Speech Time Calculator
Will your speech, sermon, presentation or video script fit the slot? Paste it in and see its speaking time at slow, average and fast delivery paces — before you are standing in front of anyone.
Speaking / presenting time
- Slow · 100 wpm
- 0 sec
- Deliberate, formal or second-language delivery
- Average · 130 wpm
- 0 sec
- Comfortable presentation pace
- Fast · 160 wpm
- 0 sec
- Brisk, energetic delivery
Silent reading time
- Slow · 180 wpm
- 0 sec
- Dense, technical or study reading
- Average · 238 wpm
- 0 sec
- Typical adult silent reading
- Fast · 300 wpm
- 0 sec
- Light text, confident readers
Averages are starting points, not promises — the most accurate speed is your own. Time yourself reading or speaking 200 words, divide, and use that as a custom speed. See how these speeds were chosen.
Speaking pace: the three speeds that matter
Slow — 100 wpm. Deliberate and formal: ceremonies, sermons, eulogies, second-language delivery, anything where every sentence needs to land. Average — 130 wpm. A comfortable presentation pace that audiences can follow without effort; presentation guidance commonly cites roughly 120–150 wpm as the easy-listening band. Fast — 160 wpm. Brisk and energetic — fine for familiar, light material, risky for anything dense.
Got the slot first and the script second? Switch the calculator to “I have X minutes” mode, or use the how-many-words table (1–90 minutes at every speed).
The rehearsal rule
An estimate gets you close; one timed rehearsal gets you exact. Read your script aloud once, note the time, and divide your word count by the minutes — that is your real wpm. Enter it as a custom speed and every future estimate on this page will be calibrated to you, not to an average stranger.