How do you keep up 150 WPM without slowing down?

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ItsThatRick
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Post by ItsThatRick »

I was wondering what tricks people use to keep a constant pace when you narrate. I have found that I'm a slow narrator ...on the order of 120 WPM. As I understand, a rate of 150-160 WPM is the target speed for audio books. I've been practicing and trying to speed up. I do OK for the first minute or so but then I slow down to my "natural" pace. I needed a tool to help me do better.

I've started to use Imaginary Teleprompter to help me out. It's a free program that runs on various operating systems and through a web browser. https://imaginary.tech/teleprompter/ While I can see benefits to narrating this way, but the bottom line is it's kind of a crutch to keep me at that magic 150 WPM number.

Eventually I'd like to get away from it, so my question to the community are
1) For those who are slow narrators such as myself, do you just not worry about it and do what you do best?
2) If not, how did you get to 150 WPM? How did you practice and what tools did you use?
3) Do you have any exercises to help you keep up your word count that you are willing to share? There are some general tips on YouTube but nothing specific.

Thanks!
philchenevert
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Post by philchenevert »

Gee. I've never bothered about how fast or slow I read and am not aware of the magic 150 wpm standard. I think someone just averaged what people usually do and came up with that number. It may not be your number at all. Averages mean there are much slower and much faster readers. You may just naturally fall in the slower range.

My advice is to not worry at all about it, read the way you are comfortable. The big question is: when you listen to your recordings, do they sound comfortable? well paced? That is the only criteria I use. Tell the story like you would be telling it to others in person and then see if that sounds right to you.

Hmmmm. Now you have me wondering how fast/slow I read? But not enough to actually check. :thumbs: Have fun.
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Post by zachh »

I have an equal but opposite problem of tending to read too fast, due to unconsciously compensating for a stammer. TriciaG very helpfully told me about Change Tempo in Audacity which I used on my last solo to slow everything down 5% and then in spots where further slowing was needed. I hadn't heard about the 150 WPM goal either. I just looked it up and did the math, and my first solo averaged 227 while my third (the first with Change Tempo) was down to 206. I think that some variation in speed between readers is not a bad thing, and 120 seems quite reasonable. I think it also depends on the words in question. It takes me a lot longer to say sesquipedalian than to say fish, for instance.
knotyouraveragejo
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Post by knotyouraveragejo »

There is no target speed. Average reading aloud speeds tend to be between 140-160 wpm, which is where the 150 wpm comes from, but if you google this you will find a much wider range.

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/average-speaking-rate-words-per-minute provides this table of average speaking rates

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 vocalise words
Radio hosts and podcasters: between 150 - 160 wpm
Auctioneers: can speak at about 250 wpm
Commentators: between 250- 400 wpm


I use 150 wpm to estimate approximately how long a section will take to read, but my actual reading speed will vary depending on what I'm reading. :) Bottom line though, you should read at the speed at which you are comfortable and understandable. Listeners have their own preferences and will choose readers/recordings accordingly.
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Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

Another consideration. Many devices today can adjust playback speed. If your reading speed is too slow for a listener, and the reading is clear, they can listen to it at a faster tempo (and there are some who listen to audiobooks at double speed). If you are reading too fast for your own comfort, and it impacts your ability to read clearly, slowing down your recording won't fix that problem.

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Post by DACSoft »

philchenevert wrote: May 28th, 2021, 10:16 am My advice is to not worry at all about it, read the way you are comfortable. The big question is: when you listen to your recordings, do they sound comfortable? well paced? That is the only criteria I use. Tell the story like you would be telling it to others in person and then see if that sounds right to you.
I agree with this good advice! I also hadn't heard of a "standard" reading speed. Not only should your speed be what you are most comfortable reading at, but, IMHO, a major factor of speed is the content you're reading. Projects may have a faster or slower reading pace based on the genre, the "energy level" of the content, the type or amount of dialog, etc. And it may even vary based on these factors within the same project.

FWIW, when I first started recording, my speed was about 170-175 WPM, and now is about 160-165 WPM, mostly as a natural reaction to becoming more comfortable with recording; not something I intentionally did. But I really don't focus on this (other than that I'm a nut for statistics :D ). When I record, I really "get into" the project, and I imagine I'm reading to my nieces and nephews when they were school-age and young adults ... or maybe better stated, at an age-appropriate level for the content.
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Post by lurcherlover »

