Fact · Typing and writing speed
138words per minute
The 6,507-word speech Kennedy gave to the National Association of Manufacturers would have an overall rate of about 138 words per minute if it took the full 47 minutes reported.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“the overall rate would be 6507/47 = 138.4 wpm.”
Kennedy Speed: Fact or Factoid?, Mark Liberman, Language Log, 2010, Post body, arithmetic on the 47-minute speech.
Open the original- What it measures
- The post counts the speech at 6,507 words and divides by the 47 minutes given in the magazine report. It concludes that the 327 figure refers to bursts.
- What it does not show
- A calculation on a reported length and a reported word count, not a timing of a recording. The 47 minutes is the reported running time, which the post could not check against a full recording.