Free tool
How long is your speech? Words to minutes, and back.
Paste a script or enter a word count to see how long it takes to say, or enter a time limit to see how many words fit. Most people speak at about 150 words a minute, and you can measure your own pace below.
Your speech runs about
5 min
750 words at 150 words per minute
- Deliberate · 120
- 6 min 15 sec
- Average · 150
- 5 min
- Brisk · 170
- 4 min 25 sec
Measure your pace
Read this out loud, the way you'd speak to a room.
Most people have no idea how fast they talk. We hear our own voice from the inside, so a pace that feels calm to us can sound rushed to everyone else, and a pause that feels endless usually lasts about a second. That is why timing a speech in your head almost never works. The only reliable way is to read the words out loud at the speed you would use in front of a real audience, and let a clock do the counting. So read this paragraph the way you would speak to a room, not the way you would read a message on your phone. Breathe where it feels natural. Don't race to the end, and don't slow down on purpose either. When you reach the last word, stop the timer, and you will have a number you can actually plan with.
144 words. Nothing is recorded: this only times you.
Press Start, read the passage aloud at your normal speaking speed, and press Done on the last word.
How many words is a 1, 3, 5 or 10-minute speech?
At an average pace of 150 words per minute, a 1-minute speech is about 150 words, a 3-minute speech about 450, a 5-minute speech about 750, and a 10-minute speech about 1,500. If you speak slowly or leave long pauses, use the deliberate column. If you talk quickly, use the brisk one.
| Length | Deliberate (120 wpm) | Average (150 wpm) | Brisk (170 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 min | 120 | 150 | 170 |
| 2 min | 240 | 300 | 340 |
| 3 min | 360 | 450 | 510 |
| 4 min | 480 | 600 | 680 |
| 5 min | 600 | 750 | 850 |
| 7 min | 840 | 1,050 | 1,190 |
| 10 min | 1,200 | 1,500 | 1,700 |
| 15 min | 1,800 | 2,250 | 2,550 |
| 20 min | 2,400 | 3,000 | 3,400 |
| 30 min | 3,600 | 4,500 | 5,100 |
Word counts are rounded to the nearest 10.
Which pace should you use?
The National Center for Voice and Speech puts everyday conversational English at about 150 words per minute, which is why it's the default here. A prepared speech is different from conversation in a few ways that matter for timing:
- Pauses add up. A breath before a key line, a beat after a joke and a pause for a slide change each take a second or two, and a ten-minute talk has dozens of them.
- Audiences react. Laughter and applause aren't in your word count, but they are in your time slot.
- Nerves change your speed. Many people speed up in front of an audience or a camera, and a few slow right down. Rehearse out loud at least once and time it.
If you have a strict limit, plan for the deliberate pace or aim for about 10% fewer words than the calculator gives you. Finishing slightly early is always better than being cut off.
Why your own pace beats an average
Speaking rates vary a lot from person to person. Two people reading the same 750 words can finish a full minute apart, so a script sized for "average" can run long or short for you. The pace test above takes about a minute: read the passage at your presenting speed and you get a number to plan with. For more on choosing a pace for video, see how fast you should speak on camera.
Keep to time while you read
If you read your speech from a teleprompter, it can do the timing for you. Avocado, a teleprompter for Mac, shows how long each script will take to read. With Adaptive Speed on, it learns your real pace as you read and times the script against that. It also shows the time left while you're reading, and if you write scripts with Claude, Cursor or Codex, they can size a new script to your measured pace (Pro). See everything Avocado does.
Frequently asked questions
About 150 words at an average speaking pace of 150 words per minute, or 120 to 170 depending on how fast you talk.
About 450 words at 150 words per minute. A deliberate speaker fits around 360, a brisk one around 510.
About 750 words at 150 words per minute, with a range of roughly 600 to 850 depending on your pace.
About 1,500 words at 150 words per minute, or 1,200 to 1,700 depending on your pace.
About 6 minutes 40 seconds at 150 words per minute. At a deliberate 120 it's about 8 minutes 20 seconds, and at a brisk 170 just under 6 minutes.
The National Center for Voice and Speech puts conversational American English at about 150 words per minute. Prepared speeches often run slower, because of pauses, slides and audience reactions.
Read a passage of known length out loud at the speed you'd use in front of an audience, time it, and divide the words by the minutes. The test on this page does that for you with a 144-word passage.
Read it at your pace, right under the lens.
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