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Speech timer: how long will your script take?

At a normal pace of 140 words per minute, 500 words take about 3 min 34 s and 1,000 words about 7 min 9 s. A 5-minute talk is roughly 700 words. Paste your script below for an estimate at your own pace.

Reading time by word count and pace
Words Slow · 110 wpmNormal · 140 wpmFast · 170 wpm
100 55 s43 s35 s
250 2 min 16 s1 min 47 s1 min 28 s
500 4 min 33 s3 min 34 s2 min 56 s
750 6 min 49 s5 min 21 s4 min 25 s
1,000 9 min 5 s7 min 9 s5 min 53 s
1,500 13 min 38 s10 min 43 s8 min 49 s
2,000 18 min 11 s14 min 17 s11 min 46 s

How many words for a 1- to 30-minute speech?

The same paces the other way round: how many words to write for a talk of a given length. Round down a little if you pause for slides or laughs.

Words to write for a speech of a given length, by pace
Speech length Slow · 110 wpmNormal · 140 wpmFast · 170 wpm
1 minute 110 words140 words170 words
2 minutes 220 words280 words340 words
3 minutes 330 words420 words510 words
5 minutes 550 words700 words850 words
7 minutes 770 words980 words1,190 words
10 minutes 1,100 words1,400 words1,700 words
15 minutes 1,650 words2,100 words2,550 words
20 minutes 2,200 words2,800 words3,400 words
30 minutes 3,300 words4,200 words5,100 words

Time your script

Pace
Words 0
At 140 words per minute –

Words in [square brackets] are stage cues and are not counted. Nothing you type leaves this page.

How many words fit?

OwlPrompter prompter view with large text and scroll controls

Reading it to camera?

Set the pace once, then just read

OwlPrompter scrolls your script at the words per minute you choose, from 20 to 300, free on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android. With Pro it follows your voice instead, so the pace is simply yours.

Where these paces come from

The three presets sit inside the moderately slow, average and moderately fast bands from Tauroza and Allison’s measurements of British English speech. Reading a script aloud is a monologue, so the presets stay well below conversational speed.

Speaking-rate bands, words per minute
BandWords per minute
Slower than normalunder 100
Moderately slow100–125
Average125–160
Moderately fast160–185
Faster than normalover 185

Measured averages in the same study: radio 160 wpm, interviews 190 wpm, conversation 210 wpm.

Sources: Tauroza & Allison, 1990, “Speech rates in British English,” Applied Linguistics 11(1), 90–105, doi:10.1093/applin/11.1.90; bands as summarised in Vuković-Stamatović & Čarapić, 2024, Ibérica 47, 201–226, open access.

Questions

How many words is a 5-minute speech?

About 700 words at a normal 140 words per minute. At a slower 110 wpm it is about 550; at a faster 170 wpm, about 850.

How long is a 1,000-word speech?

About 7 min 9 s at 140 words per minute, 9 min 5 s at 110 wpm and 5 min 53 s at 170 wpm. Pauses, applause and ad-libs add time on top.

What is a normal speaking rate?

In Tauroza and Allison’s study of British English, 125 to 160 words per minute counts as average, 100 to 125 as moderately slow and 160 to 185 as moderately fast. Radio in their data averaged 160 wpm and conversation 210, so reading a script usually runs slower than chatting.

Are [stage cues] counted?

No. Words inside square brackets are treated as directions, not speech, so they are left out of the count — the same rule the OwlPrompter app and the online teleprompter use.

Writing the script first? Start from a teleprompter script template, then read it in the free online teleprompter.