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Productivity

The Importance of Reading Time and Speaking Speed in Blogging

By Alex Mercer
June 3, 2026
4 min read

Reading time has become a key metric on blogging platforms like Medium. Signaling the time commitment to readers before they click helps reduce bounce rates and set user expectations.

1. Calculating Reading Speeds

The average adult reads at a speed of 200 words per minute (WPM). Subheadings, lists, and images help keep readers engaged, keeping average page duration high.

2. Speaking Speed for Video Scripts

For copywriters drafting podcasts, scripts, or video scripts, average speaking speed is 130 WPM. Use the Reading Time Calculator to set reading speeds dynamically.


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Alex Mercer

SEO Specialist at ContentLab. Alex researches web crawling changes and writes copywriting checklists.

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