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How many words is a 10-minute speech?

A 10-minute speech is about 1,450 words at a typical presentation pace of 145 words per minute.

By the Ace Coach team, built with the best speech coaches · Updated

Words at different paces

PaceRateWords
Slow120 wpm1,200 words
Lecture145 wpm1,450 words
TED talk169 wpm1,690 words

Paces come from measured averages: about 145 words per minute in university lectures and 169 in TED talks (Wingrove, 2017).

What fits in this length

A conference short talk, a pitch with Q&A, or a class presentation.

For a 10-minute slot with three minutes of questions, write a seven-minute talk: about 1,015 words at 145 words per minute.

Check your own pace

Everyone's pace is different, and most people speed up when they're nervous. Time yourself reading one paragraph of your script out loud, or use how fast do I talk for a 60-second test. Then plug your number into the speech time calculator.

Other lengths

Rehearse it out loud.

Ace Coach is an AI speaking coach. It listens to your answer, watches your delivery and tells you the one thing to fix next.

Keep practicing

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