Winnipeggers average 189 words per minute, fast-talking study says

The average Winnipegger has a lot to say, according to a new study.

Speech pattern analysis from Preply, an online learning space, has rated Winnipeg as Canada’s third fastest-talking city, with a whopping 189 words per minute coming out of Manitoba mouths.

That’s considerably faster than the national average of 175.

Of Canada’s 10 biggest cities, Winnipeg ranks behind only Ottawa and Edmonton, the nation’s fastest at an incredible 211 words per minute. Provincially, Manitoba comes in second to Alberta in the rapid-speech department.

Preply language expert Sylvia Johnson told 680 CJOB’s The Start that local video was analyzed to come up with the 189-word rate.

“We actually delved into the YouTube data to analyze the speech rate,” Johnson said.

“So what we did is we analyzed the transcripts of the videos from either local news stations or from podcasts. Using this, we were able to calculate the average words said per minute for each city.

“Winnipeg? Pretty speedy.”

The pace at which we speak, however, really depends on the topic being discussed. Johnson said heavier, more serious topics tend to be discussed at a slower word-per-minute rate, likely to signify respect for the subject at hand.

“Podcasts or radio shows and news report subjects that we analyzed — such as real estate, or religion, or lifestyle — all of this had a real impact on how quickly the guests were speaking.”

Speech rate, she said, can also be affected by culture and by the pace of day-to-day life in a particular region — and there can be benefits to slowing down in general.

“Pausing between words to give people time to understand what you’re saying and process what you’re saying … being conscious of who you’re talking to and what message you want to put across.

“Take a moment, breathe — you’ve got all the time in the world to get your message across and people are going to understand it better.”

Toronto ranked highest for slow-talkers among the nation’s big cities, with a comparatively leisurely 149 words per minute.

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