I'm with Phil and Don with this one. Speed of reading depends on the content, and I myself speed up and slow down depending on the context. I consciously try not to speak too fast as I then find it hard to make sense of the text. If I think (or it says) a character is hesitating, I will hesitate. This often means drawing out a word or two. It's like music, if you do a rallentando (i.e. slow down) then often make the time up in the nest few bars by a gradual increase in tempo. Text is like music, and needs to be interpreted. Setting a constant 150 wpm can become boring. You need as much colour in narration as you can manage, different sounds on certain words as well as variation of tempo. Music that stays at one tempo can become boring, and music that fluctuates can be much more interesting. The same applies to the narration of prose and poetry.
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Post by k5hsj »

lurcherlover wrote: May 28th, 2021, 1:49 pm I'm with Phil and Don with this one. Speed of reading depends on the content, and I myself speed up and slow down depending on the context. I consciously try not to speak too fast as I then find it hard to make sense of the text. If I think (or it says) a character is hesitating, I will hesitate. This often means drawing out a word or two. It's like music, if you do a rallentando (i.e. slow down) then often make the time up in the nest few bars by a gradual increase in tempo. Text is like music, and needs to be interpreted. Setting a constant 150 wpm can become boring. You need as much colour in narration as you can manage, different sounds on certain words as well as variation of tempo. Music that stays at one tempo can become boring, and music that fluctuates can be much more interesting. The same applies to the narration of prose and poetry.
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Post by sjmarky »

1) For those who are slow narrators such as myself, do you just not worry about it and do what you do best?
Do this. Reading at an unnatural pace will sound unnatural. Don't obsess over things like this - it will ruin narrating for you.
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Post by KevinS »

sjmarky wrote: May 29th, 2021, 8:39 am
1) For those who are slow narrators such as myself, do you just not worry about it and do what you do best?
Do this. Reading at an unnatural pace will sound unnatural. Don't obsess over things like this - it will ruin narrating for you.
Indeed.

And while I've never seen a need for it, the listener can always play a recording at his or her preferred speed.
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Post by ColleenMc »

I have more of a problem with speeding up as I go and having to remind myself to slow down! (It's my inner Jersey Girl I guess). I have never timed out my pace, but I find that it sounds pretty natural but slow enough to be understandable if I read just a hair slower when recording than I would "naturally" if reading aloud to myself.

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ItsThatRick
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Post by ItsThatRick »

philchenevert wrote: May 28th, 2021, 10:16 am My advice is to not worry at all about it, read the way you are comfortable. The big question is: when you listen to your recordings, do they sound comfortable? well paced? That is the only criteria I use. Tell the story like you would be telling it to others in person and then see if that sounds right to you.
Sound advice ..... I kind of feel like that slow talking guy from teh old TV Show Night Court if you get the reference. :lol: https://youtu.be/2A78DhtH544?t=34
ItsThatRick
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Post by ItsThatRick »

zachh wrote: May 28th, 2021, 10:58 am I have an equal but opposite problem of tending to read too fast, due to unconsciously compensating for a stammer. TriciaG very helpfully told me about Change Tempo in Audacity which I used on my last solo to slow everything down 5% and then in spots where further slowing was needed. I hadn't heard about the 150 WPM goal either. I just looked it up and did the math, and my first solo averaged 227 while my third (the first with Change Tempo) was down to 206. I think that some variation in speed between readers is not a bad thing, and 120 seems quite reasonable. I think it also depends on the words in question. It takes me a lot longer to say sesquipedalian than to say fish, for instance.
I agree. I'm trying to speed up, you're kind of trying to slow down so I guess between out, we average out about right. :wink:

I know of the tempo change but haven't tried it because I didn't want to sound like Mickey Mouse. But you have me interested now. Thx.
ItsThatRick
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Post by ItsThatRick »

knotyouraveragejo wrote: May 28th, 2021, 12:02 pm There is no target speed. Average reading aloud speeds tend to be between 140-160 wpm, which is where the 150 wpm comes from, but if you google this you will find a much wider range.

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/average-speaking-rate-words-per-minute provides this table of average speaking rates

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 vocalise words
Radio hosts and podcasters: between 150 - 160 wpm
Auctioneers: can speak at about 250 wpm
Commentators: between 250- 400 wpm


I use 150 wpm to estimate approximately how long a section will take to read, but my actual reading speed will vary depending on what I'm reading. :) Bottom line though, you should read at the speed at which you are comfortable and understandable. Listeners have their own preferences and will choose readers/recordings accordingly.
That's the same reference I was using and kind of what started me down this path. The advice on doing a rough back of the envelope calculation for treading time based on the WPM is a great idea.
ItsThatRick
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Post by ItsThatRick »

Kazbek wrote: May 28th, 2021, 12:29 pm Another consideration. Many devices today can adjust playback speed. If your reading speed is too slow for a listener, and the reading is clear, they can listen to it at a faster tempo (and there are some who listen to audiobooks at double speed). If you are reading too fast for your own comfort, and it impacts your ability to read clearly, slowing down your recording won't fix that problem.

Michael
Good tip on the speed adjustment. And you basically highlighted my problem... I'm stumbling over the words and making more mistakes the more I push myself to that mark.
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