{
  "id": "speaking-time",
  "version": "5df4bae8bf98",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Speaking Time Calculator",
  "question": "What is my speaking time?",
  "summary": "Works out how long a speech or script takes to say from its word count and your speaking rate in words per minute, or how many words fit in a time.",
  "category": "everyday-life",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/everyday-life/speaking-time-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/everyday-life/speaking-time-calculator.md",
  "kind": "formulas",
  "method": "Speaking time (minutes) = words ÷ words per minute; words = minutes × rate; rate = words ÷ minutes.",
  "assumptions": [
    "The rate is an average over the whole speech, pauses included; it does not change from one part to the next.",
    "Typical rates: about 150 words per minute in US English conversation, 125 to 150 in a speech (Lumen Learning)."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "w": {
        "title": "Words",
        "description": "How many words the speech or script has.",
        "type": "number",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "wpm": {
        "title": "Speaking rate (words per minute)",
        "description": "How many words you say in a minute: about 150 in conversation, 125 to 150 in a speech.",
        "type": "number",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000
      },
      "t": {
        "title": "Speaking time",
        "description": "How long the speech takes to say.",
        "type": [
          "number",
          "string"
        ],
        "x-quantity": "time",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      }
    }
  },
  "solve": {
    "fillAny": 2,
    "variables": [
      "w",
      "wpm",
      "t"
    ],
    "inputsOnly": []
  },
  "outputs": {
    "words": {
      "label": "Words",
      "description": "The word count: speaking time in minutes × words per minute.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "rate": {
      "label": "Speaking rate (words per minute)",
      "description": "Words per minute: words ÷ speaking time in minutes.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "time": {
      "label": "Speaking time",
      "description": "How long the speech takes: words ÷ words per minute, in minutes.",
      "format": "quantity",
      "unit": "min"
    },
    "clock": {
      "label": "Minutes and seconds",
      "description": "The speaking time as minutes:seconds (hours:minutes:seconds from one hour), to the nearest second.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "perSecond": {
      "label": "Words per second",
      "description": "The speaking rate ÷ 60.",
      "format": "number"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "w": 500,
      "wpm": 130
    },
    "outputs": {
      "time": 230.76923076923077,
      "clock": "3:51",
      "perSecond": 2.1666666666666665
    },
    "text": "500 words at 130 words per minute take 3.85 min (3:51)."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "w": 750,
        "wpm": 150
      },
      "expect": {
        "t": 300,
        "clock": "5:00",
        "perSecond": 2.5
      },
      "source": "Lumen Learning, Public Speaking, Articulation, Pitch, and Rate (average US English rate about 150 words per minute), https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-publicspeaking/chapter/articulation-pitch-and-rate/, retrieved 2026-10-02; hand calculation in content.mdx: 750 ÷ 150 = 5 min"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "w": 500,
        "wpm": 130
      },
      "expect": {
        "t": 230.76923076923077,
        "clock": "3:51"
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 500 ÷ 130 = 3.846 min = 230.77 s, so 3:51"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "t": 600,
        "wpm": 125
      },
      "expect": {
        "w": 1250
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 10 min × 125 words per minute = 1,250 words"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "w": 2600,
        "t": 1200
      },
      "expect": {
        "wpm": 130
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 2,600 words in 20 min is 2,600 ÷ 20 = 130 words per minute"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Lumen Learning, Public Speaking, Articulation, Pitch, and Rate (average US English speaking rate about 150 words per minute; 125 to 150 for a speech), retrieved 2026-10-02. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-publicspeaking/chapter/articulation-pitch-and-rate/"
  ],
  "related": [
    "audiobook-length",
    "time-duration",
    "minutes"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}