Speech to time calculator: how long will it take to say?

How long is a speech, by word count

Speaking time = words divided by words per minute. At a steady 130 words per minute, a 1,000 word speech takes about 7 minutes 42 seconds. The table shows four paces.

Which pace to use

• 110 wpm: a careful pace with pauses, for formal speeches, readings, or speakers new to the room.
• 130 wpm: a typical sermon or keynote. Most guides put presentations between 100 and 150 words per minute.
• 150 wpm: relaxed conversation, the pace of most interview podcasts.
• 170 wpm: a quick voiceover for a short video, where every second counts.

The fastest way to find your own pace: read one minute of your script aloud with a timer and count the words. Put that number in the pace slider and the times above become yours.

Sermons, podcasts and short clips

A 30 minute sermon at 130 words per minute is about 3,900 words. A 45 minute podcast conversation at 150 words per minute is about 6,750 words. A 60 second short at 150 words per minute is about 150 words, which is why the best clips are one complete thought, not a paragraph.

That is also the arithmetic behind clipping: a one hour episode usually holds many self-contained 30 to 60 second moments. Finding the ones that stand alone is the hard part.