The WPM stands for words per minute, and it is a measure of typing speed, commonly used in the recruitment process and typing speed tests. It is standardized to five characters or keystrokes. ... Make sure you start your touch typing with high accuracy. Your speed will grow over time. It is a measure of the output speed on a. keyboard. Here's how it works: - start a timer and start typing for exactly 1 minute. - count how many characters you just typed including spaces.