# Speaking time calculator: how long will your talk take? > We plan with about 130 words per minute for a talk in English, so 1,300 words take about 10 minutes. A slow speaker manages 110 and a fast one 160. Add about 10 percent for pauses and slide changes, then compare the time with the minutes you have to see whether the script fits. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/tools/speaking-time-calculator/ - Updated: 22 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/tools/redezeit-rechner/ Paste your script or enter a word count. You see how long it takes at three paces, whether it fits your slot and what each slide may hold. This is an interactive tool. Use it on the page: https://ai-presentations.com/tools/speaking-time-calculator/ ## How to use it 1. **Add your words.** Paste your script, or switch to word count and type the number. Pasted text is counted in your browser and is not sent anywhere. 2. **Set your slot and your slides.** Move the slider to the minutes you have and set the number of slides. Both feed the budget per slide. 3. **Add pauses if you want.** Switch on the 10 percent allowance for breaths, slide changes and a sip of water. Leave it off to see the pure speaking time. 4. **Read the verdict.** The big number is the time at a normal pace. Below it you see the slow and the fast pace, whether you fit, by how much you are over and how many words to cut. 5. **Check the budget per slide.** The tiles show the time and the words each slide may take. Trim the longest slides first, then time one real run. ## How it works The calculator divides your word count by a speaking rate and turns the result into minutes and seconds. For English it uses 110 words per minute for a slow pace, 130 for a normal one and 160 for a fast one. German words are longer, so for German it uses 100, 120 and 145. For 1,300 English words that is 10 minutes at the normal rate. These rates are our own planning figures, not measurements. Speaking rates vary with the speaker, the topic and the room, and a presenter who explains a chart speaks more slowly than one who tells a story. Time one rehearsal and compare: if you needed 12 minutes for a script the calculator puts at 10, plan with 12. The word count treats every piece of text between spaces as a word if it contains a letter or a digit, so a lone dash or bullet is not counted. Numbers and abbreviations count as one word each, although they take longer to say, which is one more reason to allow for pauses. The 10 percent allowance is a rule of thumb of ours. The budget per slide divides your slot by the number of slides, and the words that fit the slot by the same number. It ignores that slides differ: a title takes seconds and a chart needs minutes. The [slide count calculator](/tools/slide-count-calculator/) splits the minutes by the role of each slide, and the [guide to the number of slides](/guides/how-many-slides/) explains the allowances. ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create a presentation for [audience] that I can present in 10 minutes. I speak at about 130 words per minute, so the spoken text has room for about 1,300 words. Use 10 slides, which leaves about 60 seconds and 130 spoken words for each slide. Write every title as a full sentence that states the message. Add speaker notes of at most 130 words per slide, so the talk takes 10 minutes at my pace. Use the figures in the attached [file]. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+a+presentation+for+%5Baudience%5D+that+I+can+present+in+10+minutes.+I+speak+at+about+130+words+per+minute%2C+so+the+spoken+text+has+room+for+about+1%2C300+words.+Use+10+slides%2C+which+leaves+about+60+seconds+and+130+spoken+words+for+each+slide.+Write+every+title+as+a+full+sentence+that+states+the+message.+Add+speaker+notes+of+at+most+130+words+per+slide%2C+so+the+talk+takes+10+minutes+at+my+pace.+Use+the+figures+in+the+attached+%5Bfile%5D.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tool%3Aspeaking-time-calculator&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### How many words is a 10-minute speech? About 1,300 words in English at a normal pace of 130 words per minute, and about 1,200 in German at 120. Allow for pauses and slide changes and the English figure drops to roughly 1,180. If you talk over slides, aim lower still, because you stop to point at things. ### How many words per minute is a normal speaking speed? For presentations we plan with 130 words per minute in English, with 110 as slow and 160 as fast. In German, which has longer words, we use 120, with 100 as slow and 145 as fast. These are planning figures, so time one rehearsal and replace them with your own pace. ### How long is a 1,000-word speech? About 7 minutes 40 seconds at a normal English pace of 130 words per minute. At a slow pace of 110 it takes about 9 minutes, and at a fast pace of 160 about 6 minutes 15 seconds. Add 10 percent if you pause between points. ### How many words should be on each slide? Far fewer than you say. A 10-minute talk on 10 slides has room for about 130 spoken words per slide at a normal pace, and that includes everything you say aloud. The slide itself should carry only the message and its proof, so keep the full sentences in your notes. ### How do you shorten a talk that is too long? Cut in this order: introductions that repeat the title, slides that make the same point as another, and detail the audience can read afterward. Every 130 words you cut take one minute off the talk. Speaking faster is not a fix, because it moves the problem to the audience. ### Does the calculator work for German text? Yes. Choose German under the language of your talk and the calculator plans with 120 words per minute at a normal pace instead of 130, because German words are longer. The pasted text is counted the same way in both languages. ## Related pages - [How many slides?](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-many-slides/): 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes? Plan one slide per 1 to 2 minutes of talking, subtract the time for questions and leave the appendix out. With a table and examples. - [Speaker notes](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/speaker-notes/): Speaker notes are the text under a slide that only the presenter sees: what to say, the key numbers and the transition. Learn how to write and use them well. - [Structure a presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-to-structure-a-presentation/): How to structure a presentation for work: lead with the answer, match the order to your purpose, use skeletons for decisions, updates, pitches and proposals. - [Presenting to executives](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presenting-to-executives/): How to present to executives and senior management: lead with the recommendation, plan for a shortened slot, keep detail in the appendix and send a pre-read. - [Elevator pitch](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/elevator-pitch/): An elevator pitch is a short spoken summary of an idea, product or yourself that sparks interest during an elevator ride. Definition, example and a formula. - [Presentation rules](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presentation-rules/): What the 10-20-30, 5-5-5 and 7-7-7 rules say, where each one helps, where it misleads and which are worth following in a work deck. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).