One great program for this is available at 10fastfingers. com. [1] X Research source The test on this page is simple: just type each word on the screen, putting a space between each, until the minute timer counts down. In addition to learning your WPM, this typing test will also tell you the number of mistakes you made and tell you which percentage of test-takers you scored in.
Set the timer for any length of time (in general, the longer you test yourself for, the less vulnerable you’ll be to fluke performances. ) Your text should be long enough that you won’t reach the end before your timer finishes. If you don’t have a word processor installed on your device, you can access one for free with a Google account at drive. google. com. [2] X Research source
Note that nearly all modern word processors have a “word count” feature, so you don’t need to count your words manually. For example, let’s say that we type 102 words in 1 minute and 30 seconds. To find our WPM, we would divide 102 words/1. 5 minutes to get 68 WPM.
One great program is available at readingsoft. com. [4] X Research source In this program, you time yourself while you read a text of predetermined length. Once you finish, the program calculates your WPM based on how quickly you reached the end.
Before you begin, use your word processor’s “word count” feature to determine how many words are in your text selection. Record this number — you’ll need it at the end. A good place to find long text selections you haven’t read before is on your favorite news website. Since the news is constantly updated, you won’t have to wait long to find something you haven’t read yet.
For example, if it took us three minutes to read a 1,100-word news article, we would find our WPM by dividing 1,100/3 = 366. 7 WPM.
For example, if it took us three minutes to read a 1,100-word news article, we would find our WPM by dividing 1,100/3 = 366. 7 WPM.
A list of major historical speeches is available at historyplace. com. [7] X Research source Many of these speeches (like, for instance, George Graham Vest’s “Tribute to the Dog”) aren’t well-known by the general public, making them great for this test.
For example, if it took us five minutes to deliver a 1,000-word speech, we would find our WPM by dividing 1,000/5 = 200 WPM.
To get the most accurate results, you’ll want to record yourself speaking to someone else in a semi-casual setting for a long, uninterrupted stretch of time, count the words manually, and divide by the number of words by the number of minutes. This is fairly painstaking, but it’s the most accurate measure of your actual speaking speed. One good way to get yourself talking for a long stretch of time is to gather a group of friends and tell them a long, detailed story that you know well and have told before. This way, you won’t need to pause to remember how the story goes — you’ll only be limited by your natural speaking speed.
