How many words is a 3-minute speech?

The short answer

Most people speak at 120 to 160 words a minute when presenting. Plan on about 130 words for every minute you have, and you'll land close to your slot with room to breathe:

• 1 minute: about 130 words
• 2 minutes: about 260 words
• 3 minutes: about 390 words
• 5 minutes: about 650 words
• 10 minutes: about 1,300 words
• 15 minutes: about 1,950 words
• 20 minutes: about 2,600 words

Why 130 and not 150

Everyday conversation runs nearer 150 words a minute, but a talk isn't a conversation. You pause between points, you wait for a laugh or a slide, and you should slow down for the lines that matter most. Writing to 130 leaves room for all of that.

There's one more reason: nerves speed you up. The pace you rehearse at home is rarely the pace you hit in the room. A script written for 150 a minute tends to come out rushed, or runs long when you deliberately slow down.

Famous speeches, measured

We ran some well-known speeches through the same measuring Footholds uses for rehearsals. Pace is with applause taken out:

• Reagan, Challenger address (1986): about 155 words a minute, 649 words in just over 4 minutes
• JFK, "We choose to go to the Moon" (1962): about 133 words a minute
• Eisenhower, farewell address (1961): about 124 words a minute
• JFK, inaugural address (1961): about 106 words a minute
• FDR, "Day of Infamy" (1941): about 88 words a minute

There is no single right speed. Reagan was quick and never let the room settle; FDR was slow and grave. What they share is that each of them knew exactly how long they would run, because the speech was written and timed.

How to check your own pace

1. Take a section of your script of about 300 words.
2. Say it out loud, standing up, at the speed you'd use on the day.
3. Time it. Divide 300 by the minutes it took.

Under 2 minutes for 300 words means you're above 150 a minute and probably rushing. Over 2 minutes 45 seconds means under about 110, which can drag unless you're doing it on purpose.

Better still, record it: the only pace that counts is the one you actually speak at, not the one you think you speak at.

If you're over time

Cut whole points, not words. Squeezing every sentence a little shorter saves less than you'd think and makes the talk feel rushed. Dropping your weakest point saves a minute or more and leaves the rest intact.