen to be reanalyzed by a second measurer. Intermeasurer reliability was evaluated by computing the Cronbach α between the two sets of measurements for the number of syllables produced, sentence duration, and total pause time because the dependent variables were based on calculations derived from these measurements. The mean difference between the two sets of measurements for these variables ranged from .01 to <.001. The Cronbach α for all measurements fell between .94 and 1 indicating high intermeasurer reliability.

Statistical Analysis

A general linear mixed-model analysis of variance was used with sentence length as the within-subject variable and age as the between-subjects variable. Tukey's honestly significant difference post hoc tests were used to examine statistically significant pairwise comparisons. The level of significance was set as p ≤ .01 for all statistical tests.

Descriptive results (means and standard deviations) for each dependent variable are presented by age and sentence length in Table 1 . Pairwise comparisons for the main effect of sentence length for each dependent variable are presented in Table 2 .

Means (standard deviations) for each dependent measure by age and sentence length.

Note.  Speech rate and articulation rate are measured in syllables per second.

Pairwise comparisons for the main effect of sentence length.

Note.   SE = standard error.

Speech Rate

There was no significant main effect for age, F (4, 57) = 1.06, p = .385. There was a significant main effect for sentence length, F (5, 285) = 105.02, p < .001. There was no significant interaction effect for Age × Sentence Length, F (20, 285) = 0.83, p = .681.

In general, speech rate significantly increased with each sentence length. The only pairwise comparisons that were not significant were the contrasts between four-word sentences and five-word sentences and between five-word sentences and six-word sentences.

Articulation Rate

There was no significant main effect for age, F (4, 57) = 1.22, p = .311. There was a significant main effect for sentence length, F (5, 285) = 100.07, p < .001. There was no significant interaction effect for Age × Sentence Length, F (20, 285) = 0.92, p = .557.

In general, articulation rate significantly increased with each sentence length. The only pairwise comparisons that were not significant were the contrasts between four-word sentences and five-word sentences and between five-word sentences and six-word sentences.

Proportion of Time Spent Pausing

There was no significant main effect for age, F (4, 57) = 0.85, p = .50. There was a significant main effect for sentence length, F (5, 285) = 3.83, p = .002, and a significant interaction effect for Age × Sentence Length, F (20, 285) = 2.51, p < .001.

Participants spent a significantly longer amount of time pausing during two-word sentences than during four-, five-, and seven-word sentences. This effect appears to be primarily driven by the 12-year-olds. The 12-year-olds spent a significantly greater proportion of the sentence pausing during two-word sentences than during any other sentence length, two-word versus three-word sentences, t (285) = 4.80, p = .001; two-word versus four-word sentences, t (285) = 5.44, p < .001; two-word versus five-word sentences, t (285) = 5.58, p < .001; two-word versus six-word sentences, t (285) = 4.92, p < .001; two-word versus seven-word sentences, t (285) = 4.84, p < .001. The 12-year-olds also spent a significantly greater proportion of the sentence pausing during two-word sentences ( M = 0.03, SD = 0.08) than 10-year-olds spent pausing during two-word sentences ( M = 0, SD = 0; t (285) = −4.93, p < .001).

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sentence length on speech rate and its characteristics, articulation rate and pauses, in typically developing children between the ages of 10 and 14 years. Based on our findings, sentence length significantly impacts speech rate. Speech rate significantly increased with increases in sentence length. This effect was primarily driven by increased articulation rate and not by increased pause time.

The literature regarding the impact of cognitive–linguistic load on articulation rate in typical development is highly variable due to the differences in the way in which cognitive–linguistic load has been manipulated. The majority of studies that have examined the impact of sentence length on articulation rate have done so within spontaneous speech tasks ( Haselager et al., 1991 ; Logan et al., 2011 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ). The major limitation to this method is that the number of sentences at each length is not controlled and there may not have be enough variety in sentence length to adequately examine the question. Hence, studies that ran correlations between articulation rate and utterance length within spontaneous speech samples did not find any relationship between the two variables ( Logan et al., 2011 ; Walker & Archibald, 2006 ; Walker et al., 1992 ). However, when systematically separating and comparing short (two to four syllables) versus long (eight or more syllables) utterances within spontaneous speech samples, Haselager et al. (1991) found increases in articulation rate with longer sentences similar to our study.

The current study manipulated cognitive–linguistic load by systematically varying sentence length within a sentence repetition task. To our knowledge, only one other study used a similar methodology to examine cognitive–linguistic load in older typically developing children. Sadagopan and Smith (2008) reported decreased speech rate in 10-word sentences as compared to four-word sentences. However, this study did not examine articulation rate and pause time making it difficult to directly compare the data. One possibility for the discrepant results is that articulation rate may increase with longer sentences until an inflection point and then decrease again, creating a “u-shape” effect of sentence length. Future work should examine speech rate and its component parts, articulation rate, and pause time across an even broader range of sentence lengths to test this hypothesis.

Interestingly, sentence length effects differentially impacted articulation rate and pause time. Based on these data, it appears that articulation rate may be more sensitive to cognitive–linguistic load than pause time. Pause time was significantly longer in two-word sentences when compared with several other sentence lengths, but pause time did not significantly change across any other sentence lengths. The pausing behavior in two-word sentences was primarily attributed to the performance of the 12-year-olds and will be discussed further in a later paragraph. The lack of change in pause time with longer sentences was surprising given that previous literature suggests that pause time consistently increases with cognitive–linguistic load ( Darling-White et al., 2018 ; Greene, 1984 ; Greene & Cappella, 1986 ; Mitchell et al., 1996 ; Nip & Green, 2013 ). However, most of this literature involved extemporaneous speech tasks, which provide a higher cognitive–linguistic load than sentence repetition. The only study that utilized a similar methodology, Darling-White et al. (2018) , examined this phenomenon in young children with cerebral palsy, so we are unable to directly compare our results. Future work could continue to use a sentence repetition task, but increase cognitive–linguistic load by taking the text away and forcing older children to rely on their working memory to produce the sentences or by increasing the complexity of the sentences to determine if increasing cognitive–linguistic load in this type of task would alter pause time.

