A 30-second introduction is about 65 to 75 words. That is roughly four or five spoken sentences. It sounds shorter than you expect, and that is the point, because most people try to cram far too much into half a minute and end up rushing through the whole thing.
The numbers
People speak at somewhere around 130 to 150 words a minute when they are relaxed and easy to follow. Run the arithmetic on that steady pace and a short introduction lands like this.
| Length | Words at a steady pace |
|---|---|
| 30 seconds | about 65 to 75 words |
| 60 seconds | about 130 to 150 words |
| 90 seconds | about 195 to 225 words |
Those are talking numbers. You read faster than you should speak, so a script that looks like 30 seconds on the page often runs long out loud. The words to minutes tool does the conversion for you if you want to check a specific piece of writing against the clock.
Write short, then speak slower than you wrote
The most common mistake is writing to the top of the range and then speeding up to fit it all in. Aim low instead. Write closer to 65 words than 75, and give yourself room to slow down on the parts that matter. A 30-second intro delivered at an unhurried pace lands far better than a 40-second intro crammed into 30. If you are unsure how fast you actually talk, the pace calculator gives you your real number in about a minute.
Structure for 30 seconds
With only 65 to 75 words to spend, structure earns its keep. A simple, reliable shape is three beats. Who you are, what you do, and why it matters to the person listening. One sentence each, with the last one doing the real work of connecting to them. That leaves you a sentence to open warmly and a moment to breathe. Trying to fit your whole history into 30 seconds buries the one thing you want them to remember, so pick that one thing first and build the rest around it.
Leave room to breathe and pause
The word counts assume steady, continuous talking, and a good intro is not that. You want a beat of silence after your name, a small pause before the line that matters, and a breath or two along the way. Those pauses eat into your 30 seconds, so they are another reason to write short. A 65-word intro said with a couple of real pauses often lands right at the half-minute mark, while a 75-word one leaves you racing to fit the pauses in. Count the silence as part of the budget and it stops surprising you.
Practice against a clock
A mirror tells you how you look and nothing about your timing. Practice out loud against a clock or a stopwatch instead, and say it the way you actually would, at a real speaking pace rather than a rushed read. Time it a few times and you will quickly feel where it runs long and which sentence to cut. Say it enough that you know the shape of it, without memorizing it word for word, so it comes out fresh rather than recited.
Bloom tracks your speaking pace live, so when you rehearse an intro you can see whether you are holding the steady rhythm that keeps you inside 30 seconds, or quietly speeding up as the clock ticks down.
The hard part of all this is noticing what you are doing while you are doing it, which is tough to catch on your own. We made an ambient app for exactly that. It runs on your Mac and gives you private feedback in the moment, and it never records or uploads anything.
Join the waitlistQuestions people ask
How many words per minute do people speak?
A relaxed, easy to follow speaking pace is roughly 130 to 150 words a minute. Faster than that starts to feel rushed and harder to catch, and much slower can drag, so most clear speakers sit inside that band.
Should I memorize a 30-second introduction?
Know the shape and the key phrases, but avoid memorizing it word for word, because a recited intro sounds stiff and falls apart if you lose your place. Practice it out loud enough that it comes naturally, then let the exact words vary a little each time.
How long is a 60-second introduction in words?
About 130 to 150 words at a normal speaking pace, which is roughly twice a 30-second intro. Aim for the lower end and speak slowly, since a script that reads as 60 seconds on the page often runs longer out loud.