Words per minuteWPM
Words per minute (WPM) measures text production speed. Conversational speech runs around 120 to 160 WPM, while composing original text at a keyboard averages roughly 31 to 40 WPM, which is the gap dictation exploits.
The number that matters for writing is composition speed (writing while thinking), not transcription typing speed (copying existing text), which is why keyboard WPM figures from typing tests overstate real writing speed. Controlled studies, including Stanford’s 2016 text-entry study, found speech input roughly three times faster than keyboard entry.
Delivered dictation WPM is lower than raw speaking rate because it includes pauses and thinking. A realistic measured rate for real work is 120 to 130 WPM, still around four times keyboard composition.
In Flit
Flit’s own measure across 500+ real dictations is 124 WPM delivered, the number behind the 4× claim.
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