A speech recognizing apparatus includes a speech start instructing section 3 for instructing to start speech recognition; a speech input section 1 for receiving uttered speech and converting to a speech signal; a speech recognizing section 2 for recognizing the speech on the basis of the speech signal; an utterance start time detecting section 4 for detecting duration from the time when the speech start instructing section instructs to the time when the speech input section delivers the speech signal; an utterance timing deciding section 5 for deciding utterance timing indicating whether the utterance start is quick or slow by comparing the duration detected by the utterance start time detecting section with a prescribed threshold; an interaction control section 6 for determining a content, which is to be shown when exhibiting a recognition result of the speech recognizing section, in accordance with the utterance timing decided; a system response generating section 7 for generating a system response on the basis of the determined content to be shown; and an output section 8 and 9 for outputting the system response generated.