How many words fit a :30 spot? At medium pace: 75 words. This table covers :15, :30, :60, and :90 at slow, medium, and fast delivery — plus why written word count will mislead you.
“How many words should a :30 spot be?” is one of the most Googled questions in voice-over, and it has no single correct answer - because the right number depends on your delivery speed. This article gives you the full picture: a reference table across common spot lengths and WPM rates, plus the caveat that makes all these numbers a starting point rather than a hard rule.
The Reference Table
The figures below are calculated from delivery speed in words per minute (WPM). Slow is around 120 WPM (measured, deliberate - think audiobook or meditation), medium is 150 WPM (natural conversational pace), and fast is 180 WPM (high-energy commercial or retail promo).
| Spot Length | Slow (120 WPM) | Medium (150 WPM) | Fast (180 WPM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| :15 | 30 words | 38 words | 45 words |
| :30 | 60 words | 75 words | 90 words |
| :60 | 120 words | 150 words | 180 words |
| :90 | 180 words | 225 words | 270 words |
| 2 minutes | 240 words | 300 words | 360 words |
| 3 minutes | 360 words | 450 words | 540 words |
| 5 minutes | 600 words | 750 words | 900 words |
| 10 minutes | 1,200 words | 1,500 words | 1,800 words |
These figures assume continuous speech. Real recordings include breaths, pauses for emphasis, and natural hesitations - all of which eat into your word budget. In practice, most professionals shave 5-10% off the maximum to give themselves breathing room (literally).
Why Written Word Count Will Lead You Astray
The table above works cleanly when your script contains only plain prose. The moment numbers, prices, URLs, or dates appear, written word count diverges from spoken word count - sometimes dramatically.
A few examples of what expands when spoken aloud:
- “$19.99” → “nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents” (6 words from 1)
- “1-800-555-0100” → “one eight hundred five five five zero one zero zero” (10 words from 1)
- “www.example.com” → “www dot example dot com” (5 words from 1)
- “Dec. 25th, 2026” → “December twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-six” (6 words from 3)
A :30 commercial crammed with prices, a phone number, and a URL could have only 55 written words but expand to 80+ spoken words - well over a fast-paced :30 budget. This is why clients frequently submit “overwritten” scripts without realising it: their word processor said 75 words, but the booth says otherwise.
The Right Way to Use This Table
Use the reference table as your first filter. When a client sends a script, count the written words and check which cell they land in. If they’re already at the top of the fast-delivery range, flag it before the session. For broader session planning and buffer calculations, professional script timing techniques covers the full pre-production process.
Then - especially for scripts with lots of numbers, prices, or web addresses - check the spoken word count, not just the written one. That’s the number that actually determines whether the recording fits the slot.
Once you have the spoken word count, plug it into the Script Timer along with your personal WPM rate. It will tell you the exact estimated duration, which you can use when building a quote or to tell a client their script needs to be trimmed.
Which WPM Column Should You Use?
That depends on the job:
- Soft-sell commercials, corporate, e-learning: medium (150 WPM) is a safe default
- Hard-sell retail, high-energy promos: fast (180 WPM) - though sustaining this without sounding frantic takes practice
- Healthcare, legal, children’s content, meditation: slow (120 WPM) or lower
- Disclaimers: off the chart - 200+ WPM is common and is its own skill
If you don’t know your personal WPM yet, the medium column is the most reliable starting point. Once you’ve measured your own baseline across genres, substitute your actual numbers for more precision.
A Practical Example
A client sends you a :60 radio spot. Your word processor says 162 words. The medium column says 150 words is the target for a :60 at conversational pace. You’re already 8% over - marginal, but worth noting.
You paste the script into the Script Timer, set WPM to your measured commercial pace of 155, and it tells you the estimated duration is 1 minute 3 seconds. The client needs to cut about 8 words, or you need to push your pace. Either way, you know before you book the session.
The best time to catch an overwritten script is before you step into the booth, not after the client is on a live directed session.
Bottom Line
Save this table. The :30 at 75 words and the :60 at 150 words (medium pace) are the most useful benchmarks in commercial voice-over. Everything else scales from there. And whenever a script has numbers, prices, or URLs in it, check the spoken word count - it will almost always be higher than the written count, and the difference is what catches you out in the booth. For podcast episode planning, see the podcast script word count guide.