How many words is a 10-minute video script?

Plan for about 1,250 to 1,500 words if you talk to the camera at your normal pace ¹. A narrator reading a prepared script in an audiobook style needs about 1,400 to 1,800 words for the same 10 minutes ². Both ranges are starting points, because your own speaking rate sets the length, so measure it before you write.

Three speaking paces give three script lengths, so choose the pace first

The pace you deliver at decides the word count, and the table shows the three ranges that come up most often for video.

A talking-head video belongs in the normal-speaking row. A vlog, a product explainer or a talk to camera is a conversation with the audience, so it should sound like one. Audiobook narration is for a voiceover read from a finished text by someone practiced at holding a steady pace.

A talking-head script should be written at normal speaking pace

Ordinary speech runs at 125 to 150 words per minute ⁵, and that is the rate to write for when you will say the words on camera. Over 10 minutes, it comes to about 1,250 to 1,500 words ¹. Filler words such as "so" and "right" count toward that total, so read the script aloud as you write it rather than estimating from the page.

Slow, formal delivery needs a much shorter script

Pace matters more than the length of the piece. The overall speaking rate of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address was 96.5 words per minute ³. At that deliberate pace, 10 minutes holds about 965 words ⁴. That is fewer words than the normal-speaking range, so a weighty, measured style needs a shorter script for the same running time.

Pauses, cutaways and on-screen text take time without adding words

Speaking rate counts only the words. A finished video also has pauses for emphasis, cutaways to footage, on-screen text and reactions. Each of these fills time with no words, so write the script against the edit you intend, not against the bare reading time. A video with frequent cutaways needs less speech than one where you talk straight through, and the only reliable way to know how much less is to time a rough cut of your own footage.

Measure your own pace in about five minutes

1. Copy a passage of about 300 words, in the kind of prose you would deliver, into a document.
2. Read it aloud at the pace you would use on camera, and time it with a stopwatch.
3. Divide the word count by the minutes. That is your rate.
4. Multiply the rate by the length you need, then take out the words that would sit under your cutaways and on-screen text.

Treat the result as a planning figure. A single read is a rough sample, so repeat it on a second passage if the script matters.

A dictated script needs a timed read-back

A dictated script can run long, because speakers repeat themselves and add filler words. Read the transcript aloud against a stopwatch and trim until it fits the target. Our answer on how to stop saying um when you dictate covers the filler words. For the same drafting method applied to a longer piece, see how to dictate a blog post. The words per minute entry defines the measure used on this page.

For the wider case for dictating journalism and video drafts, see the guide on dictation for journalists and content creators, and the wider subject in dictation for work.