Speech length calculator
At a typical presentation pace of about 130 words a minute, a 5 minute speech is about 650 words, a 10 minute speech about 1,300 words and a 20 minute speech about 2,600 words. Paste your text below to see how long it takes at a slow, normal or fast pace.
How many words for a speech of a given length
| Speaking time | 110 words/min | 130 words/min | 160 words/min |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 min | 110 | 130 | 160 |
| 2 min | 220 | 260 | 320 |
| 3 min | 330 | 390 | 480 |
| 5 min | 550 | 650 | 800 |
| 7 min | 770 | 910 | 1,120 |
| 10 min | 1,100 | 1,300 | 1,600 |
| 15 min | 1,650 | 1,950 | 2,400 |
| 20 min | 2,200 | 2,600 | 3,200 |
| 30 min | 3,300 | 3,900 | 4,800 |
Rounded figures. Planned pauses, laughter and slides add time, so leave some room.
How fast do people speak?
Most people give a presentation at roughly 110 to 150 words a minute. Calm, formal talks with pauses sit at the lower end, lively talks and conversation at the higher end. Nerves usually make you faster than in rehearsal, so a speech that takes exactly five minutes in your living room often takes a bit less on stage.
Word counts per minute also depend on the language. In languages with long words, such as German or Polish, the same minute usually holds fewer words than in English. The surest number is your own: time one run out loud.
How to measure your own pace
- Take a part of your speech of about 300 words.
- Read it out loud at the pace you would use for the audience, with your natural pauses.
- Divide the number of words by the minutes it took. That is your pace.
If you practise with CueBud, the summary after each run of a script shows your pace and your time, so you see whether you are speeding up.
Planning time for pauses
A good speech breathes: a pause after a key sentence, a moment for laughter, a demo or a slide change. Count roughly 10 to 15 seconds for each planned pause or laugh. In CueBud you can write [pause] or [demo] in your script; the calculator above does not count words in square brackets.
Practise with CueBud
CueBud listens while you practise out loud and whispers the next words into your earbud only when you stall. After every run a colour map shows where you got stuck, and Drill takes you straight to those spots. Free to try, CueBud Pro is a one-time 9.99 €.
Questions
How many words is a 5 minute speech?
About 650 words at a normal pace of 130 words a minute; between 550 and 800 words depending on how fast you speak.
How many words is a 10 minute speech?
About 1,300 words at 130 words a minute, or 1,100 to 1,600 words for a slower or faster speaker.
How long is a 1,000 word speech?
About 7 to 8 minutes at a normal pace; around 9 minutes if you speak slowly and about 6 minutes if you speak fast.
How many words is a 3 minute speech?
About 390 words at 130 words a minute, which suits a short toast or an elevator pitch.
How long should a wedding speech be?
Three to five minutes is plenty for most wedding speeches, which is about 400 to 650 words. See the wedding speech guide.