Talking the Talk: North Dakota Holds Its Own in the Fast Speech Race
As a radio announcer, I like to think I have a pretty good sense of timing. As I have evolved in my career, I have constantly been told to slow down when I talk. I have always been a fast talker. There are people out there that can talk faster, but not as long! That said, I read over the weekend about the states with the fastest and slowest talkers in the nation. As we all know, there is a study out for everything these days!
According to Preply, the average rate of speech among U.S. states is 5.09 syllables per second. Where does our region land when it comes to fast talkers? You might be surprised when you see the top 10.
Let's do the fastest talkers in the nation first:
- 10 - Vermont at 5.23 syllables per second
- 9 - Nebraska at 5.25 syllables per second
- 8 - South Dakota at 5.27 syllables per second
- 7 - New Hampshire at 5.28 syllables per second
- 6 - Massachusetts at 5.28 syllables per second
- 5 - North Dakota at 5.29 syllables per second
- 4 - Kansas at 5.30 syllables per second
- 3 - Iowa at 5.30 syllables per second
- 2 - Oregon at 5.33 syllables per second
- 1 - Minnesota at 5.34 syllables per second
Now let's see who the slow talkers are in the nation:
- 10 - Illinois at 4.96 syllables per second
- 9 - Texas at 4.95 syllables per second
- 8 - North Carolina at 4.93 syllables per second
- 7 - Arkansas at 4.93 syllables per second
- 6 - New Mexico at 4.90 syllables per second
- 5 - Georgia at 4.89 syllables per second
- 4 - Alabama at 4.87 syllables per second
- 3 - Mississippi at 4.82 syllables per second
- 2 - South Carolina at 4.80 syllables per second
- 1 Louisiana at 4.78 syllables per second
Since we are talking about talking, it's only fair to tell you what states are the most and least talkative. New York comes in as the most talkative state. Iowa doesn't like to talk about it much because they are the least talkative state. North Dakota lands at number 7 for least talkative. Obviously, those researchers didn't have a chance to meet me. North Dakota would have been in the most talkative category!