Speech Time Calculator: Words to Minutes
Paste a script or type a word count, pick a speaking pace, and see how long it takes to say out loud, in minutes and seconds. It works the other way too: enter the minutes you have and get the number of words to aim for.UpdatedSpeaking pace130 words a minute
Paste a script or type a word count to see how long it takes to say.About 650 words fill 5 minutes at this pace.
Want to hear it read out? Turn the script into a voiceover| Time | Words |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | 130 |
| 2 minutes | 260 |
| 3 minutes | 390 |
| 5 minutes | 650 |
| 10 minutes | 1,300 |
| 15 minutes | 1,950 |
| 20 minutes | 2,600 |
Choosing a pace
| Pace | Words a minute | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 110 | Formal speeches, readings, talks with long pauses |
| Presentation | 130 | Talks with slides, lectures, pitches, class presentations |
| Conversation | 150 | Podcasts, interviews, video voiceovers |
| Fast | 170 | Short, energetic videos and quick updates |
How many words for a 5-minute speech?
About 550 words at a slow pace, 650 at a presentation pace, 750 at a conversational pace and 850 fast. The same sum for other common lengths:| Minutes | Slow (110) | Presentation (130) | Conversation (150) | Fast (170) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 110 | 130 | 150 | 170 |
| 2 | 220 | 260 | 300 | 340 |
| 3 | 330 | 390 | 450 | 510 |
| 5 | 550 | 650 | 750 | 850 |
| 10 | 1,100 | 1,300 | 1,500 | 1,700 |
| 15 | 1,650 | 1,950 | 2,250 | 2,550 |
| 20 | 2,200 | 2,600 | 3,000 | 3,400 |
How long it takes to read 1,000 words aloud
At a conversational pace, 1,000 words takes about 6 minutes 40 seconds. At a presentation pace it's about 7 minutes 40, slowly just over 9 minutes and fast just under 6. Other lengths, in minutes and seconds:| Words | Slow | Presentation | Conversation | Fast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | 2:16 | 1:55 | 1:40 | 1:28 |
| 500 | 4:33 | 3:51 | 3:20 | 2:56 |
| 750 | 6:49 | 5:46 | 5:00 | 4:25 |
| 1,000 | 9:05 | 7:42 | 6:40 | 5:53 |
| 1,500 | 13:38 | 11:32 | 10:00 | 8:49 |
| 2,000 | 18:11 | 15:23 | 13:20 | 11:46 |
| 3,000 | 27:16 | 23:05 | 20:00 | 17:39 |
What changes the real time
The calculator times the words. A talk also has pauses for effect, slide changes, laughter, applause and questions, and each adds time a word count can't show. Reading a full script, speaking from notes and speaking from memory each change the pace as well, and people often add asides when they aren't reading word for word. Figures stretch it too: "1,250" counts as one word on the page and takes three or more to say, and dates, prices and abbreviations read letter by letter do the same.Use the number as a first estimate, then read the script out loud once with a timer, at the pace you'll use on the day. If it runs long, cut words; speaking faster to fit makes a talk harder to follow.Scripts for videos and voiceovers
The same sums work for a YouTube script, a TikTok voiceover or a podcast intro. At a conversational pace, a 60-second video holds about 150 words and a 30-second one about 75; for a quick, punchy read, check the fast pace too. To hear the script read aloud, Leap's AI voice generator turns it into a voiceover; it's a paid tool in the Leap studio.For silent reading, such as a blog post or an article, use the reading time calculator instead, since people read faster in their heads than they speak. To count the words in a draft first, use the word counter.Rewrite a text in your own wordsPaste it to see what a rewrite costs. Nothing is sent until you choose to.
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Frequently asked questions
About 390 words at a presentation pace and 450 at a conversational one. Slow, it's about 330; fast, about 510.
About 1,300 words at a presentation pace and 1,500 at a conversational one. The slow and fast paces give 1,100 and 1,700.
About 15 minutes 20 seconds at a presentation pace and 13 minutes 20 seconds at a conversational one. Read slowly, it takes just over 18 minutes.
It depends on the speaker and the setting. The calculator uses 110 words a minute for a slow pace, 130 for a presentation, 150 for conversation and 170 for fast speech. To find your own, read aloud for one minute with a timer and count the words.
No, it times the words only. Add time for pauses, slide changes, applause and questions, and do one timed read-through out loud before the day.
No. Reading silently is faster: the reading time calculator uses about 238 words a minute for an average reader, so 1,000 words takes about 4 minutes to read and 6 to 9 minutes to say.