A 5-minute speech is about 700 words. That assumes you speak at a steady 140 words per minute. Slow, careful speakers fit about 600 words into five minutes. Fast talkers can fit about 800.
For any speech, multiply your minutes by your speaking speed. Don’t know your speed yet? Plan for 130 to 140 words a minute, time one practice run, and adjust. The charts and steps below show you how.
- 1-minute speech: 120 to 160 words
- 3-minute speech: 360 to 480 words
- 5-minute speech: 600 to 800 words
- 10-minute speech: 1,200 to 1,600 words
- The formula: words = minutes × words per minute
Speech length chart: words for 1 to 60 minutes
This table turns speaking time into a word count at three speeds. If you have never timed yourself, use the middle column. Use the left column if your talk has slides, questions or long pauses. Use the right column if you know you talk fast.
| Speaking time | Slow (120 wpm) | Typical (140 wpm) | Fast (160 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 minute | 120 words | 140 words | 160 words |
| 2 minutes | 240 words | 280 words | 320 words |
| 3 minutes | 360 words | 420 words | 480 words |
| 4 minutes | 480 words | 560 words | 640 words |
| 5 minutes | 600 words | 700 words | 800 words |
| 7 minutes | 840 words | 980 words | 1,120 words |
| 10 minutes | 1,200 words | 1,400 words | 1,600 words |
| 15 minutes | 1,800 words | 2,100 words | 2,400 words |
| 20 minutes | 2,400 words | 2,800 words | 3,200 words |
| 30 minutes | 3,600 words | 4,200 words | 4,800 words |
| 45 minutes | 5,400 words | 6,300 words | 7,200 words |
| 60 minutes | 7,200 words | 8,400 words | 9,600 words |
How long does a speech take? Words to minutes
Already have a script? Divide the word count by your speed. A 1,000-word speech takes about 7 minutes at 140 words per minute. It takes just over 8 minutes if you speak slowly and about 6 minutes if you speak fast.
| Words in your script | Slow (120 wpm) | Typical (140 wpm) | Fast (160 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 words | 2 min 5 sec | 1 min 47 sec | 1 min 34 sec |
| 500 words | 4 min 10 sec | 3 min 34 sec | 3 min 8 sec |
| 750 words | 6 min 15 sec | 5 min 21 sec | 4 min 41 sec |
| 1,000 words | 8 min 20 sec | 7 min 9 sec | 6 min 15 sec |
| 1,500 words | 12 min 30 sec | 10 min 43 sec | 9 min 23 sec |
| 2,000 words | 16 min 40 sec | 14 min 17 sec | 12 min 30 sec |
| 2,500 words | 20 min 50 sec | 17 min 51 sec | 15 min 38 sec |
| 3,000 words | 25 min | 21 min 26 sec | 18 min 45 sec |
| 5,000 words | 41 min 40 sec | 35 min 43 sec | 31 min 15 sec |
How fast do people actually speak?
Published averages for English run from about 150 to 185 words per minute. The number depends on the kind of speaking. Here are three well-sourced figures:
- Normal conversation: about 150 words per minute. This is the average for English speakers in the United States, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech, a US research centre.
- Reading a text out loud: about 183 words per minute. This comes from a 2019 review by psychologist Marc Brysbaert in the Journal of Memory and Language. He combined 77 studies with 5,965 adult readers.
- Audiobook narration: about 155 words per minute. ACX, Audible’s audiobook production service, says about 9,300 words make one hour of finished audio. That works out to 155 words a minute, including the short pauses narrators leave.
A live speech is slower than all three. You pause after a key point. You wait for laughs or applause. You slow down for names and numbers. People reading aloud in a study don’t do any of that. So treat 183 words a minute as a top speed, not a goal. That is why 130 to 140 words a minute is a safer number to plan with.
Is 150 words per minute too fast for a speech?
No, not for most speeches. 150 words a minute is a normal talking pace, and it suits stories and simple ideas. Slow down when your content is hard to follow, such as numbers, technical terms, step-by-step instructions or an audience listening in their second language.
Why a speech can run longer than its word count
Two scripts with the same number of words can take very different times to deliver. These are the usual reasons:
- Long words. “Responsibility” takes longer to say than “job”. Brysbaert’s review found the same thing in reading: text with longer words is read more slowly.
- Numbers. “₹2,45,000” is one word on paper but five or six words out loud.
- Stories and jokes. They need pauses to work. Rush a punchline and it falls flat.
- The audience. Laughter, applause and questions all take time a word count can’t see.
- Slides and videos. Each change of slide adds a few seconds of silence. A presentation with lots of slides can run a minute or more over.
- A translator. If someone translates after each sentence, plan about half the words for the same time slot.
The opposite can happen too. Nerves make many people speed up on the day. Leaving about 10% of your time unscripted covers you either way.
How to find your own speaking speed
Every chart, including the ones above, is an estimate. Measuring your own speed takes about five minutes and makes every future speech easier to plan.
- Pick a passage. Use part of the speech you are writing. A news article sounds very different from a wedding toast.
