Speech length calculator

Minutes times words per minute gives the word count, and words divided by the pace gives the time. The normal pace is 130 words a minute, the pace HidenGPT's speech format writes to when you ask for a speech of a set length, so a 3-minute draft from it lands near 390 words.

The slow and fast settings, 110 and 160 words a minute, are conventions, not measurements. Slow suits a eulogy, a nervous speaker, a speech in a second language or a room that will laugh; fast suits a relaxed, conversational talk. To find your own pace, read a page aloud with a timer, divide the words by the minutes and type the result in.

Pauses, laughter and applause add time a word count can't show: a toast that gets three laughs can run 20 or 30 seconds longer. Reading from a page is usually quicker than speaking from notes, and most people speed up when they're nervous. Names, numbers and long words take longer to say than their word count suggests.

Rehearse once with a timer. If you run long, cut a story rather than speaking faster.

Words are counted the way HidenGPT counts them: runs of letters or digits, with apostrophes and hyphens inside a word kept. Headings and stage notes in the pasted text count as words too, so take them out first. The result is an estimate for planning; your own rehearsal time is the number to trust.