What Kind of Speaker Are You? | Speaking Speed Quiz — The Presentation Lab
The Presentation Lab · 1-Minute Quiz

What Kind of
Speaker Are You?

How fast you talk changes how your audience thinks. Find out your speaking archetype in less than 1 minute.

Based on research from 254 participants

Read this out loud

Use your natural presentation voice — the way you'd speak to an audience, not a whisper or a race.

Your script — 100 words

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.

0.0s
or enter your time
My time: seconds
Your speaking archetype
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Words per minute
Your speaking speed
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Seconds
Your reading time
Where you fall — based on 254 speakers
80 wpm — slow 182 wpm avg 280+ wpm — fast
Real-world example · Advertising

Advertisers already know about speaking rates. They've been using them against you for decades.

Drug commercials are required by law to disclose side effects. But there's no rule about how fast they have to say them. The Lunesta sleep aid commercials are a textbook example — slow down the benefits so they stick, speed up the risks so they blur.

Benefits — designed to stick
120 wpm
Slow enough to absorb every promise

If your racing thoughts keep you awake, sleep is here on the wings of Lunesta, and if you wake up often in the middle of the night, rest is here on the wings of Lunesta. Lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep so you can wake up feeling rested. Get Lunesta for a $0.00 copay at lunesta.com. Sleep well on the wings of Lunesta.

Side effects — designed to blur
180 wpm
Faster than most people can process

When taking Lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. Walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. Content note: references suicide, self-harm, and serious side effects. Abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. In depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. Alcohol may increase these risks. Allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. Side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. (click to reveal) Ask your doctor if Lunesta is right for you.

That 60 wpm gap is intentional. The benefits land at a pace the brain can absorb. The side effects arrive faster than most people can process new information. The advertiser isn't just choosing words carefully — they're choosing speed. As a presenter, you have the same lever available.

Want the full experiment?

Try all three tests — speaking, silent reading, and thinking — and see why your audience finishes your slides before you do.

Take the Full Experiment

Learn the science behind great presenting

The Presentation Lab explores the research behind how audiences listen, learn, and lose focus — so you can design talks that actually land.

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