Find how many words fit a 15, 30 or 60-second voice over — enter the duration and pace to get your script's word budget.
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Already have the script? Get its exact duration with the Words to Minutes converter, or rehearse the read live with the Script Timer.
Working from a recording? Transcribe it with Audio Transcription first, then budget the rewrite here.
Budgets are rounded and assume a steady read. Real voice-over adds breaths, emphasis and beats for on-screen action — the pace allowance leaves room for them. Your inputs are saved in this browser, so they survive a reload; nothing is uploaded.
At a conversational 140 wpm, here is the word budget for the most-booked spot lengths at each pace allowance. Tight uses every second; Natural and Relaxed leave room for pauses and breaths.
| Spot length | Tight — 0% | Natural — 10% | Relaxed — 20% |
|---|---|---|---|
Rule of thumb: a 30-second voice over is about 70 words flat out, or ~63 with natural breathing room; a 60-second read is about 140 words (≈126 with room for pauses).
Commercial voice-over is bought by the second. A radio or TV spot is sold as a :15, :30 or :60; an explainer is locked to the video edit; an IVR prompt has to fit the gap before the next menu plays. That means the script cannot be "however long it turns out" — it has to land inside a fixed slot. The easiest way to keep it there is to write to a word budget: decide the duration first, convert it into the number of words that will fit at your chosen pace, and write to that number. Hit the budget and the read drops into the slot on the first take instead of being re-cut in the booth.
Spoken delivery sits in a narrow band, which is why a duration maps so cleanly to a word count. Most voice-over is read between 110 and 170 words per minute — roughly 1.8 to 2.8 words every second:
| Pace | Words per minute | Words per second |
|---|---|---|
| Slow (clarity-first narration) | 110 wpm | ~1.8 words/sec |
| Conversational (default) | 140 wpm | ~2.3 words/sec |
| Fast (energetic commercial) | 170 wpm | ~2.8 words/sec |
At the conversational 140 wpm most explainers and corporate reads use, a 30-second voice over is about 70 words and a 60-second script about 140 — before you leave room for pauses.
A script written to the raw maximum always overruns, because a real performance is not wall-to-wall speech. Narrators breathe, pause for emphasis, slow down for names, phone numbers and web addresses, and hold for music stings, logo buttons and on-screen action. The pace allowance trims the budget to make space for all of it: keep it tight (0%) for a dense, urgent read, use a natural 10% for most work, or go relaxed (20%) when the spot has music beds or dramatic pauses. The trimmed number is the one you should actually write to.
| Spot | Typical use | Words at 140 wpm (natural allowance) |
|---|---|---|
| :15 | Bumpers, social pre-roll, tags | ≈ 32 words |
| :30 | The classic radio/TV commercial | ≈ 63 words |
| :60 | Explainers, long-form radio | ≈ 126 words |
| :90 | Detailed product or brand films | ≈ 189 words |
This calculator is the reverse of the words-to-minutes converter. Words-to-minutes starts with a finished script and tells you how long it runs; the word budget calculator starts with the slot and tells you how many words you may write. Use this one while you are commissioning or drafting to a fixed duration, then paste the finished draft into words-to-minutes to confirm the timing before you record.
At a conversational 140 words per minute, a 30-second voice over holds about 70 words read flat out, or roughly 63 words once you leave a natural 10% for breaths and pauses. Slow it to 110 wpm and you have room for about 55 words; push to an energetic 170 wpm and you can fit around 85. Set the duration to :30 above and adjust the pace to see your exact budget.
Most voice-over is read between 110 and 170 words per minute. Clarity-first narration — e-learning, technical, medical — sits near 110–130 wpm; explainers, corporate and conversational reads land around 140; high-energy commercials and promos push 170 wpm or more. Conversational 140 wpm (about 2.3 words per second) is the default here because it fits the widest range of work.
Because a real read is never wall-to-wall words. Narrators breathe, pause for emphasis, slow down for names and numbers, and hold for music beds, logo buttons and on-screen action. A script written to the raw maximum will overrun the slot. The pace allowance trims the budget — a tight 0%, a natural 10% or a relaxed 20% — so the words you write actually fit once the performance breathes.
They are reverses of each other. The Words to Minutes converter starts with a finished script and tells you how long it runs. This word budget calculator starts with the duration and tells you how many words you may write. Use the budget calculator while drafting to a fixed slot, then check the finished script with words-to-minutes before you record.
For a 60-second video at a conversational 140 wpm, aim for about 126 words with a natural allowance for pauses — roughly 140 words if the read is tight and continuous, or nearer 112 if it has music beds and breathing room. Enter :60 above, choose the pace that matches your narrator, and set the allowance to see the exact budget. To rehearse the timing out loud, use the Script Timer.
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