<s>
Words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
,	O
commonly	O
abbreviated	O
wpm	B-Device
(	O
sometimes	O
uppercased	O
WPM	B-Device
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
measure	O
of	O
words	O
processed	O
in	O
a	O
minute	O
,	O
often	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
measurement	O
of	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
typing	B-Application
,	O
reading	O
or	O
Morse	O
code	O
sending	O
and	O
receiving	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
found	O
in	O
one	O
study	O
of	O
average	O
computer	O
users	O
in	O
1999	O
that	O
the	O
average	O
rate	O
for	O
transcription	O
was	O
32.5	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
,	O
and	O
19.0	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
for	O
composition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
same	O
study	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
group	O
was	O
divided	O
into	O
"	O
fast	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
moderate	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
slow	O
"	O
groups	O
,	O
the	O
average	O
speeds	O
were	O
40	O
wpm	B-Device
,	O
35	O
wpm	B-Device
,	O
and	O
23	O
wpm	B-Device
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
onset	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
of	O
desktop	O
computers	O
,	O
fast	O
typing	B-Application
skills	O
became	O
much	O
more	O
widespread	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
professional	O
typists	O
type	O
at	O
speeds	O
of	O
43	O
to	O
80	O
wpm	B-Device
,	O
while	O
some	O
positions	O
can	O
require	O
80	O
to	O
95	O
(	O
usually	O
the	O
minimum	O
required	O
for	O
dispatch	O
positions	O
and	O
other	O
time-sensitive	O
typing	B-Application
jobs	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
advanced	O
typists	O
work	O
at	O
speeds	O
above	O
120	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two-finger	O
typists	O
,	O
sometimes	O
also	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
hunt	O
and	O
peck	O
"	O
typists	O
,	O
commonly	O
reach	O
sustained	O
speeds	O
of	O
about	O
37	O
wpm	B-Device
for	O
memorized	O
text	O
and	O
27	O
wpm	B-Device
when	O
copying	O
text	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
bursts	O
may	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
reach	O
much	O
higher	O
speeds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
1920s	O
through	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
typing	B-Device
speed	I-Device
(	O
along	O
with	O
shorthand	O
speed	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
important	O
secretarial	O
qualification	O
,	O
and	O
typing	B-Device
contests	I-Device
were	O
popular	O
and	O
often	O
publicized	O
by	O
typewriter	O
companies	O
as	O
promotional	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stenotype	O
keyboards	O
enable	O
the	O
trained	O
user	O
to	O
input	O
text	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
360	O
wpm	B-Device
at	O
very	O
high	O
accuracy	O
for	O
an	O
extended	O
period	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
sufficient	O
for	O
real-time	O
activities	O
such	O
as	O
court	O
reporting	O
or	O
closed	O
captioning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
training	O
dropout	O
rates	O
are	O
very	O
high	O
—	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
only	O
10%	O
or	O
even	O
fewer	O
graduate	O
—	O
stenotype	O
students	O
are	O
usually	O
able	O
to	O
reach	O
speeds	O
of	O
100	O
–	O
120	O
wpm	B-Device
within	O
six	O
months	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
faster	O
than	O
most	O
alphanumeric	O
typists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Guinness	O
World	O
Records	O
gives	O
360	O
wpm	B-Device
with	O
97.23	O
%	O
accuracy	O
as	O
the	O
highest	O
achieved	O
speed	O
using	O
a	O
stenotype	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
numeric	O
entry	O
or	O
10-key	B-Device
speed	O
is	O
a	O
measure	O
of	O
one	O
's	O
ability	O
to	O
manipulate	O
the	O
numeric	B-Device
keypad	I-Device
found	O
on	O
most	O
modern	O
separate	O
computer	O
keyboards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
measure	O
speed	O
for	O
jobs	O
such	O
as	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
of	O
number	O
information	O
on	O
items	O
such	O
as	O
remittance	O
advice	O
,	O
bills	O
,	O
or	O
checks	O
,	O
as	O
deposited	O
to	O
lock	O
boxes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
an	O
adult	O
population	O
(	O
age	O
range	O
18	O
–	O
60	O
)	O
the	O
average	O
speed	O
of	O
copying	O
is	O
40	O
letters	O
per	O
minute	O
(	O
approximately	O
8	O
wpm	B-Device
)	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
range	O
from	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
26	O
to	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
113	O
letters	O
per	O
minute	O
(	O
approximately	O
5	O
to	O
20	O
wpm	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
study	O
of	O
police	O
interview	O
records	O
showed	O
that	O
the	O
highest	O
speed	O
fell	O
in	O
the	O
range	O
120	O
–	O
155	O
characters	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
,	O
the	O
highest	O
possible	O
limit	O
being	O
190	O
characters	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Handwriting	O
speeds	O
up	O
to	O
350	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
have	O
been	O
achieved	O
in	O
shorthand	O
competitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
is	O
a	O
common	O
metric	O
for	O
assessing	O
reading	O
speed	O
and	O
is	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
remedial	O
skills	O
evaluation	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
speed	O
reading	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
controversial	O
measure	O
of	O
reading	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Research	O
done	O
in	O
2012	O
measured	O
the	O
speed	O
at	O
which	O
subjects	O
read	O
a	O
text	O
aloud	O
,	O
and	O
found	O
the	O
typical	O
range	O
of	O
speeds	O
across	O
17	O
different	O
languages	O
to	O
be	O
184±29	O
wpm	B-Device
or	O
863±234	O
characters	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
wpm	B-Device
varied	O
between	O
languages	O
,	O
even	O
for	O
languages	O
that	O
use	O
the	O
Latin	O
or	O
Cyrillic	O
alphabets	O
:	O
as	O
low	O
as	O
161±18	O
for	O
Finnish	O
and	O
as	O
high	O
as	O
228±30	O
for	O
English	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
characters	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
tends	O
to	O
be	O
around	O
1000	O
for	O
all	O
the	O
tested	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scientific	O
studies	O
have	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
reading	O
—	O
defined	O
here	O
as	O
capturing	O
and	O
decoding	O
all	O
the	O
words	O
on	O
every	O
page	O
—	O
faster	O
than	O
900	O
wpm	B-Device
is	O
not	O
feasible	O
given	O
the	O
limits	O
set	O
by	O
the	O
anatomy	O
of	O
the	O
eye	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
proofreading	O
materials	O
,	O
people	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
read	O
English	O
at	O
200	O
wpm	B-Device
on	O
paper	O
,	O
and	O
180	O
wpm	B-Device
on	O
a	O
monitor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Audiobooks	O
are	O
recommended	O
to	O
be	O
150	O
–	O
160	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
range	O
that	O
people	O
comfortably	O
hear	O
and	O
vocalize	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Slide	O
presentations	O
tend	O
to	O
be	O
closer	O
to	O
100	O
–	O
125	O
wpm	B-Device
for	O
a	O
comfortable	O
pace	O
,	O
auctioneers	O
can	O
speak	O
at	O
about	O
250	O
wpm	B-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
fastest	O
speaking	O
policy	O
debaters	O
speak	O
from	O
350	O
to	O
over	O
500	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internet	O
speech	O
calculators	O
show	O
that	O
various	O
things	O
influence	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
including	O
nervousness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Moschitta	O
,	O
Jr.	O
,	O
was	O
listed	O
in	O
Guinness	O
World	O
Records	O
,	O
for	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
fastest	O
speaker	O
,	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
talk	O
at	O
586	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
surpassed	O
by	O
Steve	O
Woodmore	O
,	O
who	O
achieved	O
a	O
rate	O
of	O
637	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
realm	O
of	O
American	O
Sign	O
Language	O
,	O
the	O
American	O
Sign	O
Language	O
University	O
(	O
ASLU	O
)	O
specifies	O
a	O
cutoff	O
proficiency	O
for	O
students	O
who	O
clock	O
a	O
signing	O
speed	O
of	O
110-130	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
variability	O
complicates	O
the	O
measurement	O
of	O
Morse	O
code	O
speed	O
rated	O
in	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
the	O
baud	O
rate	O
of	O
a	O
Morse	O
code	O
is	O
×	O
word	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
rate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
standard	O
practice	O
to	O
use	O
two	O
different	O
such	O
standard	O
words	O
to	O
measure	O
Morse	O
code	O
speeds	O
in	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Experienced	O
hams	O
routinely	O
send	O
Morse	O
at	O
20	O
words	B-Device
per	I-Device
minute	I-Device
,	O
using	O
manually	O
operated	O
hand	O
telegraph	O
keys	O
;	O
enthusiasts	O
such	O
as	O
members	O
of	O
The	O
CW	O
Operators	O
 '	O
Club	O
routinely	O
send	O
and	O
receive	O
Morse	O
code	O
at	O
speeds	O
up	O
to	O
60	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
upper	O
limit	O
for	O
Morse	O
operators	O
attempting	O
to	O
write	O
down	O
Morse	O
code	O
received	O
by	O
ear	O
using	O
paper	O
and	O
pencil	O
is	O
roughly	O
20	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
skilled	O
Morse	O
code	O
operators	O
can	O
receive	O
Morse	O
code	O
by	O
ear	O
mentally	O
without	O
writing	O
down	O
the	O
information	O
at	O
speeds	O
up	O
to	O
70	O
wpm	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
write	O
down	O
the	O
Morse	O
code	O
information	O
manually	O
at	O
speeds	O
higher	O
than	O
20	O
wpm	B-Device
it	O
is	O
usual	O
for	O
the	O
operators	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
typewriter	O
or	O
computer	O
keyboard	O
to	O
enable	O
higher	O
speed	O
copying	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
a	O
written	O
examination	O
,	O
proficiency	O
at	O
receiving	O
Morse	O
at	O
20	O
wpm	B-Device
plain	O
language	O
and	O
16	O
wpm	B-Device
in	O
code	O
groups	O
must	O
be	O
demonstrated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fastest	O
Morse	O
code	O
operator	O
was	O
Theodore	O
Roosevelt	O
McElroy	O
copying	O
at	O
75.6	O
wpm	B-Device
using	O
a	O
typewriter	O
at	O
the	O
1939	O
world	O
championship	O
.	O
</s>
