Script speaking and reading time calculator

How it works

Divide the word count by your chosen words per minute, then convert minutes to seconds. Speaking mode adds a pause between nonempty lines plus your other-pause allowance. Silent reading uses the entered pace and ignores both pause fields. The editable presentation starting preset is 150 words per minute, the lower end of the University of Melbourne’s approximate 150–160 words per minute guidance for presentation delivery. It is not a silent-reading average. Both pause allowances default to zero: a rate measured over the whole delivery already includes pauses, so adding them again would double-count them.

text seconds = words / words per minute × 60 speaking seconds = text seconds + max(0, sections − 1) × section pause + other pauses word budget = max(0, floor((time budget − pauses) × words per minute / 60))

Words are whitespace-separated tokens containing at least one Unicode letter or number. An apostrophe or hyphen inside a token does not split it. Punctuation-only tokens are excluded. Blank lines do not create sections. This is a transparent editorial rule: unspaced languages, numbers, URLs and stage directions can require a different spoken length. Remove directions or account for them in pauses.

YouTube permits qualifying square or vertical Shorts up to three minutes: the upload-date threshold is 15 October 2024 for standard channels and 8 December 2025 for Official Artist Channels. Duration alone does not decide copyright or monetization eligibility. Your time-budget input is a planning choice.

The word budget uses exact decimal arithmetic on parsed inputs before flooring; other calculations keep full precision; seconds display to two decimals and the word budget is rounded down to a whole word. Section cumulative times include between-section pauses but exclude the other-pause allowance. Rehearse and replace the example pace with your measured rate.

Worked examples

A one-minute speaking budget

A 120-word script in two sections at 150 words per minute takes 48 seconds for text. A 2-second section pause and 5 seconds of other pauses give 55 seconds, leaving 5 seconds in a 60-second budget. With those same pauses, the budget is 132 words.

Three-minute script without pauses

At an example pace of 150 words per minute, a 450-word single-section script with zero pauses takes 180 seconds. That uses a three-minute time budget exactly. A 180-second budget at that pace allows 450 words.

Silent reading is a separate estimate

A 300-word script at your chosen reading pace of 240 words per minute takes 75 seconds. Speaking pause fields have no effect in this mode.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• University of Melbourne — Speaking clearly, Speed of speaking (checked 2026-11-14)
• YouTube Help — Eligibility for three-minute Shorts (checked 2026-11-14)
• NIST SP 330, section 4 — minute equals 60 seconds (checked 2026-11-14)