# Speech time calculator (https://voicelabs.now/tools/speech-time-calculator)

Divide the word count by the speaking rate. Adults read English aloud at 183 words a minute on average, so a 1,000-word script takes about 5 min 28 s and one minute of speech is about 183 words. The calculator does it for your own text and your own rate, and works the other way too: how many words fit in a set time.

Use the tool in a browser at https://voicelabs.now/tools/speech-time-calculator: no sign-up, nothing to install.

## Use it from a script

No key and no account. JSON by default, Markdown for `Accept: text/markdown`.
Docs and OpenAPI: https://voicelabs.now/docs/free-tools-api

```sh
curl -s https://voicelabs.now/api/tools/speech-time \
  -H 'Accept: text/markdown' \
  --data-urlencode 'text@script.txt' --data-urlencode 'wpm=160'
```

## Questions

### How many words is a one-minute speech?

About 183 words at the average rate adults read English aloud. A slower delivery fits fewer: at 150 words a minute, a minute is 150 words. The time scales directly with the rate, so set the rate to your own and the calculator does the rest.

### How long does it take to read 1,000 words aloud?

About 5 min 28 s at 183 words a minute. At 150 words a minute it is 6 min 40 s.

### Where does 183 words a minute come from?

From Marc Brysbaert's 2019 review of reading rate in the Journal of Memory and Language, which pooled 77 studies of reading aloud with 5,965 participants and found an average oral reading rate of 183 words a minute for adults in English. Silent reading is faster; this calculator uses the reading-aloud figure because a script is read aloud.

### Does it work for languages other than English?

It counts words in any language, including Chinese, Japanese and Thai, which have no spaces between words. The default rate, though, was measured in English, and a word carries a different amount of speech from one language to another, so set a rate that fits your language and speaker.

### Will a text-to-speech voice take exactly this long?

Not exactly. Every voice has its own pace, and pauses, punctuation and numbers change the length. Use the estimate to plan a script; generate the audio to know its real duration.