How long does it take to say 1,000 words?
About 7 min 42 s at an average speaking pace of 130 words per minute. At a slow 110 words per minute it takes 9 min 5 s; conversationally, at 150, 6 min 40 s.
Free tool · no sign-up
How long does it take to say 1,000 words?
At an average pace of 130 words per minute, 1,000 words takes 7 min 42 s to say. A slow, careful delivery stretches it to 9 min 5 s; a conversational one brings it down to 6 min 40 s. The table below covers 100 to 2,000 words at four paces.
Speech time
7 min 42 s
1,000 words at 130 words per minute. Reading it silently takes about 4 min 10 s.
Recording it? A transcript of 7 min 42 s of speech, checked by people, costs from $6.40. Price it in the cost calculator →
We'll send this estimate and nothing else.
Turn the recording into a transcript
A 1,000-word talk is about eight minutes of audio. Upload the recording and get a checked transcript with speaker labels, from $0.80 per audio minute.
Get an instant quoteHow the speech time calculator works
- The calculator is already set to 1,000 words at an average pace of 130 words per minute.
- Read the speaking time; switch the pace if your delivery is slower or faster.
- Change the word count for a different script length.
- Add paragraph pauses if you want the estimate to include the gaps between sections.
1,000 words, at four paces
| Pace | Words per minute | Time to say 1,000 words |
|---|---|---|
| Slow — careful, technical or non-native delivery | 110 | 9 min 5 s |
| Average — most speeches and presentations | 130 | 7 min 42 s |
| Conversational — podcasts and interviews | 150 | 6 min 40 s |
| Fast — energetic delivery and promos | 170 | 5 min 53 s |
100 to 2,000 words, at three paces
| Words | Slow (110 wpm) | Average (130 wpm) | Conversational (150 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 55 s | 46 s | 40 s |
| 200 | 1 min 49 s | 1 min 32 s | 1 min 20 s |
| 300 | 2 min 44 s | 2 min 18 s | 2 min |
| 400 | 3 min 38 s | 3 min 5 s | 2 min 40 s |
| 500 | 4 min 33 s | 3 min 51 s | 3 min 20 s |
| 700 | 6 min 22 s | 5 min 23 s | 4 min 40 s |
| 1,000 | 9 min 5 s | 7 min 42 s | 6 min 40 s |
| 1,500 | 13 min 38 s | 11 min 32 s | 10 min |
| 2,000 | 18 min 11 s | 15 min 23 s | 13 min 20 s |
Why the same 1,000 words can take six minutes or nine
Speaking pace varies more than people expect. A newsreader, a lecturer working through unfamiliar terms and a podcast host telling a story are all "normal" — and they differ by two minutes over 1,000 words.
Three things reliably slow a speaker down: material they have not rehearsed, numbers and names they have to get right, and an audience that is not native to the language. Three things speed them up: nerves, reading from a script, and a slot that is running late.
Use the average figure for planning and your own rehearsal for the final check. If you are unsure, plan for the slow figure: finishing 30 seconds early is easy to fill, and running over is not.
What 1,000 words looks like
- On the page: about two single-spaced pages at 12-point type, or four double-spaced.
- As a talk: a tight 7 min 42 s — the length of a short conference slot, a wedding speech several times over, or a long voicemail you should have emailed.
- As an article: a typical opinion column or blog post runs 800 to 1,000 words.
- As audio: 1,000 words is roughly 7 min 42 s of recording, which is what the transcript is priced on — not the word count.
If you are writing to a slot rather than to a word count, work backwards: a 10-minute talk needs about 1,300 words at 130 words per minute.
Speech time calculator — questions
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 min 10 s of silent reading at a typical 240 words per minute — far quicker than saying the same words aloud. Reading time is not a substitute for speaking time when you are preparing a talk.
How many pages is 1,000 words?
Roughly two single-spaced pages or four double-spaced pages at 12-point type with one-inch margins. A page of A4 at 12-point single spacing holds about 500 words.
How long is a 1,000-word speech?
Around 7 min 42 s at a normal pace — slightly short of an eight-minute slot. For a ten-minute slot you want about 1,300 words.
Does punctuation or a pause add time?
The count is words only. Commas, full stops and paragraph breaks are silent in the calculation; if you want them counted, tick the paragraph-pause option and the calculator adds two seconds per break.
How long does it take to say 500 words?
About 3 min 51 s at 130 words per minute, or 4 min 33 s at a slow pace.
Transcripts checked by people, quoted in minutes
Upload your recordings and see the confirmed USD price as soon as the upload finishes. Every transcript is drafted, edited by a professional and quality-checked before delivery.
More free tools
Transcription cost per minute
See what a recording costs per audio minute, by service and turnaround, before you upload anything.
Audio length checker
Drop a recording to see how long it is and what it costs to transcribe, before you upload anything.
Subtitle converter
Convert SRT, VTT and YouTube SBV files, shift their timing, or turn captions into clean text. Runs in your browser.
YouTube transcript generator
Paste a YouTube link and get the video's transcript free, ready to copy or download as TXT, SRT or VTT.