How long is a 250 word speech?

A 250 word speech takes about 1 minute 40 seconds at an average speaking pace of 150 words per minute. Slow it to 130 and you are at 1 minute 55 seconds. Take it up to 170 and you finish in 1 minute 28 seconds. Investors and panel moderators both tend to cut in around the two minute mark, so 250 words leaves you a margin instead of spending it. That margin is where you answer the question you get asked back.

What fits in 250 words

This length is the elevator pitch and the panel opening statement.

Two hundred fifty words is a problem, a solution, and proof, with a sentence left for the ask. A panel opening at this length states your position and the single experience that earned it. You get one concrete example. Naming the customer, the year, or the number is what separates this from every other pitch in the room, and it costs you about fifteen words.

A structure that fits

1. 1Problem, 40 to 50 words. State it as something that already happened to a named person. 'A clinic manager in Fresno reconciles 400 insurance claims by hand every Monday.'
2. 2What you built, 60 to 70 words. Plain description first, category label second. Say what it does before you say what it is.
3. 3Proof, 70 to 80 words. One customer, one number, one timeframe. 'Nine clinics, 340 hours saved last quarter' carries more than any growth adjective.
4. 4Ask, 40 to 50 words. Name the amount, the meeting, or the introduction you want, then stop talking and let them respond.

Before you deliver it

Rehearse this one against a stopwatch you can see, because the failure mode at 100 seconds is speeding up rather than running long. Record a version and listen for the moment your pitch turns into a list. Then practice the first 30 words on their own, since that is all you get in a hallway before someone decides whether to keep asking.