Script Analyser

Knowledge Base

How to Use the Script Analyzer

The Script Analyzer counts words, estimates reading time, and breaks down script by speaker. Paste your script and see how long it will take to read at different speaking speeds. Essential for planning video length and keeping pacing tight.

Understanding Reading Speed

Average speaking speed is 130-150 words per minute (WPM). Slow, deliberate speech: 100-120 WPM. Fast, energetic speech: 160-180 WPM. Podcasters typically aim for 130-140 WPM for clarity.

Script Length Guidelines

• 30-second YouTube short: 75-85 words.
• 60-second commercial: 150-160 words.
• 3-minute YouTube video: 390-450 words.
• 10-minute podcast episode: 1,300-1,500 words.
• 30-minute podcast: 3,900-4,500 words.

Pacing Tips

Shorter sentences sound punchier. Longer sentences are harder to memorize and read unnaturally. Include pauses (marked with an em dash or an ellipsis) for emphasis. Vary sentence length to maintain listener interest.

FAQ

Q: Should I script every word or just bullet points?
A: Full script for important intros/outros/calls-to-action. Bullet points for main content (sounds more natural).

Q: How do I add pauses to my script?
A: Use (pause), [beat], or just extra line breaks. In editing, add silence between sentences for natural rhythm.

Reading a script analysis

Estimated read time is the most immediately useful figure, and it depends on delivery. Conversational narration runs around 150 words per minute, instructional material intended to be absorbed runs slower, and an energetic promotional read runs faster. A script timed at the wrong assumption arrives long or short, and for anything with a fixed slot that is a rewrite rather than an adjustment.

Readability scores describe sentence and word length, not quality. A low score usually means long sentences with many clauses, which matters for spoken delivery because a reader has to sustain them in one breath. Treat a poor score as a prompt to read the passage aloud rather than as a verdict on the writing.

Tongue-twisting sequences are worth taking seriously. Repeated sibilants, clusters of similar consonants and awkward vowel transitions cost takes, and finding them before recording is much cheaper than discovering them on the fourth attempt. Changing one word usually resolves the whole sequence.

Write for breath. Speakers need somewhere to breathe every few seconds, and prose written for the eye frequently offers nowhere. Sentences of varying length, with genuine full stops rather than commas linking clauses indefinitely, give a reader room and give the listener a chance to keep up.

Numbers in a script deserve a decision before recording. Written figures, dates, currency amounts and abbreviations can each be spoken several ways, and a performer guessing mid-take produces an inconsistency somebody has to fix later. Writing them out as they should be said removes the guess.

Read it aloud once before recording, always. Every automated measure here approximates something a single spoken pass reveals directly. The sentences that need breaking, the words that fight each other, and the paragraph running out of air all announce themselves immediately, and the whole check costs the length of the script.

Vocabulary

Words per minute. The rate of spoken delivery, used to convert a word count into a duration. Conversational narration sits near 150, with instructional material slower and promotional reads faster.

Readability score. A measure derived from sentence and word length, estimating how demanding a text is to process. Useful as a prompt for spoken delivery, and no substitute for reading the passage aloud.

Sibilance. The concentrated high frequency energy in s and sh sounds. Clusters of them in one phrase are hard to deliver cleanly and hard to process afterwards, so rewriting is usually easier than repairing.

Pickup. A re-recorded fragment replacing part of a take rather than the whole thing. Requires matching voice and room, so noticing a problem phrase before recording avoids the matching problem entirely.