What's a Good Speaking Pace for an Interview?

Most people speak at a perfectly normal pace right up until they sit down for an interview. Then the nerves kick in, and an answer they’d give fine over coffee comes out fast and clipped, like they’re trying to finish before anyone interrupts.

Part of the problem is you can’t really feel your own pace while you’re talking. The interviewer notices it long before you do.

For a rough target, aim for somewhere around 140 to 160 words a minute — a touch under everyday conversation. If you want something to picture, it’s about the speed a good audiobook is narrated at: quick enough to hold attention, slow enough that someone can follow each point and still jot a note.

The exact number matters less than knowing which way you drift, though, because nearly everyone leans one direction.

Usually it’s too fast. Rushing doesn’t come across as sharp or energetic — it comes across as nervous, like you want the question behind you. It also closes the small gaps between sentences, and those gaps are exactly where “um” and “like” would otherwise not be (more on fillers here). And if the interviewer’s writing anything down, a fast answer just leaves them behind.

Too slow is rarer, but worth naming. Some people overcorrect into a monotone, or flatten out when they’re anxious, and you can watch the room drift.

The annoying part is that telling yourself to slow down mid-answer doesn’t work. You’ll manage it for a sentence, then the nerves take back over. Better to lean on structure than willpower:

• Breathe at the periods. A one-second pause between sentences feels enormous to you and completely normal to whoever’s listening.
• Take the first sentence slowly — answers speed up as they go, so whatever tempo you set at the start tends to stick.
• Keep sentences short. It’s hard to sprint through a short one.

And the only way to actually know if any of this is landing is to record an answer and play it back. It’s uncomfortable, and there’s no way around it — you’ll almost always sound faster than you expected. Say the answer, catch where you bolted, say it again.