What is the accepted rate of speech for a presentation?

I was recently interviewed by Cambridge TV, and while I have completed some media training and been live on radio before, this was my first foray into a TV studio.  The interview was recorded “as if live”, so there would be no chance of editing out any mistakes, umms, errrs, or hiccoughs.  This set my mind into overdrive to “be perfect” a trait that is so prevalent in those of us who have experienced the imposter phenomenon.  So I could feel my nerves increasing as it came ever closer to the start of the interview.

Afterwards, I felt as if I had rambled through the interview, spoken too quickly and couldn’t remember what I had said or whether it made any sense at all!  The interviewer assured me it was “excellent”, but did I believe her?  Of course not, she says that to all of her interviewees!  Maybe she does… but having watched the recording, and received some lovely tweets and emails about the interview (thank you to those who have got in touch!) it is ok, well more than ok, I’m pleased with the way I come across.

This got me thinking… in presentations I often need to get people to slow down, which is appropriate for face to face presentations. The accepted rate of speech is somewhere between 140-160 words per minute.

But the rate of speech needs to be faster for TV, and this includes Vlogs, Webinars and YouTube videos.

We have a short attention span and need to keep the energy high to maintain audience engagement.  The same happened during a webinar for The Cheeky Scientist where I was the guest interviewee.  We were focusing on management skills and how post docs could transition into industry.  The interviewer, Dr Isaiah Hankel has written a great testimonial and not once did he say I spoke too quickly!

Kate is a incredible presenter and one of the best communicators I have ever interviewed. We brought Kate on for a live interview on management skills and she over delivered throughout the entire event. What impressed me most was her ability to break down complex topics into easy to understand and impactful takeaways, delivered in a fun, engaging, and professional way.

For those of you interested in watching my TV interview you can find it on this link:

Kate Atkin discusses the imposter syndrome

 

 

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