For anyone who has to give a speech, one of the first questions that usually comes to mind is, “How many words is that going to be?” The problem is there is no set answer to this question. The number of words needed for a speech will depend heavily on the person giving the speech. Some people speak slowly when giving a speech while others speak quickly. Those who speak quickly will need to write more words for each minute of their speech than those who speak at a slower pace. So, there are some general guidelines which can help you make an educated guess at approximately how many words will be needed for a speech. The general rule for speech giving is 100 to 200 words per minute. With this in mind, a 10-minute speech would require 1,000 to 2,000 words. The Word Counter speaking time detail defaults 150 words per minute. If want to know how many words per minute (WPM) you personally say when giving a speech, you can use a timer to time yourself, then input that number into the options section. Time yourself for one minute of your speech, then copy to where you made it into Word Counter to see how many words you speak per minute. This will give you a more accurate estimate of how many words you must write for however long the speech you need to make will be. It’s important to remember that speech patterns can increase when a person is nervous. This means that even when determining the number of words needed for a 10-minute speech when practicing at home by yourself. While the number of words in a speech will depend heavily on how fast or slow the person giving the speech speaks. The average speaking pace of 150 words per minute to estimate. How many words in a 10-minute speech? There are 1,500 words in a 10-minute speech.