# Words per minute for speeches: how fast to talk, and how to find your own pace

Source: https://spolvero.design/articles/words-per-minute-for-speeches/
Updated: 2026-10-06
Tool: https://spolvero.design/tools/calculators/speech-time-calculator/

> Most prepared speeches are given at about 130 to 150 words a minute. Everyday conversation in English runs at about 150, and popular TED talks average around 170. For writing a speech, plan at 130: nerves speed most people up, and laughter, applause and pauses slow the clock down again. Then read a paragraph aloud against a timer to find your own pace, and write to that.

You are given minutes, but you write words. Your speaking pace, in words per minute, is what turns one into the other. Get it wrong and a five-minute speech becomes seven, or finishes so early that the host is still finding the microphone.

## The typical figures

These are the paces people quote, and where they come from. They describe English speech and they are ranges, not rules.

| Pace | Words a minute | What it sounds like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Slow | about 110 | Deliberate, with room to pause after each point |
| Steady | about 130 | A prepared speech at a calm pace |
| Conversational | about 150 | Everyday talk; a brisk presentation |
| Fast | about 170 | An energetic talk, close to TED speed |

Speech coaches usually give 130 to 150 words a minute for a prepared talk. The National Center for Voice and Speech puts average conversation in American English at about 150. VirtualSpeech timed several popular TED talks and found an average of 173, with the slowest at 154 and the fastest at 201.

The [speech time calculator](/tools/calculators/speech-time-calculator/) has these four as buttons, plus a box for your own pace.

## What each pace means for your word count

The arithmetic is minutes × words per minute. Here is what fits, rounded down so a speech written to the number does not run over.

| Length | 110 wpm | 130 wpm | 150 wpm | 170 wpm |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 minute | 110 | 130 | 150 | 170 |
| 3 minutes | 330 | 390 | 450 | 510 |
| 5 minutes | 550 | 650 | 750 | 850 |
| 7 minutes | 770 | 910 | 1,050 | 1,190 |
| 10 minutes | 1,100 | 1,300 | 1,500 | 1,700 |

The gap between slow and fast is large: 300 words in five minutes. That is why a word count borrowed from someone else's speech so often goes wrong. It was written for their pace, not yours.

## Plan at the slower figure

Two things push a speech away from its rehearsal time, in opposite directions.

**Nerves speed you up.** Most speakers talk faster in front of a room than at a desk. A speech that just fits in rehearsal often finishes early on the day, and the speaker fills the gap by rushing the ending.

**The room slows the clock.** Laughter, applause, a pause after a line that lands, a sip of water, a slide that will not advance: none of it appears in a word count, and all of it takes seconds.

Writing to 130 words a minute covers both. If you speed up, you still land on time; if the audience laughs, there is room for it. The calculator's pause allowance adds 10% or 20% of the speaking time on top for exactly this, and a slide allowance adds a few seconds for each slide change.

## Find your own pace in a minute

The figures above are a starting point. Your own pace is better.

1. Take a paragraph of 150 to 250 words that sounds like your speech.
2. Stand up, and read it aloud at the volume you would use in the room.
3. Time it. Divide the words by the minutes.

210 words in 1 minute 30 seconds is 140 words a minute. Paste the paragraph into the [speech time calculator](/tools/calculators/speech-time-calculator/) to count it, then type your figure into its own-pace box. Every result and the word-count table update to your pace.

Reading quietly at a desk is always faster than speaking to a room, so do it standing. If you will speak in Hindi, time a Hindi paragraph: the calculator counts Devanagari words the same way, but the four preset paces are English figures.

## Check it with a full run-through

Once the draft is written to your pace, time the whole thing. The [speech timer](/tools/timers/speech-timer/) counts up like a club timekeeper's watch, with green, amber and red lights at the points you choose. If amber comes on with more than a minute of material left, cut a section rather than speeding up.

For a video or a talk read from a screen, the [teleprompter](/tools/audio/teleprompter/) scrolls at a pace you set in words a minute and counts words the same way as the calculator, so a script that fits in one fits in the other.

## Related guides

- [How many words is a 5-minute speech?](/articles/how-many-words-in-a-5-minute-speech/) gives counts from 1 to 20 minutes and where to cut.
- [How long is a 1,000-word speech?](/articles/how-long-is-a-1000-word-speech/) goes the other way, from words to minutes.
- [Toastmasters timing rules](/articles/toastmasters-timing-rules/) covers the club lengths and the lights.

## Questions

### What is a good speaking rate for a speech?

About 130 to 150 words a minute for a prepared speech. Much slower than 110 can drag unless the pauses are deliberate, and much faster than 170 asks a lot of listeners, especially in a large hall or over a microphone.

### How many words a minute is normal conversation?

About 150 words a minute, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech's figure for American English. Conversation is usually a little faster than a prepared speech, because nobody is pausing for a room.

### How fast do TED speakers talk?

VirtualSpeech measured several popular TED talks at 173 words a minute on average, ranging from 154 to 201. Those talks are rehearsed many times, which keeps a fast pace clear; a speaker with less rehearsal is usually easier to follow a little slower.

### How do I work out my own words per minute?

Read a paragraph of known length aloud, standing, at the volume you will use, and time it. Divide the words by the minutes: 210 words in 1 minute 30 seconds is 140 words a minute. Type that into the speech time calculator as your own pace.

### Do these paces apply to a Hindi speech?

The figures here are for English. Hindi words are counted the same way, between spaces, but a Hindi speaker's pace in words can differ, so time yourself reading a Hindi paragraph and use that figure.