Turn words into minutes. Paste your text or type a word count, then set how fast your audience reads or how fast you speak.
Reading time for 0 words
0 sec
at 238 wpm · speaking: 0 sec at 150 wpm
Presentations run about 130–150 wpm; audiobooks about 150–160; fast conversational speech 160+.
| Words | Reading (238 wpm) | Speaking (150 wpm) |
|---|---|---|
| 300 | 1 min 16 sec | 2 min |
| 500 | 2 min 6 sec | 3 min 20 sec |
| 750 | 3 min 9 sec | 5 min |
| 1,000 | 4 min 12 sec | 6 min 40 sec |
| 1,500 | 6 min 18 sec | 10 min |
| 2,000 | 8 min 24 sec | 13 min 20 sec |
| 2,500 | 10 min 30 sec | 16 min 40 sec |
| 3,000 | 12 min 36 sec | 20 min |
| 5,000 | 21 min 1 sec | 33 min 20 sec |
Many calculators assume 200 or 250 words per minute without a source. We default to 238, from Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 paper “How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate” in the Journal of Memory and Language, which pooled 190 studies of adult silent reading in English. Harder text is read more slowly, so for technical content pick a lower speed. Check difficulty with the readability checker.
Word count divided by reading speed in words per minute. At the default 238 wpm, a 1,200-word article takes about 5 minutes.
Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies put average silent reading speed for adults at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. Much higher figures quoted online usually come from speed-reading claims.
At a typical speaking pace of 130–150 words per minute, about 650–750 words.
Many publishers do, because it sets expectations. Round to whole minutes and base it on a realistic speed like 238 wpm.