Key takeaways
- 1m 0s for 150 words at 150 words a minute; 150 words fit in a minute.
- The pace is an assumption: read your script aloud once to measure yours.
Measuring your own pace
Spoken length is words divided by words per minute. Read your script aloud once with a timer to find your pace; averages hide a wide range between people and between styles of delivery.
Pauses, retakes and on-screen action add time. Allow a margin below the platform limit instead of aiming at it exactly.
Scenarios
| Scenario | Estimated spoken length | Characters at this length |
|---|---|---|
| 150 words at 130 wpm | 1m 9s | roughly 840 |
| 150 words at 150 wpm | 1m 0s | roughly 840 |
| 150 words at 180 wpm | 50s | roughly 840 |
| 600 words at 150 wpm | 4m 0s | roughly 3,360 |
| 1,500 words at 150 wpm | 10m 0s | roughly 8,400 |
Words that fit the platform limits
At 150 words a minute, from the maximum durations in the platform registry:
| Platform | Maximum duration | Words at 150 wpm |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | 10 minutes | 1500 |
| YouTube Shorts | 3 minutes | 450 |
| 15 minutes | 2250 | |
| 5 minutes | 750 | |
| X (Twitter) | 2 minutes | 350 |
| Threads | 5 minutes | 750 |