Reading in your head runs about a third faster than speaking out loud, which is how a twenty minute slot becomes twenty eight minutes on the day. Paste your script below and find out what it actually runs to.
This is a free speech time calculator. Paste a script and it shows the word count and how long the script takes to say out loud at your chosen speaking pace. You can measure your own pace by reading a short passage aloud, and the calculator will use your real words per minute instead of an average. It then loads the script straight into a free browser teleprompter so you can rehearse at that pace. 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.
Most calculators apply one global figure to everybody. Published speaking rates vary enormously, and the spread between individuals in the same country is wider than the gap between countries, so an average is a guess dressed up as a measurement. Measure your own pace once and every estimate on this site becomes yours.
The same person speaks at very different rates depending on what they are doing. Presenting to a room is slower and more deliberate. A short-form hook is fast because it has to be. Pick the preset that matches the situation, or measure yourself and stop guessing.
Knowing a script runs to six minutes and thirty seconds does not fix a four minute slot. Trim it, then read it out loud at your real pace before the day. Anything you stumble over twice is written wrong rather than read wrong, and you will only find that by saying it.
Frequently asked questions
Divide the word count by your speaking pace in words per minute. At a natural read-aloud pace of about 130 words per minute, 650 words takes roughly five minutes. Paste your script above and the calculator does it, and if you measure your own pace it uses your number instead of the average.
Roughly 110 words per minute when presenting, 130 reading aloud naturally, 150 in conversation and 165 for energetic short-form delivery. Individual variation is large, which is why measuring yourself beats using any of these.
Almost always pauses. A calculator counts words, not the silence between them, and pauses are where meaning lands. If your script has deliberate pauses, laughter or slide changes, add time for them. Reading it out loud once is the only reliable check.
Yes. No account, no sign-up, and nothing you paste is uploaded. The calculation happens in your browser.