REGENT X
Guide

How many words fit in 15, 30, 60 and 90 seconds

At an everyday speaking pace of about 150 words per minute, a 30-second script is about 75 words and a 60-second script is about 150. A faster delivery fits more and a careful one fits less, so measure your own pace before you trust any chart.

By Aeroswe LLC, maker of REGENT X, a teleprompter app for iPhone. Published November 6, 2026

Words by length and pace

Words that fit at each pace, rounded to the nearest word.
Pace 15 seconds 30 seconds 45 seconds 60 seconds 90 seconds
120 words per minute, careful 30 60 90 120 180
130 words per minute, relaxed 33 65 98 130 195
150 words per minute, everyday conversation 38 75 113 150 225
170 words per minute, fast social video 43 85 128 170 255

To work it out for any pace: words = pace × seconds ÷ 60.

Where those speeds come from

  • About 150 words per minute is the average for US English conversation, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech, as cited by VirtualSpeech.
  • 125 to 150 is the average speaking range Speakflow gives, and Teleprompter.com gives it for a natural, conversational tone.
  • Around 170 or more is what Teleprompter.com suggests for short social clips.
  • People vary a lot. VirtualSpeech measured 32,809 practice presentations and found a median of 111 words per minute, with the middle half between 86 and 133. Five TED talks it timed averaged 173, from 154 to 201.

A chart gets you close. Your own measured pace is more accurate.

Measure your own pace in two minutes

  1. Take a script of about 150 words, written the way you talk.
  2. Read it out loud in the voice you use on camera, and time it with a stopwatch.
  3. Divide the words by the seconds, then multiply by 60. 150 words in 55 seconds is 164 words per minute.
  4. Read it again and average the two.
  5. For a word budget, multiply your pace by the seconds you want and divide by 60. At 164 words per minute, 30 seconds is 82 words.

Count what you say, not what you type

  • Spell numbers the way you say them. “2026” is one word on the page and two or three out loud.
  • Leave out stage directions. “Cut to product” doesn’t get read.
  • Allow for pauses. At 150 words per minute, a one-second pause costs you 2.5 words, so four pauses cost about ten.
  • If a script runs long, cut a sentence. Reading faster to fit it shows.

Setting a teleprompter’s speed

Start at the pace you measured. If the words run ahead of you, drop 10 words per minute. If you’re waiting on them, add 10. When a prompter’s speed is wrong, you end up chasing the text or stalling, and both show on camera.

Apps that follow your voice do the scrolling for you. Keep your number anyway, because it still tells you how long the video will run. Once you have a script at the right length, here’s how to read it and keep eye contact, and how to film a whole batch.

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