How Long Is My Speech?

Overview

We wanted a small application that estimates how long someone’s talk will run based on their own delivery—not only a generic “average human” pace. Users can paste a speech, sermon, or any long piece of writing into a text area and get a time estimate from a default speaking rate.

They can also time themselves reading a paragraph, update the calculator with their real words-per-minute, and see duration aligned with how they actually speak.

Challenge

The scope stayed deliberately small: no accounts, no server, no complex workflows. The main focus was keeping the interaction obvious—paste, read the estimate, optionally calibrate—without extra friction.

Approach

We kept the stack to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript so the whole experience could run in the browser with minimal moving parts. Local storage holds calibration or preferences when someone adjusts their speaking speed, so repeat visits can stay tuned to their pace without a backend.

Outcome

The site is straightforward to use: paste content, see word count and duration quickly, and optionally refine the estimate with a personal speaking rate. It does one job well without asking users to sign up or install anything.