Words to Minutes: How Many Words Fit a Speech, Voice-Over or Explainer Video

Key takeaways

• There is no single answer. The pages we read put comfortable speech anywhere from 100 to 160 words a minute, so plan with a range and not one number.
• A safe planning pace is 140. That gives 140 words for 1 minute, 280 for 2, 700 for 5 and 1,400 for 10. Slow (110) and fast (170) shift each of those by about a fifth.
• Voice-overs sit near 150. One explainer studio says voice actors read about 2.5 words a second, which is 150 a minute, and that a 60 second explainer needs 140 to 150 words.
• Pauses and slides cost time. Twenty pauses of 1.5 seconds add 30 seconds to a script that otherwise takes 5 minutes.
• Your own voice beats any table. Read the script aloud once with a timer, or use our free words to minutes calculator, which can measure your pace for you.
• Shorter explainers hold more viewers. The studio we read reports 77% retention under 60 seconds and 57% from 1 to 2 minutes, so a website explainer should be tight.

Try it first: the free words to minutes tool

If you only want an answer, use our words to minutes calculator. Here is what the page does, so you know what to expect.

• You paste a script, or type a word count if you have no script yet.
• It shows the speaking time at a pace you choose. Three buttons set 110 (slow), 140 (average) and 170 (fast) words a minute, and a slider lets you set any pace from 60 to 260.
• You can add a pause at each new line, from half a second to three seconds.
• It can ignore notes in square brackets, so a stage direction is not counted as speech.
• A "Measure my pace" button times you reading aloud and sets the pace from what you did.
• A "Words for a set length" box works backwards. Enter minutes and seconds and it shows about how many words fit.
• With two or more lines it lists when each line starts.

How fast do people speak? Ranges from sources read today

We read these pages on 3 November 2026. They disagree, and that is the point. Treat every figure as a planning estimate, since most of these pages do not name a study for their numbers.

Three things stand out.

1. The middle sits around 130 to 150. Four of the five sources include that band.
2. Formal talks run slower, and TED style talks run faster. The Speaker Lab puts formal talks at 100 to 120, while the five TED talks averaged 173. Five talks is a small sample, so do not treat 173 as a rule.
3. Sources contradict themselves. The Speaker Lab gives conversation as 125 to 150 in one place and 180 or more in another. That is why a range is the honest answer.

For this guide we use three paces, the same ones as our tool: slow 110, normal 140, fast 170. They sit inside or just around the published ranges and are easy to multiply.

The table: words for 1, 2, 5, 10 minutes and more

We multiplied each pace by the minutes. Every cell below is pace times minutes.

Check one row yourself: 10 minutes at 140 is 10 times 140, which is 1,400. At 110 it is 1,100, and at 170 it is 1,700.

Write Out Loud gives a cross-check at 130 to 150 words a minute: 120 to 160 words for 1 minute, 240 to 320 for 2, 600 to 760 for 5 and 1,200 to 1,600 for 10. Our normal column lands inside every one of those bands.

Short videos, in seconds

Video scripts are often under two minutes, so here is the same sum for seconds. Words equal pace divided by 60, times the seconds.

The 45 second row rounds down from 82.5 and 127.5. At 140 words a minute, 90 seconds is 1.5 times 140, which is 210. That sits next to the 195 to 225 words some explainer guides give for 90 seconds at about 150 a minute.

From words back to minutes

Sometimes you have the script and need the time. Divide the words by the pace, then turn the decimal into seconds.

Worked example: 1,000 words at 140 is 1,000 divided by 140, which is 7.14 minutes. The 0.14 is about 9 seconds, so 7:09. Times are rounded to the nearest second.

Speech, voice-over and website explainer: what changes

A speech or talk

Live speakers slow down for big rooms, pause for effect and wait for laughs. The Speaker Lab suggests formal and keynote delivery of 100 to 120 words a minute. If you are on stage, plan a pace closer to our slow column, and add a spare minute for technical hiccups and questions.

A video voice-over

Voice actors read steadily, around 150 words a minute according to Bread n Beyond, and a clean read has fewer fumbles than a live talk. Bread n Beyond says its high-converting 60 second scripts run 140 to 150 words, and that forcing about 240 words into a minute sounds hurried. Faster speech does not help viewers, because they need time to take the words in.