This study also examined effects of age on speech rate and its characteristics, articulation rate and pause time, to ensure changes with sentence length could not be explained by age. Consistent with the literature indicating that speech rate is considered approximately adultlike around 12 or 13 years of age ( Nip & Green, 2013 ; Walsh & Smith, 2002 ), there were no age-related differences between the ages of 10 and 14 years. Additionally, we did not find compelling evidence for an interaction between sentence length effects and age. There were some significant interaction effects found during two-word sentences for 12-year-olds. The 12-year-olds paused for a significantly longer proportion of time during two-word sentences than any other sentence length. The 12-year-olds also paused for a significantly longer proportion of time during two-word sentences than 10-year-olds producing two-word sentences. This could have been a product of the fact that the 12-year-old group had the smallest number of participants ( n = 10). It is possible this effect may disappear if a larger number of 12-year-olds are studied. The only other study we could find that examined the interaction between utterance length and age in typically developing children near our age range did so in spontaneous speech and similarly found no interaction effects ( Haselager et al., 1991 ).

Limitations

The primary limitation of this study is the use of the adult model during the sentence repetition task. It is possible that the adult model influenced the articulation rates and pause times chosen by the children. This is an inherent problem with any speech production task that relies on repetition or imitation. Based on t tests with a significance level of .05, children in the current study spoke with a faster articulation rate and spent more time pausing at each sentence length than the adult model. Our results also support those of Haselager et al. (1991) , which used a spontaneous speech sample, not a sentence repetition task. Given that children did not directly copy the adult model and that our results support previous work from a different laboratory, it is unlikely that the adult model unduly influenced the behavior of the children in this study. However, future work on this topic should examine the impact of sentence length on speech rate in speech tasks that do not require an adult model to produce.

Clinical Implications

Clinically, this study provides normative data regarding speech rate performance during a sentence repetition task in typically developing children at every age between 10 and 14 years. Normative data are invaluable when interpreting the performance of a child with speech motor involvement within the appropriate developmental context. For example, the finding that older typically developing children do not produce many pauses regardless of sentence length during sentence repetition tasks, like the TOCS+, could be useful for differential diagnosis. Identifying speech motor involvement in children can be difficult, especially if intelligibility is relatively unimpaired. However, inappropriate pause patterns are a hallmark characteristic of speech motor involvement (e.g., Yorkston et al., 2010 ). If a speech-language pathologist is evaluating a child between the ages of 10 and 14 years, they should expect that child to pause infrequently during the TOCS+ regardless of sentence length based on these data. Thus, if an older child produces numerous pauses during the TOCS+ , particularly with increased sentence lengths, the speech-language pathologist can be relatively confident that the child is not typically developing.

This is the first study to suggest that sentence length differentially impacts the component parts of speech rate, articulation rate and pause time. Increases in sentence length led to increases in speech rate, primarily due to increases in articulation rate and not increases in pause time. Articulation rate appears to be highly sensitive to the impact of sentence length, while a higher cognitive–linguistic load may be required to see sentence length effects on pause time. Given the differential impact of cognitive–linguistic load on the component parts of speech rate, it is imperative that future work examining the relationship between speech rate and cognitive–linguistic load continue to analyze articulation rate and pause time separately.

Acknowledgments

Research reported in this publication was supported by Grant R03DC015607, awarded to the first author (Darling-White), from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to thank the children and their families who participated in this research as well as the graduate and undergraduate students at The University of Arizona who assisted with data collection and analysis.

Funding Statement

Research reported in this publication was supported by Grant R03DC015607, awarded to the first author (Darling-White), from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Assessing Speech

Causes of abnormal speech.

• Psychiatric disorder - mood disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia
• Confusion - delirium, dementia, intellectual disability
• Dysphasia / aphasia
• Dysarthria - stroke, brain injury, Parkinson's, MS
• Dysphonia - laryngitis, neuropathology, trauma, mass, atrophy, systemic disease
• Hearing impairment
• English as a non-native language
• Intoxication

Rate of Speech

Interpretation.

• Slow speech (bradylalia) Depression, Parkinson's disease, cognitive impairment
• Normal speech rate
• Rapid speech (tachylalia) - fast speech but able to be redirected Normal, mania, anxiety, stimulants
• Pressured speech - fast and without taking breaks, talking over other people and unable to be redirected Mania, anxiety

Volume of Speech

• Loud (hyperphonia) Personality trait, hearing impairment, mania
• Normal speech volume
• Weak (hypophonia) - low or soft speech Shyness, anxiety, depression, Parkinson's disease

Quantity of Speech

• Excessive talking (logorrhoea) - speaking at length and apparently without end Mania, ADHD, anxiety
• Talkative - actively takes part in conversation. Normal
• Poverty of speech - very little speech, even with persuasion. Shyness, depression, schizophrenia, cognitive impairment

Examples of Dysfluency

• Stuttering - repetition, prolongation, or pauses in speech May be developmental, neurogenic, or psychogenic
• Cluttering - rapid, disorganized speech with excessive word and phrase repetitions Often related to language or learning disabilities

Causes of Impaired Speech Fluency

• Foreign language
• Expressive - varied pitch and intonation Normal tonality
• Monotone - the patient uses a single tone for vocal expression. Boredom, depression, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder
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