Pacing
Teleprompter Speed: How Many Words per Minute?
Scroll too fast and you sound rushed; too slow and you start reading ahead and drifting. The right speed is your natural speaking rate, measured in words per minute (wpm). Here are typical rates, a two-minute way to measure your own, and how to turn a word count into a running time.
Typical speaking rates
| Context | Words per minute | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Presentations and lectures | 100–150 | Slower, with pauses for the audience to follow |
| Conversational video, vlogs | 140–170 | A relaxed, talking-to-a-friend pace |
| Explainers and tutorials | 150–170 | Brisk but clear; viewers can pause |
| Radio and voice-over | 150–180 | Practised readers, tight timing |
| Fast promo reads | 180+ | Short scripts where energy matters more than detail |
These are ranges, not targets. A calm speaker at 135 wpm can sound far better than a nervous one at 170.
Find your own pace in two minutes
- Take a script of about 300 words that you haven't rehearsed much.
- Read it aloud at the pace you'd use on camera, and time yourself.
- Divide the word count by the minutes taken: 300 words in 2 minutes is 150 wpm.
- Repeat once. Your second number is the more honest one, because the first read is usually slower.
Cueline's reading speed defaults to 165 wpm. Set yours in Settings (80 to 320 wpm), and every script's estimated runtime updates to match.
From word count to running time
Running time is the word count divided by your pace. Pauses add on top, so leave some slack.
| Script length | Running time |
|---|---|
| 150 words | 1 minute |
| 450 words | 3 minutes |
| 750 words | 5 minutes |
| 1,500 words | 10 minutes |
Cueline shows each script's word count and estimated runtime in the library and the editor, and the prompter shows elapsed and remaining time as you read.
Timed scroll or voice-tracking?
A timed scroll moves at a constant pace. It suits rehearsed scripts and steady reads, and it's predictable for an operator. Voice-tracking follows your speech instead, so it suits conversational delivery where your pace changes from line to line.
- In timed mode, Cueline scrolls at your words-per-minute setting, and you can change the speed from 0.25× to 3× live with ↑ and ↓.
[[pause]]markers hold a timed scroll for their length (1.5 seconds by default), so planned pauses don't break the pace.- With voice-tracking on (V), the script moves only as you speak and waits when you stop.
Signs your speed is wrong
- You're reading near the top of the screen: the scroll is too slow, so you're reading ahead.
- You're reading near the bottom, or skipping small words: it's too fast.
- You hold your breath until the end of a line: shorten the sentences, not just the speed.
Next, see how to read a teleprompter naturally.