How long is a 1000 word speech?

A 1000 word speech takes about 6 minutes 40 seconds at an average speaking pace of 150 words per minute. At a deliberate 130 it runs 7 minutes 42 seconds, and at a fast 170 it comes in at 5 minutes 53 seconds. That spread crosses a real boundary. A talk billed as seven minutes that ends at 5 minutes 53 seconds reads as underprepared, and one that hits 7 minutes 42 seconds gets the light. Pick your pace before you write.

What fits in 1,000 words

This length is the six to seven minute conference short talk and the demo day presentation.

A thousand words supports one argument developed across three movements, or a live demo with setup and payoff. You have room for context the audience lacks, which shorter talks have to assume. Six or seven slides, no more. The common failure at this length is spending 400 words establishing why the topic matters, which leaves 600 for the thing you were actually invited to say.

A structure that fits

1. 1Open, 80 to 120 words. Start inside a specific situation. 'In March our support queue hit 4,000 tickets and two people were answering them.'
2. 2Stakes, 120 to 150 words. Why this room should care, stated in the terms they use.
3. 3Movement one, 200 to 250 words. What you tried and what it cost.
4. 4Movement two, 250 to 300 words. What worked, with the number that proves it.
5. 5Close, 120 to 150 words. The one thing you want them to do on Monday, said plainly.

Before you deliver it

Run it three times with slides and once without. The version without slides tells you whether the argument holds when the visuals are gone, which is what happens when the projector fails. Mark two paragraphs you can drop live, since conference sessions start late and the moderator will take your minutes. Rehearse the transitions between movements, because that is where a seven minute talk loses people.