Speaking Time Calculator
How long does your text take to speak. Enter words or minutes and pick your speaking pace.
Words converted to speaking time.
This table shows how many words match a given speaking time, depending on pace. In conversation, most people speak at roughly 120 to 150 words per minute.
| Word count | slow (110 WPM) | average (140 WPM) | fast (170 WPM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0:55 | 0:43 | 0:35 |
| 250 | 2:16 | 1:47 | 1:28 |
| 500 | 4:33 | 3:34 | 2:56 |
| 650 | 5:55 | 4:39 | 3:49 |
| 1000 | 9:05 | 7:09 | 5:53 |
| 1300 | 11:49 | 9:17 | 7:39 |
| 2000 | 18:11 | 14:17 | 11:46 |
Common occasions.
Reference values for typical occasions: the usual length and the word count that fits at a slow to fast pace. No occasion prescribes a length. The duration column is a starting point, not a rule.
| Occasion | Typical length | Word count (110–170 WPM) |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator pitch | 1:00 | 110–170 |
| Toast | 3:00 | 330–510 |
| Wedding speech | 5:00 | 550–850 |
| Class presentation | 10:00 | 1100–1700 |
| Conference talk | 20:00 | 2200–3400 |
| Podcast episode | 30:00 | 3300–5100 |
Words and minutes.
Enter a word count and the calculator shows the approximate speaking time. It also works the other way: enter a time and get an approximate word count.
The speaking pace is an assumption.
The calculator assumes about 130 words per minute for a conversation and about 120 for a talk. These are general assumptions about speaking pace, not a measurement of your voice. Adjust the value to match your own pace.
What it is good for.
Useful for talks, podcasts, voice-over scripts, or estimating the read-aloud time of a text. Pauses, thinking time, and emphasis are not included, so the real time is usually longer.
Reading speed is not speaking speed.
Silent reading is faster than speaking. Many people read 200 words per minute or more, but speak at roughly half that pace in front of an audience. Estimate your speaking time from your reading speed and you will plan too short. Reading aloud sits in between: more fluent than free speech, slower than silent reading.
Say the speech out loud once.
The calculator gives you a starting point, the stopwatch gives you the real number. Read your text out loud once and time it. If you are over the limit, cut whole paragraphs rather than single words. Cutting beats speaking faster: a rushed pace is audible.
Speak instead of type.
Now you know how long your text takes to say out loud. Hallig works the other way: you speak, and the text lands in your clipboard.
Common questions.
How many words is a 3 minute speech?
At 140 words per minute, that is about 420 words. Depending on pace, 120 to 150 words per minute, the range runs from 360 to 450 words.
How many words is a 5 minute speech?
At 140 words per minute, that is about 700 words. At a pace between 120 and 150 words per minute, the range runs from 600 to 750 words.
How many words is a 10 minute speech?
At 140 words per minute, that is about 1400 words. At a pace between 120 and 150 words per minute, the range runs from 1200 to 1500 words.
How long does it take to speak 1000 words?
At 140 words per minute, that takes about 7 minutes. Depending on pace, 120 to 150 words per minute, the range runs from roughly 6.5 to 8.5 minutes.
How many words per minute does a person speak?
In conversation, most people speak at 120 to 150 words per minute, and this calculator uses 140 as its default. A presentation usually runs slower, around 100 to 130 words per minute, because pauses and emphasis take more time.
Why does my speech take longer in real life?
The math only counts words, not the time between them. Breathing pauses, eye contact with the audience, and spontaneous reactions add time in practice, so the real speaking time is usually longer than the plain calculation.
How long does one page of text take to read aloud?
An A4 page at a normal font size holds about 400 to 500 words. At 140 words per minute the read-aloud time is roughly 3 to 4 minutes. The calculator above shows it for your exact word count.
How many words fit into 60 seconds?
About 110 words at a slow pace, about 170 at a fast one. For an elevator pitch that means one short paragraph, not more.
How do I find my own speaking pace?
Read a text with a known word count out loud and time yourself. Words divided by minutes is your pace. The speaking speed test under Related does the maths for you.
Say it instead of typing it.
Hallig turns your voice into text. On iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No account, no subscription, no server.