How Long Is My Script? Voiceover Timing and Words per Minute

A common rule of thumb is that voiceover narration runs at roughly 130 to 160 words per minute. So a 30-second script is about 65 to 80 words, a one-minute script about 130 to 160 words, and a five-minute script about 650 to 800 words. The exact number depends on the delivery style, the pace you choose, how many pauses you add and how dense the words are. This guide gives you a timing table, explains what pushes a script longer or shorter, and shows how to cut a script to fit.

Why words per minute varies

"Words per minute" is a convenient average, not a fixed speed. The same script can run noticeably longer or shorter depending on a few things:

• Delivery style. An energetic ad read tends to move faster than a calm, soothing meditation read. A storyteller read leaves more space between ideas.
• Pace setting. Slow, normal and fast settings change the speed directly.
• Pauses. Every [pause] adds half a second; a [pause 3s] adds three. A script with frequent beats runs longer than its word count suggests.
• Long words and numbers. "Approximately 1,299 dollars" takes longer to say than "about thirteen hundred dollars". A phone number read digit by digit takes several seconds on its own.
• Punctuation. Full stops and commas create small natural pauses, so short punchy sentences add up to more time than one long sentence with the same words.

Script length table

Use this table as a starting point. The ranges assume a typical narration speed of about 130 to 160 words per minute and few added pauses.

Target length	Approximate words	Typical use
15 seconds	30 to 40	Short social ad, bumper, phone greeting
30 seconds	65 to 80	Radio-style ad, product teaser, on-hold message
60 seconds	130 to 160	Explainer intro, YouTube Short, promo
2 minutes	260 to 320	Product demo, onboarding video
5 minutes	650 to 800	Course lesson, tutorial section
10 minutes	1,300 to 1,600	Long-form YouTube video, full lesson

For a quicker answer on your actual script, paste it into the free voiceover script timer. It estimates duration at slow, normal and fast pace so you can see the range before generating any audio.

Characters, credits and minutes

Text-to-speech is often measured in characters rather than words, because characters are what the voice engine processes. On VoiceoverWise, 1 credit equals 1 character of script, and about 900 characters is roughly one minute of audio. That gives you a simple way to budget:

• A 30-second ad of about 450 characters uses about 450 credits.
• A 10-minute video script of about 9,000 characters uses about 9,000 credits.
• The free plan includes 10,000 credits every month, which is roughly 11 minutes.

If you need more, one-time credit packs are listed on the pricing page. There is no subscription, and packs are valid for 12 months.

How to cut a script that runs long

Most scripts run long on the first draft. Speeding up the voice is tempting, but it usually sounds rushed. Cutting words is almost always better. Work through this list in order:

1. Remove throat-clearing openers. "In this video, we're going to take a look at" can usually become "Here's how".
2. Delete repeated points. Spoken scripts often say the same thing twice. Keep the clearer version.
3. Swap long phrases for short ones. "In order to" becomes "to"; "at this point in time" becomes "now".
4. Let the visuals carry detail. If the screen shows a list of steps, the voice doesn't need to read every word of it.
5. Round numbers where precision isn't needed. "Nearly half" is faster to say than a precise figure, as long as it stays accurate.
6. Only then adjust pace. If the script is tight and still a few seconds over, try the fast pace or remove a pause.

Example: trimming a 30-second spot

Here is a first draft that runs long, at about 95 words:

Are you looking for a way to make your morning routine just a little bit easier? At Brightside Coffee, we believe that every single morning deserves a great cup of coffee, and that's why we've spent years carefully sourcing beans from small farms around the world. Our subscription delivers freshly roasted coffee right to your door every two weeks, so you never have to worry about running out again. Visit brightsidecoffee.com today to learn more about our plans and find the one that's right for you and your household.

And a trimmed version at about 60 words, which fits comfortably in 30 seconds with room for a short pause:

Running out of coffee is a terrible way to start the day. [pause] Brightside Coffee sources beans from small farms and roasts them fresh. Then we deliver to your door every two weeks, so your shelf is never empty. Find your plan at brightsidecoffee.com.

The second version keeps every real piece of information and drops the filler. Smart reading will say the website as "brightsidecoffee dot com" without you having to spell it out.

Timing tips for specific formats

• Video ads: write to the shortest slot you'll run and leave a second or two of breathing room at the end.
• Phone greetings: callers are waiting, so keep the main greeting short. See our phone greeting and on-hold script examples.
• Course lessons: split long lessons into sections of a few minutes each so you can update one part without regenerating the whole lesson.
• Subtitled videos: shorter sentences make shorter subtitle lines, which are easier to read. Every VoiceoverWise clip comes with an SRT file timed per sentence.

Ready to check your own draft? Run it through the free script timer, then hear it in the free text-to-speech tool, or start free and generate your first full voiceover.