◔Reading Time Calculator

Word count divided by roughly 200 words per minute.

That figure is the low end of the research range for adult silent reading of general prose, which puts it somewhere between 200 and 260 with comprehension falling as speed rises. Using the low end makes the estimate honest rather than flattering, which matters more than it sounds — a reader who was promised four minutes and spent nine remembers it.

Spoken delivery is much slower

Around 130 to 150 words per minute for clear presentation. A script that reads in four minutes takes closer to six to say aloud, and longer with pauses. If you are timing a talk, take the reading estimate and add half again.

What the number cannot see

Code samples, tables, diagrams, and anything the reader has to stop and reread. Dense technical writing takes considerably longer than the estimate suggests; a listicle takes less.

Worth displaying?

Generally yes. Readers use it to decide whether to read now or save for later, and an honest estimate builds more goodwill than an optimistic one. It is not a ranking factor and never has been — it affects whether people start the article, which is a different and more useful thing to care about.

If a piece feels too long

Structure helps more than cutting. Subheadings every few hundred words, short paragraphs, and a clear opening summary let people read selectively, which is how most readers approach anything past four or five minutes anyway.