- Count the words. Paste it into the Justwebworld Word Counter to get an exact number.
- Read it out loud the way you will on the day. Stand up, use your speaking voice and keep the pauses. Time yourself with your phone.
- Divide the words by the minutes. For example, 420 words in 3 minutes 15 seconds (3.25 minutes) is about 129 words per minute.
- Set your word limit. Multiply your speed by the minutes you have. Then take off about 10% as a safety margin.
Try recording yourself too. You will hear where you rush (usually the parts you know best) and where you slow down (usually where the writing is unclear). Need to know how long the written version takes to read, for a handout or blog post? The Reading Time Calculator works it out for reading speeds.
What to do if your speech is too long or too short
Don’t fix a long speech by talking faster. Cut words instead. These cuts usually hurt the least:
- Shorten the opening. Long thank-you lists and “today I am going to talk about” lines can often go.
- Keep your best example. If you give three examples of the same point, one strong one is usually enough.
- Drop numbers people won’t remember. Keep the one figure that matters and round it.
- Remove repeats. Saying a point once clearly beats saying it three times.
If your speech is too short, add one short story or example that supports your main point. Don’t pad it with filler. A speech that ends a little early feels better than one that drags.
How many words for common speeches and presentations
These are the time slots people ask about most, with a word target at 130 to 140 words per minute.
| Occasion | Typical time | Words to write |
|---|---|---|
| Self-introduction or elevator pitch | 1 minute | 130 to 140 |
| Short toast or vote of thanks | 2 to 3 minutes | 260 to 420 |
| School or college speech | 3 to 5 minutes | 390 to 700 |
| Class presentation or club speech | 5 to 7 minutes | 650 to 980 |
| Conference or meetup talk | 10 to 15 minutes | 1,300 to 2,100 |
| 20-minute presentation | 20 minutes | 2,600 to 2,800 |
| TED-style talk | up to 18 minutes | 2,340 to 2,520 |
| Keynote or lecture | 30 to 45 minutes | 3,900 to 6,300 |
The 18-minute limit comes from TED itself. TED asks speakers to keep talks to 18 minutes or less, because that is long enough to say something meaningful and short enough to hold attention.
For presentations with slides, count fewer words than for a speech, since slide changes and questions eat into your time. These guides on making presentations more effective and creating a successful presentation cover the slide side of the job. Teachers running a round of student speeches can pick the order with the random presentation order generator. For a ready-made example of a short school speech, see this Republic Day speech for students. Recording audio instead? This guide to starting a podcast on a budget uses the same pacing ideas.
Speaking in another language
Word targets don’t carry over neatly from English to other languages. Some languages are spoken with more syllables per second, but each syllable carries less meaning. A 2011 study by François Pellegrino, Christophe Coupé and Egidio Marsico, published in the journal Language, measured this. Native speakers read the same short texts aloud in their own language.
| Language | Syllables per second (reading aloud) |
|---|---|
| Japanese | 7.84 |
| Spanish | 7.82 |
| French | 7.18 |
| Italian | 6.99 |
| English | 6.19 |
| German | 5.97 |
| Mandarin Chinese | 5.18 |
Spanish and Japanese speakers said the most syllables per second. But the study found that faster languages pack less information into each syllable. So the amount of meaning shared per minute was much closer across languages than the raw speeds suggest. The authors also warned that seven languages is a small sample. The practical lesson: if you are speaking in Spanish, Hindi, French or any language other than English, don’t reuse an English word count. Time a practice run in that language instead.
How many pages is a 5-minute speech?
A 700-word speech fills about one page single-spaced, or about two pages double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman on standard paper. Our tested guide to how many pages 1,000 words fills breaks this down by font, spacing and paper size. For the copy you read from on stage, use a bigger font and wider spacing. More pages to turn is a fair price for not losing your place.
Frequently asked questions
How many words is a 1-minute speech?
About 120 to 160 words. Aim for about 140. Short speeches leave little room for error, so read yours aloud with a timer first.
How many words is a 2-minute speech?
About 240 to 320 words. At a typical 140 words per minute, write about 280 words.
How many words is a 3-minute speech?
About 360 to 480 words. Around 420 words suits most people speaking to a live audience.
How many words is a 3 to 5-minute speech?
About 400 to 700 words at a typical pace. If the limit is strict, write to the 3-minute end and treat the extra time as a buffer.
How many words is a 10-minute speech?
About 1,200 to 1,600 words. If you use slides or take questions within the 10 minutes, stay near 1,200.
How long is a 1,000-word speech?
About 7 minutes at 140 words per minute. It ranges from about 6 minutes for a fast speaker to just over 8 minutes for a slow one.
What is the average speaking rate?
About 150 words per minute for everyday conversation in English, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech. Reading aloud averages about 183 words per minute in research studies. Speeches to an audience are usually slower than conversation because of pauses.
Should I memorise my speech or read it?
Either works if you practise with a timer. Reading tends to push your speed up, so mark pauses in your script. Speaking from notes is usually slower and less predictable, so time at least one full practice run.