A website explainer video

A video on a page has a job to do and a short window to do it. The same studio reports viewer retention of 77% under 60 seconds, 57% from 1 to 2 minutes and 47% beyond 2 minutes, and calls about 90 seconds a sweet spot. That is one studio's own figure, so use it as a direction, not a law.

At 140 words a minute, that points to a script of about 140 words for a 60 second video and about 210 for 90 seconds. If the voice-over runs over a screen recording, match the words to how fast the picture moves. We cover the page side in our guide to a product demo video for your website, and where a video sits in a page in landing page structure that converts.

How to time a script properly

A table gives an estimate. These steps give the real number.

1. Write the script and count the words. Remove stage notes and cues first, since nobody says them.
2. Read it aloud at the pace you will use. Stand up if you will present standing. Run a timer.
3. Divide. Your words divided by your minutes is your own pace. A 700 word script that takes 5:20 is 700 divided by 5.33, which is about 131 words a minute.
4. Add the pauses. Each deliberate gap adds its length. Twenty gaps of 1.5 seconds add 30 seconds, so a 5:00 read becomes 5:30.
5. Mark slide changes and demos. They cost time without adding words.
6. Trim from the middle. If you are over, cut a sentence or two from the body. Rushing the ending hurts more.
7. Record a test. A phone recording shows your real pace and where your voice goes flat.

The calculator on our words to minutes page does steps 3 and 4 for you, and its pause option applies the gap to each new line.

Reading aloud is not reading silently

Reading a script in your head runs faster. Our tool lists two reference rows, 183 words a minute for reading aloud and 238 for silent reading. Take them as the page's fixed figures, not a rule for your voice. If a script feels like four minutes when skimmed, spoken it will be longer.

When this does not apply

Keep the table out of these cases.

• Fast sales reads and legal disclaimers. Some copy is spoken far above 170 words a minute. Time those by ear.
• Heavy visuals. A demo with long silent stretches has fewer words per minute than any table shows.
• Other languages. Every figure here is for English. Other languages pack words differently, so test with a native speaker.
• Technical or emotional material. Explainer guides suggest a slower read, so lean to the slow column.
• Text a visitor reads. Reading speed on a page is a different question. See our guides on website conversion, hero section design and website copy.

How we help at Amariq

A script is only half of a website video. The other half is the page: where the player goes, and whether the page stays fast with a video on it, which our guide to website speed covers. If you are planning an explainer for a landing page, we can lay out the section in web design and UI/UX so the script, the captions and the call to action line up. If the site is on Framer, our Framer development work covers embedding the video without slowing the page. We build and look after sites on Webflow, Framer, WordPress and Shopify, and also on Wix, Squarespace and custom builds. Work is priced from scope, never by the hour, with 40% to start, 30% at design approval and 30% before launch. After the final payment the design, copy and code belong to you.

Frequently asked questions

How many words is a 1 minute speech?

About 140 at a normal pace, with a range of 110 to 170 from slow to fast. Write Out Loud gives 120 to 160 for an average speaker. If you are nervous or the room is large, plan toward the lower end.

How many words is a 5 minute speech?

About 700 at 140 words a minute. At 110 it is 550 and at 170 it is 850. Write Out Loud gives 600 to 760 at its 130 to 150 pace.

How many words is a 10 minute speech?

About 1,400 at a normal pace, from 1,100 slow to 1,700 fast. Add a spare minute for a live talk, which means writing for roughly 9 minutes of speech.

How many words do I need for a 60 second explainer video?

Around 140 to 150. Bread n Beyond says its high-converting 60 second scripts fall in that range. A video with slow visuals or a calm voice can go lower, down to about 110.

Do pauses count in words to minutes?

No. A word count only measures words, so pauses add time on top. Add up each planned gap and add it to the result. The free calculator can do this with a pause at every new line.

Is 150 words a minute too fast?

It is normal for narration. VirtualSpeech puts audiobooks, radio hosts and podcasters at 150 to 160. For a live talk with a complex topic it can feel quick, so test it with a listener.

Does speaking time change with the language?

Yes. The figures here are English only, and the pages we read do not give comparable numbers for other languages. Time a read aloud in the language you will use.

How do I find my own words per minute?

Read a script aloud with a timer, then divide the word count by the minutes. You can also use the "Measure my pace" button in our words to minutes calculator, which does the sum and sets the pace.