A minute is the length of a good introduction, a video opening, or an answer you want to sound prepared rather than rehearsed. It is around 130 words, which is shorter than one side of A4.
A 1 min speech is about 130 words at a natural speaking pace of 130 words per minute. The realistic range is 110 words if you present slowly and deliberately, up to 165 words if you speak quickly. Paste your script into the free calculator on this page to see its real length, measure your own speaking pace so the estimate matches how you actually talk, and load it straight into a free browser teleprompter to rehearse. No account is needed and nothing is uploaded.
That takes 0 sec to say out loud
Presets are based on the situation, not where you are from. Measure yourself once and every page here uses your number.
Measure your speaking pace
Read this out loud at the pace you plan to speak. Tap start, read it, tap stop. Nothing is recorded, only the time is measured.
The trick to sounding natural on camera is not talking faster. It is knowing exactly where you are going, so the pauses land where you meant them to rather than where you ran out of road. Read this at the pace you would actually use, and the number at the end will be yours rather than an average.
| Pace | Words per minute | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Presenting | 110 | 110 |
| Natural | 130 | 130 |
| Conversational | 150 | 150 |
| Fast | 165 | 165 |
These are situation presets, not national averages. Published speaking rates vary more between individuals in one country than they do between countries, so measuring your own pace above is worth more than any figure in this table.
People consistently overwrite this length. If your draft covers a full page you have roughly twice what you need. Cut to the single point plus one piece of evidence.
The opening. Thirty seconds of throat-clearing leaves thirty seconds of content. Start on the substance and let people work out who you are from what you say.
Frequently asked questions
About 130 words at a natural read-aloud pace. Between 110 if you are presenting deliberately and 165 if you are speaking quickly.
About seventy seconds at a natural pace. Slightly over a minute, which is why 130 is the safer target if the minute is a hard limit.
For one point, comfortably. For three, no. The discipline of a minute is choosing which point matters and letting the other two go.