A word count only becomes useful once you know what it sounds like out loud. This converts words into minutes at a pace you choose, or at the pace you actually speak once you have measured it.
This free tool converts a word count into speaking time. Paste a script or enter a number of words, choose a speaking pace, and it returns how many minutes and seconds the script takes to deliver. Measuring your own pace by reading a short passage aloud makes the conversion accurate for you rather than for an average speaker. The script can then be loaded into a free browser teleprompter to rehearse.
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.
Minutes equals words divided by words per minute. At 130 words per minute, 1,000 words is about seven minutes and forty seconds. The only variable that matters is the pace you use, which is why it is worth thirty seconds to measure your own.
If you have a slot to fill rather than a script to time, use one of the duration pages below. They start from the minutes and tell you the word count to aim at, which is the more useful direction when you are still writing.
Frequently asked questions
About seven minutes and forty seconds at a natural pace of 130 words per minute. Nearer nine minutes if you are presenting slowly, or about six if you speak quickly.
Roughly three minutes and fifty seconds at 130 words per minute.
About fifteen and a half minutes at 130 words per minute. For anything this long, time yourself out loud rather than trusting the arithmetic, because pauses accumulate.
No. It counts words. Deliberate pauses, laughter, questions from the room and slide changes all add time on top, and they add more than people expect.