Timing a script: words per minute and versions

By Alastair Greener, presenter of Present Yourself in a Minute · Updated 5 November 2026

A script's length is its word count divided by your pace. Most timing problems come from using the wrong pace, usually a read-aloud at a desk, and from leaving out the pauses and slides that add time on the day. Find your own pace, time the draft, then build the shorter versions before you are asked for them.

Start with the calculator

Paste the script into the calculator below. It counts the words and gives you a time for your pace, so you can see at a glance whether the draft fits the slot. Choose Slow (120 words a minute), Natural presenting (150) or Fast (170), or pick Custom and type your own pace. A pauses box lets you add seconds of silence per minute, and tables show the word counts that fit 10, 20, 30 and 40 seconds and minutes.

Find your own pace

1. Record a live talk of at least three minutes, to a person or a camera.
2. Count the words you actually spoke. A transcript helps. Otherwise count the words on the script and note any you skipped.
3. Divide the words by the minutes. Write that figure on the script as your pace.

Present Yourself's advice is to know your live words per minute from a recording and to count the words in a recorded live talk to set a template. Use that number, not a figure from a guide, because your pace is the one that will be on the day.

Work out the length of a draft

Divide the script's word count by your pace. At 130 words a minute, which is an example and not a norm (choose Custom and type 130 to see it), a 1,300 word script runs ten minutes. Add time for the pauses you have planned, for slide changes and for any question you expect. A talk with ten slides and a pause at each one can add a minute or two.

Build the 10, 20, 30 and 40 minute versions

Present Yourself's advice is to prepare versions at 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. The method is the same for each:

1. Write the longest version first, in full.
2. Mark each section as either essential or droppable. A droppable section is one the story still works without.
3. Time the longest version with your pace.
4. Cut the droppable sections until the script fits the next shortest slot.
5. Repeat for each version, and keep the essential sections in the same order.

Using the same pace, the arithmetic is simple. At 130 words a minute with no pauses, a 10 minute version is about 1,300 words, a 20 minute version is about 2,600, a 30 minute version is about 3,900 and a 40 minute version is about 5,200. The calculator's starting pace is 150, which gives 1,500, 3,000, 4,500 and 6,000 words.

Common mistakes

• Timing from a read-aloud. A desk read is faster than a live talk. Use the live figure.
• Forgetting the pauses. A pause at each transition can add a minute or more over a long talk.
• No droppable sections. A talk with no droppable parts cannot finish on time if you start late.
• Trusting the pace on the day. Nerves speed the pace up. Our page on why you are still too fast covers how to slow down.

For the pauses themselves, read the power of the pause. For the spoken style of the script, read writing for the ear. If you want to time a run in a room with a camera, studio hire lists the rooms.

Related guides

• Hook, Message, Recap, Call to action: the HMRC structure
• Fifty ways to open (hooks that work)
• How to end: bookends, loops, last lines
• Writing for the ear: short sentences, short words
• Words that cost you credibility: fluff, superlatives, -ly words, jargon
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.