How fast do you read,
speak — and think?
Use the same 100-word excerpt three times. Each round measures a different cognitive speed. Your results may surprise you.
Most people read this script silently faster than they can read it out loud. That matters. As presenters, when we fill our slides with text, it triggers the urge to read. People start reading, and when we talk over that, we interrupt their concentration. Since reading is faster than speaking, they finish before we do — making us both a distraction and a slowdown. One more thing: in theatre, upstaging means something on stage pulls focus from the speaker. That's what our slides do when overloaded with text. The worst part? We designed them that way. We're upstaged by our own slides.
Or enter your seconds manually if you used your own timer.
Or enter your seconds manually if you used your own timer.
Or enter your seconds manually if you used your own timer.
Our existing data comes entirely from Atlantic Canada — a region known for speaking fast. We'd love to know if the rest of the world is any different. Takes 60 seconds. Your results are anonymous.
As a thank you, you can access the Presentation Lab for $20 if you're interested. The Presentation Lab gives you research-backed tools, templates, and a personal workspace to design presentations that match how your audience actually thinks. Full access is normally CA$99 — get started today for CA$20.
The Presentation Lab is the most practical $20 you'll spend on your presentation skills.
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