Paste text or set word count to estimate reading and speaking time at adjustable speeds.
Reading time is a single division: word count divided by words per minute, and this tool performs it on text you paste or a count you type in. Choose a silent-reading pace or a speaking pace, adjust the rate if you like, and the tool returns the estimate in minutes and seconds. The surprise for most users is that one average rate is applied to every text: roughly 200 to 260 words per minute for silent reading and 130 to 150 for speaking. A dense technical paper will actually take you longer than the estimate, and reading a script aloud takes about twice as long as reading it silently.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
600 entered in the word-count field (or a pasted text of 600 words), with reading set to 200 wpm and speaking set to 130 wpm
Expected output
Reading time: 3 min. Speaking time: 4 min 37 s.
600 divided by 200 is exactly 3.0 minutes. 600 divided by 130 is 4.615 minutes, which is 4 minutes plus 0.615 x 60 = about 37 seconds. The tool computes the same division at whatever rate you select.
Pasted text is reduced to a word count, or you can enter a count directly. Counts of this kind usually split text on whitespace, so a hyphenated compound like state-of-the-art counts as one word, and a URL or long number counts as one token. Counters differ slightly in these rules, so your word processor's count may differ from this tool's by a small percentage; the time estimate is only as accurate as the count feeding it.
Estimated time equals word count divided by words per minute, so the result is directly proportional to the rate: 1,000 words take 5 minutes at 200 wpm and 6 minutes 40 seconds at 150 wpm. Speaking is slower than silent reading, so reading and speaking estimates for the same text diverge by roughly 1.5 to 2 times. Adjusting the rate lets you fit the estimate to your material or your audience.
Because the default rate is an average for ordinary prose. Technical, academic, or data-dense text typically reads at 120 to 180 wpm in practice, so the real time will exceed the estimate. Lower the speed setting to match the material, or time yourself once and keep a personal rate for future estimates.
As a planning figure, yes; as a timer, no. It is word count divided by a typical speaking pace and assumes continuous delivery with no pauses, slides, or digressions. Rehearse once with a stopwatch before relying on it; most speakers run 10 to 25 percent longer than the raw estimate.
The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.
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