Words to Minutes Calculator
Works both ways: paste a script to see how long it runs, or enter your time slot to get the word count you should write to. Four speaking paces, from deliberate to fast.
A rehearsed talk with pauses for slides — the safest default for a timed slot.
Words needed, by slot length
| Slot | Slow 100 wpm | Presentation 130 wpm | Conversational 150 wpm | Fast 180 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 min | 100 | 130 | 150 | 180 |
| 2 min | 200 | 260 | 300 | 360 |
| 3 min | 300 | 390 | 450 | 540 |
| 5 min | 500 | 650 | 750 | 900 |
| 7 min | 700 | 910 | 1,050 | 1,260 |
| 10 min | 1,000 | 1,300 | 1,500 | 1,800 |
| 15 min | 1,500 | 1,950 | 2,250 | 2,700 |
| 20 min | 2,000 | 2,600 | 3,000 | 3,600 |
| 30 min | 3,000 | 3,900 | 4,500 | 5,400 |
| 45 min | 4,500 | 5,850 | 6,750 | 8,100 |
| 60 min | 6,000 | 7,800 | 9,000 | 10,800 |
A words-to-minutes calculator converts word count into speaking time and back. At a typical presentation pace of 130 words per minute, a 5-minute talk needs about 650 words — write to roughly 90% of that to finish on time.
How it works
- 1Pick a direction. Text → time, or time slot → word target.
- 2Choose your pace. Deliberate, presentation, conversational, or fast.
- 3Paste or enter. Drop in your script, or type how many minutes you have.
- 4Write to 90%. Almost everyone speaks faster on the day than in rehearsal.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 650 words at a presentation pace of 130 words per minute, 750 at a conversational 150, and 500 if you are speaking deliberately with pauses for slides or emotion. The range matters more than the midpoint: the same script can run 5 minutes or 7 depending entirely on delivery, which is why picking the pace that matches your situation is the important step and the arithmetic is the easy one.
Which pace to choose
Use 100 wpm for a eulogy, an award speech, or heavily technical material where the audience needs time to absorb each point. Use 130 for a rehearsed presentation with slides — this is the safest default for anything with a hard time slot. Use 150 for conversational delivery, podcasts, and interviews. Use 180 for reading a script under pressure or an audiobook at normal speed. If you are unsure, pick the slower of two options: finishing early is invisible, running over is not.
Why you should write to 90% of the target
The number this calculator gives you is the pure reading time of the words. It does not include the pause while you find the next slide, the laugh you hopefully get, the question someone asks mid-talk, or the twenty seconds you spend at the start waiting for the room to settle. Those are real and they add up. Writing to about 90% of the target leaves room for all of it, and a talk that finishes a minute early is remembered as tight rather than short.
Speaking time versus reading time
They are very different numbers and the confusion causes real problems. Silent reading runs around 240 words per minute for an average adult and 350 or more when skimming — roughly twice the speed of speech. So a blog post that takes 4 minutes to read takes 8 or 9 minutes to read aloud. If you are converting written content into a video script, a podcast, or a conference talk, use the speaking figure and expect to cut, because written prose is almost always too dense to say out loud.
What the number cannot tell you
Timing is arithmetic; delivery is not. A script that reads well on the page can still sound stiff out loud, and AI-drafted scripts are the worst offenders, because their sentences are all close to the same length and speech needs variation to breathe. Read your script aloud before you trust it — if you run out of air, the sentences are too long, and if it sounds flat, they are all the same length. That is a rhythm problem, and it is fixable.
Free, unlimited, and private
The words to minutes calculator is free with no sign-up and no limit on how much text you process. Because it runs entirely in your browser, your text is never sent to a server, stored, or used to train any AI — it never leaves your device. When you’re ready to do more with your writing, Humanit’s AI humanizer and AI detector are one click away.
| Slot | Deliberate (100) | Presentation (130) | Conversational (150) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 minute | 100 | 130 | 150 |
| 3 minutes | 300 | 390 | 450 |
| 5 minutes | 500 | 650 | 750 |
| 10 minutes | 1,000 | 1,300 | 1,500 |
| 20 minutes | 2,000 | 2,600 | 3,000 |
| 30 minutes | 3,000 | 3,900 | 4,500 |
Frequently asked questions
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
Around 650 words at a typical presentation pace of 130 words per minute — 500 if you speak deliberately, 750 if conversational. Write to about 90% of the figure to leave room for pauses.
How many words per minute do people speak?
Ordinary conversation runs about 150 words per minute. Rehearsed presentations land nearer 130 because of pauses for slides and emphasis, and deliberate or ceremonial delivery drops to around 100.
How long does 1,000 words take to say?
Roughly 7 minutes 40 seconds at a presentation pace of 130 words per minute, or about 6 minutes 40 seconds at a conversational 150.
Is speaking time the same as reading time?
No — silent reading is roughly twice as fast, around 240 words per minute. A 4-minute read is an 8-minute talk, which is why written articles almost always need cutting before they work as scripts.
How many words is a 10-minute presentation?
About 1,300 words at 130 words per minute. Aim for roughly 1,150 to leave room for pauses, slide changes, and the settling time at the start.
Does the calculator count my text privately?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser — your script is never uploaded, stored, or sent anywhere.
Do I need an account?
No. There’s no sign-up and no install — open the page and start typing.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes — it works in any modern browser on phone, tablet, or desktop.
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Open the AI HumanizerLast updated: August 2026