What this calculator does
Reading time and speaking time are both a word count divided by a pace, and the two paces are far apart. Silent reading runs at roughly 240 words a minute for an adult on ordinary prose, while speaking aloud at a comfortable presenting pace is closer to 130. The same 1,500 words that take six minutes to read take nearly twelve to deliver.
Both defaults are averages and both are worth replacing with your own. Reading speed varies widely with the material and the reader, and speaking pace varies more still: nerves push it up, a technical subject pulls it down, and anyone who has timed a rehearsal knows their real figure is not the textbook one.
The formula
Reading time is the word count divided by the reading pace in words per minute, and speaking time is the word count divided by the speaking pace. The slide count assumes 150 words per slide and the page count assumes 500 words per page, both being common rough conventions. The last figure runs the calculation backwards, giving the word count that fills 20 minutes at the speaking pace entered.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reading pace | Silent reading speed in words per minute, around 240 for an adult on general prose. |
| Speaking pace | Delivery speed in words per minute, around 130 for clear presenting and higher in casual conversation. |
| Words per slide | A rough planning figure of 150, used only for the slide count. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Word count | The number of words in the text. |
| Speaking pace (wpm) | Your speaking pace in words per minute. Time a rehearsed minute of your own delivery to replace the default with something accurate. |
| Reading pace (wpm) | The reading pace in words per minute. Lower it for dense or technical material, which is read considerably more slowly than prose. |
When to use it
Timing a talk or presentation
A written script converts to a delivery time directly, which is the quickest way to find out whether a talk fits its slot before rehearsing it. The words-for-20-minutes figure works the other way, giving a target length to write to.
Adding a reading time to an article
A stated reading time at the top of an article sets expectations for the reader, and the convention is to base it on silent reading pace rather than speaking pace.
Planning a script for narration or video
Voiceover work is usually specified by duration while scripts are written by word count, and the conversion between them is exactly this calculation at whatever pace the narrator actually reads.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How long does a given word count take to read or to say?
A range of lengths, from a short blog post up to a long feature article.
| Word count | Reading time | Speaking time | Slides at 150 words each |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 words | 1 min 15 s | 2 min 18 s | 2 |
| 750 words | 3 min 8 s | 5 min 46 s | 5 |
| 1,500 words | 6 min 15 s | 11 min 32 s | 10 |
| 3,000 words | 12 min 30 s | 23 min 5 s | 20 |
| 10,000 words | 41 min 40 s | 76 min 55 s | 67 |
Questions
How many words is a 20 minute talk?
About 2,600 at a pace of 130 words a minute, which is what the calculator reports for the default. At a faster 150 it would be 3,000, and at a more deliberate 110 it would be 2,200. The spread between those is large enough that using your own measured pace is worth the trouble.
What is a normal reading speed?
Around 200 to 250 words a minute for an adult reading general prose silently, which is why 240 is the default here. Technical material, anything with equations, and text in a second language all run considerably slower, sometimes at half that rate.
Why is speaking so much slower than reading?
Because speech has to be physically produced and made intelligible, which puts a ceiling on pace that silent reading does not have. Deliberate pauses, emphasis and breathing take time as well, and a talk delivered at reading speed is close to unfollowable.
Should I allow extra time on top of the estimate?
Yes, for anything delivered live. Questions, pauses for a slide to land, an aside, and the general tendency to add material while speaking all push the real duration past the script. Planning a talk to about 80% of its slot is a common and sensible margin.
To work from a target duration back to a word count, see the words to minutes calculator. For reading time expressed in pages rather than minutes, see the reading time by pages calculator.