What is a healthy talk share in a meeting?

It depends entirely on the meeting. Presenting a quarterly review at 70% of the words is right; taking 70% of a discovery call is a problem, because you learned nothing about the customer. That is why talk share is only meaningful read against the type of meeting it came from.

How do I know my share without recording anything?

The transcript already has it. Word counts per speaker are arithmetic, not judgement, so they are computed directly rather than estimated by a model — which also means the number does not change between runs.

Is it bad to be the quiet one?

Not inherently, but it has a cost in senior client-facing roles where people are partly assessing whether you have a point of view. The question worth asking is not whether you spoke enough, but whether the things you needed to land actually landed.

Are you talking too much in meetings?

There is no universal right number. Talking 70% of a client pitch is doing your job. Talking 70% of a one-to-one means the other person did not get their meeting. The number only means something once you say what kind of meeting it was.

In your report: Talk share · your share of the words, read against the norm for that meeting type

The norms are not the same

A rough guide: a presentation, 60–85%. A client call, 40–70%. A negotiation, 35–60%. A one-to-one, 25–50% — it is their time. An interview, 20–45%, because the candidate should be doing the talking.

High talk share plus no questions is the real signal

A high share on its own can be perfectly appropriate. A high share combined with zero questions asked is the pattern worth looking at: it means the meeting was a broadcast, and you learned nothing you did not walk in with.

Watch the longest unbroken stretch

Total share hides the shape. Three minutes without a break is harder to follow than the same words spread across six turns, and it gives the other person no way in.

Ask, then actually stop

The cheapest fix is a real question followed by silence. Most people ask a question and then fill the pause themselves, which produces the same monologue with a question mark in it.

Your report gives your talk share in words and, when the transcript has timestamps, in time — compared against the norm for the kind of meeting you said it was, never against an absolute ideal.

Common questions

What is a healthy talk share in a meeting?: It depends entirely on the meeting. Presenting a quarterly review at 70% of the words is right; taking 70% of a discovery call is a problem, because you learned nothing about the customer. That is why talk share is only meaningful read against the type of meeting it came from.
How do I know my share without recording anything?: The transcript already has it. Word counts per speaker are arithmetic, not judgement, so they are computed directly rather than estimated by a model — which also means the number does not change between runs.
Is it bad to be the quiet one?: Not inherently, but it has a cost in senior client-facing roles where people are partly assessing whether you have a point of view. The question worth asking is not whether you spoke enough, but whether the things you needed to land actually landed.

See which of these is yours

Paste a transcript from a real meeting and find out, rather than guessing.

Check a real meeting

No account, and nothing is stored.