By Tim King · Updated 19 September 2026

Words to Minutes

Reading, Speaking, Voiceover and Podcast Pace, Plus a Table of Time Slots

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Word count

Pace preset

Custom words per minute (overrides preset)

Result

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How the Words To Minutes Converter works

Convert words to minutes for any script, speech or audiobook. Type a word count and pick a pace to get the time in minutes and seconds. The table underneath runs the sum the other way, listing how many words fit into 30 seconds and into one, two, three, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty-five and sixty minutes at the same pace, which is the number you actually need when someone hands you a time slot rather than a word limit. Nothing is uploaded; the arithmetic runs in your browser.

Words to minutes: why the pace matters more than the count

Scripts and speeches are booked by time but written in words, and the pace you choose changes the answer by almost half. The same 1,000 words take 4 minutes 12 seconds to read silently and 7 minutes 42 seconds to deliver at presentation pace.

The formula

Time in minutes = word count ÷ words per minute. Words that fit a slot = words per minute × minutes.

The calculator rounds the result to the nearest second and shows it as minutes and seconds. Type a custom words-per-minute figure and it overrides the preset, which is the right move once you have timed your own delivery.

Worked examples

The first example uses the defaults: 1,000 words at a conversational 150 words per minute takes 1,000 ÷ 150 = 6.67 minutes, shown as 6 min 40 sec. At that pace 30 seconds holds 75 words and 5 minutes holds 750.

The second example is a TED-style talk with an 18-minute cap. At a presentation pace of 130 words per minute, 18 × 130 = 2,340 words is the ceiling. About 2,100 is safer.

How many words fit in a given time

The calculator's own table answers this for your pace. The one below goes from word counts to time. Time to read or say common word counts, by pace in words per minute

Words	Silent reading (238)	Presentation (130)	Conversation (150)	Radio news (170)
50	13 sec	23 sec	20 sec	18 sec
75	19 sec	35 sec	30 sec	26 sec
100	25 sec	46 sec	40 sec	35 sec
150	38 sec	1 min 09 sec	1 min 00 sec	53 sec
200	50 sec	1 min 32 sec	1 min 20 sec	1 min 11 sec
250	1 min 03 sec	1 min 55 sec	1 min 40 sec	1 min 28 sec
300	1 min 16 sec	2 min 18 sec	2 min 00 sec	1 min 46 sec
400	1 min 41 sec	3 min 05 sec	2 min 40 sec	2 min 21 sec
500	2 min 06 sec	3 min 51 sec	3 min 20 sec	2 min 56 sec
650	2 min 44 sec	5 min 00 sec	4 min 20 sec	3 min 49 sec
750	3 min 09 sec	5 min 46 sec	5 min 00 sec	4 min 25 sec
1,000	4 min 12 sec	7 min 42 sec	6 min 40 sec	5 min 53 sec
1,250	5 min 15 sec	9 min 37 sec	8 min 20 sec	7 min 21 sec
1,500	6 min 18 sec	11 min 32 sec	10 min 00 sec	8 min 49 sec
2,000	8 min 24 sec	15 min 23 sec	13 min 20 sec	11 min 46 sec
2,500	10 min 30 sec	19 min 14 sec	16 min 40 sec	14 min 42 sec
3,000	12 min 36 sec	23 min 05 sec	20 min 00 sec	17 min 39 sec
4,000	16 min 48 sec	30 min 46 sec	26 min 40 sec	23 min 32 sec
5,000	21 min 01 sec	38 min 28 sec	33 min 20 sec	29 min 25 sec
7,500	31 min 31 sec	57 min 42 sec	50 min 00 sec	44 min 07 sec
10,000	42 min 01 sec	76 min 55 sec	66 min 40 sec	58 min 49 sec

How to read the result

The headline line repeats your word count and pace, then gives the time. Over a minute it is shown as minutes and seconds, so 6.67 minutes appears as 6 min 40 sec, not 6 min 67 sec.
Words per minute confirms the rate used, custom or preset.
Words in 30 seconds and Words in 5 minutes are budgets for an advert and a lightning talk.
The slot table lists words for 30 seconds up to 60 minutes.

Where the presets come from

Silent reading at 238 words per minute is the adult non-fiction average from Marc Brysbaert's 2019 review of 190 reading studies. Voiceover at 155 matches ACX, Audible's production marketplace, which estimates about 9,300 words per finished audiobook hour. The speaking presets run from a deliberate 130 for a presenter to a brisk 170 for a radio bulletin.

Tips and pitfalls

Time yourself once. Read a 300-word passage aloud at your natural pace and divide by the minutes it took. Enter that as a custom pace and every later estimate is personal.
Numbers, names and acronyms slow delivery. "2026" is one word on the page but "twenty twenty-six" out loud. Scripts full of figures run long.
Pauses are not in the count. Add time for slide changes, demos, laughs and questions. For a talk, write to about 90% of the slot.

To time real text rather than a count, paste it into the reading time calculator, which also adds sentence pauses. The speaking time calculator covers delivery styles in more detail. The reading time by word count page lists silent-reading times for common lengths.

Sources: Brysbaert (2019), reading rate meta-analysis.

Checked against: 1,500 words at 150 wpm = 10 minutes

FAQ

How many words is 30 seconds?

About 75 words at a conversational 150 words a minute, 78 at voiceover pace, and only 65 at a careful presentation pace of 130. Broadcast scripts are commonly written to 75 words for a 30-second slot with a few words of slack.

How many words is a 1-minute speech?

Around 130 to 150 words. Use the lower figure if you will be pausing for effect or speaking to a large room, and the higher one for a brisk, informal delivery or a recorded voiceover.

How many words is a 5-minute speech?

Between 650 and 750 words. At 130 wpm the answer is 650; at 150 wpm it is 750. Write to the lower number if you want to be sure of finishing on time, since almost nobody speaks faster in front of an audience than they did in rehearsal.

How many words is 10 minutes?

About 1,300 words for a presentation, 1,500 for conversational speech and roughly 2,400 for a silent reader. A ten-minute talk is therefore a short essay rather than a long one, and a 2,000-word script will overrun.

Is reading time the same as speaking time?

No. Silent reading runs at roughly 240 words a minute, speaking at roughly 150, so a text takes about 60 percent longer to say than to read. Reading aloud sits in between, near 150 to 180, because the eye can run a little ahead of the voice.