Fact · Typing and writing speed
96.5words per minute
The overall speaking rate of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address was 96.5 words per minute, the second slowest of the inaugural addresses in the past 60 years.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“the overall speaking rate in JFK's inaugural address was 96.5 words per minute”
Kennedy Speed: Fact or Factoid?, Mark Liberman, Language Log, 2010, Opening paragraph, which cites a 2010 blog post by Terry Collmann.
Open the original- What it measures
- The post reports this figure from an earlier 2010 discussion of inaugural speed, and notes that Kennedy had a reputation as a fast talker.
- What it does not show
- A single formal address, read from a prepared text. The overall rate counts all the pauses in the speech, so it is far below the rate of his bursts.