# Does talking fast get more views on TikTok? We timed 10,726 videos

Talking speed, the wait before the first word, pauses and swearing in the first 6 seconds of 10,726 TikToks from 775 creators, against each creator's usual views. Published 2026-11-11 by Yap & Done. Videos posted August to October 2026.

Canonical page: https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/talking-speed/ · Data: https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/talking-speed/data.json · https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/talking-speed/data.csv · License: CC BY 4.0

## The top lessons

- Talk at your natural pace. Videos at 240+ words a minute got 0% views against the same creator's other videos, and videos under 120 words a minute -4%; neither is a clear difference.
- Don't force yourself faster than usual. When creators talked much faster than they usually do, views were -5%; much slower, +4%. Neither is a clear difference.
- Start talking right away, but don't panic about a beat. 82% of videos start within a third of a second, and a short wait made no clear difference.
- A pause for effect is fine. Openings with no pause at all got -9% views against the same creator's openings with a short pause.
- Swearing didn't buy views. Openings with a swear word got -5%, not a clear difference either way.

## Key findings

- **Creators talk at about 211 words a minute.** In the first 6 seconds, the typical TikTok creator says 3.51 words a second, about 211 words a minute. Half talk between 175 and 246; one in ten is under 145 and one in ten over 280. That's well above everyday conversation, which is about 150.
- **Talking faster didn't get more views.** Against the same creator's other videos, the fastest openings (240+ words a minute, 30% of videos) got 0% views (range -5% to 5%) and the slowest (under 120, 4% of videos) -4%. None of the 11 speed groups showed a clear difference.
- **Faster than your usual didn't help either.** Comparing each creator with their own usual pace: much faster than usual got -5% views, much slower +4%. So it isn't that fast talkers do well; speeding up doesn't do anything you can measure.
- **Short pauses didn't cost views.** 91% of openings had no gap longer than 0.4 seconds. They got -9% views (range -16 to -1%) against the same creator's openings that did have a short pause. Cutting every breath isn't buying views; if anything a beat for effect did slightly better.
- **Swearing made no clear difference.** 2% of openings had a swear word. They got -5% views (range -16 to 9%) and -1% shares against the same creator's other videos. Slang ("bro", "lowkey", "literally") was in 2% of openings and got +19% views, but with this many comparisons that one could be chance.
- **Instagram Reels: the same pace, the same answer.** In 1,766 Instagram Reels where someone talks, from 153 creators, the typical speed was also 211 words a minute, and none of the speed groups showed a clear difference in views. Openings with no pause at all got -14% views (range -27 to -2%) against the same creator's other reels, as on TikTok.

## How fast they talked

Words a minute in the first 6 seconds, from the first word to the last.

### Views against the creator's usual

- Under 120 words a minute: -4%
- 120–150: +12%
- 150–180: +4%
- 180–210: -2%
- 210–240: -4%
- 240+ words a minute: -0%

### By words a minute

| Group | Share of videos | Views | Shares per view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 120 words a minute | 4% | -4%* | -11% |
| 120–150 | 7% | +12%* | -6%* |
| 150–180 | 16% | +4%* | +4%* |
| 180–210 | 21% | -2%* | -3%* |
| 210–240 | 22% | -4%* | +2%* |
| 240+ words a minute | 30% | 0%* | +2%* |

* not a clear difference: the 95% range includes no change. Each video is compared with the same creator's other videos.

### Against the creator's own usual pace

| Group | Share of videos | Views | Shares per view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Much slower than usual | 22% | +4%* | -3%* |
| A bit slower | 17% | +2%* | +1%* |
| Their usual pace | 22% | -2%* | +1%* |
| A bit faster | 18% | +1%* | 0%* |
| Much faster than usual | 22% | -5%* | +2%* |

Much slower or faster means more than 15% off the creator's average speed in our sample.

## Waiting and pausing

How long before the first word, and the longest gap between words in the first 6 seconds.

### Before the first word

| Group | Share of videos | Views | Shares per view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Talking straight away | 82% | 0%* | 0%* |
| After 0.3–0.7 seconds | 14% | -1%* | +1%* |
| After 0.7–1.5 seconds | 4% | +4%* | -1%* |
| After 1.5 seconds or more | 1% | +8%* | -8%* |

* not a clear difference: the 95% range includes no change. Each video is compared with the same creator's other videos.

