How long should a speech be

The short answer

Most personal speeches last between two and five minutes. A few roles can go longer: the best man in the UK, the parents at a wedding and family members giving a eulogy. Even then, eight to ten minutes is the upper limit. Wedding vows usually work best at one to two minutes.

If you're torn between two lengths, pick the shorter one. Nobody ever left a speech thinking it could have gone on longer. The opposite happens all the time.

Guide times by role

These are typical ranges for English-speaking audiences. Where the UK and the US differ, both are given.

• Wedding vows: 1 to 2 minutes
• Guest or friend at a wedding: 2 to 4 minutes
• Bride: 2 to 5 minutes
• Groom: 2 to 4 minutes in the US, 5 to 7 in the UK
• Maid of honour: 3 to 6 minutes
• Parent of the couple: 3 to 5 minutes in the US, 5 to 8 in the UK
• Best man: 3 to 5 minutes in the US, 7 to 10 in the UK
• Birthday toast: 2 to 5 minutes
• Speech at your own birthday: 2 to 4 minutes
• Eulogy from family: 4 to 7 minutes
• Eulogy from a friend: 3 to 5 minutes
• Farewell for a colleague: 2 to 5 minutes
• Your own leaving speech: 2 to 4 minutes
• Wedding anniversary: 3 to 5 minutes

For more on individual roles, read our guides to the best man speech, the father of the bride speech, wedding vows and the eulogy.

The setting matters more than any guide time. If five people are speaking at one event, each speech can be shorter. If a minister or celebrant is leading the funeral, your part as a family member may be just a few minutes.

How many words fit in a minute

A speech is spoken more slowly than a conversation, because it needs pauses, laughter and eye contact. In English we work with about 130 words per minute. Eulogies and wedding vows are spoken more calmly still, so we allow around ten percent fewer words for them.

For a five-minute eulogy or set of vows in English, allow around 600 words.

Other languages differ. In German we work with about 110 words per minute, in Spanish with about 140. If you're giving a bilingual speech, check the length for each language separately. Our guide to the bilingual wedding speech shows how.

How to time your speech

Guessing doesn't help much, timing does. Here's how:

1. Stand up and read the speech aloud at the pace you plan to use on the day.
2. Take the pauses you'd take for real: after a punchline, before the toast, at a moving moment.
3. Time it with a stopwatch.
4. Add a little extra if you expect laughter or heckling.

If you keep running longer than planned in practice, you're probably speaking more calmly than you thought. That's a good thing. Cut the text rather than speeding up.

How to cut

Cutting is harder than writing, because every line means something to you. These parts can usually go without the speech losing anything:

• Warm-ups to the warm-up: everything before the first real image.
• The second example story: if it shows the same thing as the first.
• Lists: three qualities with proof are stronger than six without.
• Name-by-name thanks: group people instead.
• Quotes: unless they fit the person you're talking about directly.

What should stay: the first line, the main story, the honest moment and the ending.

When several people are speaking

At weddings and milestone birthdays, several people often speak. Agree beforehand who speaks when, for how long, and which stories are already taken. A long run of speeches tires even the friendliest audience, so spread them across the event and let whoever is running it know you'd like to speak.

At funerals the time is often fixed, especially at a crematorium where each service has its slot. Ask the minister, celebrant or funeral director how much room there is for your words, and stay within it.

When your speech is too short

That happens too. Don't pad it with general lines about love, friendship or life. Add a concrete detail to your story instead, or tell a second story that shows another side of the person. And sometimes short is simply right: ninety seconds of wedding vows can say more than any long speech of the day.

Your speaking time with Moverba

With Moverba, you choose the length of your speech in the interview, and we suggest one that suits your role. The free preview shows the estimated speaking time, the editor shows actual against target as you write, and practice mode lets you check it with a timer. Words are always counted by the software, never by the AI. For how to fill the time well, read how to structure a speech.