### Longest pause

| Group | Share of videos | Views | Shares per view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| No pause | 91% | -9% | +5%* |
| Longest pause 0.4–0.8 seconds | 6% | +8%* | -5%* |
| Longest pause 0.8–1.5 seconds | 3% | +11%* | -4%* |
| A pause over 1.5 seconds | 1% | +12%* | -9%* |

* not a clear difference: the 95% range includes no change. Each video is compared with the same creator's other videos.

## Swearing and slang

Openings with a swear word or common slang, against the same creator's other videos.

### Swearing and slang

| Group | Share of videos | Views | Shares per view |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Any swear word | 2% | -5%* | -1%* |
| Strong swearing (f-word, s-word) | 2% | -4%* | 0%* |
| Slang ("bro", "lowkey", "literally"…) | 2% | +19% | +3%* |

* not a clear difference: the 95% range includes no change. Each video is compared with the same creator's other videos. Filler words like "um" and "uh" couldn't be tested: the transcriber leaves most of them out.

## On Instagram Reels

The same measures on 1,766 Instagram Reels from 153 creators, each against the same creator's reels from the month either side. Instagram doesn't show shares, so views only, and the sample is much smaller than TikTok's.

### By words a minute

| Group | Share of reels | Views |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 120–150 | 6% | -3%* |
| 150–180 | 17% | +7%* |
| 180–210 | 21% | +1%* |
| 210–240 | 24% | -9%* |
| 240+ words a minute | 29% | -1%* |

* not a clear difference: the 95% range includes no change. Each video is compared with the same creator's other videos.

### Longest pause

| Group | Share of reels | Views |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No pause | 91% | -14% |
| Longest pause 0.4–0.8 seconds | 5% | +8%* |

Swearing and slang were too rare in these reels to test.

## Short-video script

- Hook: You don't need to talk this fast on TikTok.
- The number: We timed every word in 10,726 TikToks. Creators average 211 words a minute, and the fastest talkers got no more views than the slowest.
- Show: The views-by-talking-speed chart: every bar close to zero.
- Takeaway: Talk like you. What you say in the first sentence matters more than how fast you say it.
- Credit: Source: Yap & Done study, yapanddone.com/studies/talking-speed

## FAQ

- **How fast should you talk on TikTok?** At your natural pace. The typical creator talks at about 211 words a minute in the first 6 seconds, and talking faster or slower than that made no clear difference to views.
- **Should you cut every pause out of a TikTok?** Not for views. Openings with no pause at all got -9% against the same creator's openings with a short pause.
- **Does swearing hurt TikTok views?** Not clearly. Openings with a swear word got -5% views against the same creator's other videos, within the range of no difference. Advertisers and brand deals are another matter.
- **How fast should you talk on Instagram Reels?** The same as on TikTok: at your natural pace. Creators averaged about 211 words a minute in 1,766 reels, and speed made no clear difference to views.
- **What is a normal speaking rate?** Everyday conversation is about 150 words a minute and audiobooks about 155. TikTok creators in our sample were faster, about 211 in the first 6 seconds.

## Method

- Videos: 10,726 TikTok videos from 775 creators in 10 advice niches, picked from each creator's recent videos without looking at how they did (the hooks study's random and baseline samples). Videos with no speech, fewer than 5 words in the first 6 seconds, or under 2 seconds of talking were left out.
- Timing: the first 6 seconds of audio, transcribed with Whisper, which times each word. Speed is the number of words divided by the time from the first word starting to the last word ending (up to 6 seconds), times 60.
- Against the creator's usual: each video's views divided by the creator's typical views at the time, then compared with the same creator's other videos, so a fast-talking big creator doesn't skew it. Changes are geometric means; ranges are 95% ranges from resampling creators.
- Instagram: up to two pages of recent reels from each Instagram creator in our follower study, fetched in November 2026 and at least two weeks old. Gemini marked which openings are someone talking rather than song lyrics; 1,766 talking reels from 153 creators remained. Each reel's views are against the median of the same creator's reels posted within 30 days either side.

## Limitations

- Only the first 6 seconds. A creator who speeds up later in the video isn't measured.
- Whisper's word timings are approximate, especially for short gaps, so pauses under half a second are rough.
- Advice creators only; comedy and storytelling may reward a different pace.
- Swearing is rare in our sample, so its range is wide: a small effect either way can't be ruled out.

Cite as: Yap & Done (2026). Does talking fast get more views on TikTok? We timed 10,726 videos https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/talking-speed/