Eulogy Length Timer
How long is your eulogy, really? Counted at the pace people actually speak at funerals — slower than they think.
The honest rule of eulogy length
Write it, read it aloud once at half your normal speed, and cut the paragraph you stumbled through — it was the one you included out of duty, not love. The room will remember one true story told slowly far longer than a full biography delivered quickly.
Need the words themselves? Our eulogy examples show the structure, and the programme editor has a writing helper that drafts from a few facts.
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Common questions
How long should a eulogy be?+
Three to five minutes — 375 to 625 words — is the range ministers ask for. A single deep breath of a eulogy at two minutes lands better than ten minutes that loses the room. If several people are speaking, two to three minutes each.
Why 110–125 words per minute?+
Conversation runs near 150 wpm, but grief slows speech: pauses, composure, the microphone. Timing a eulogy at conversational pace is how speakers run long on the day.
How many words is a 5 minute eulogy?+
About 625 words at a steady pace, or 550 with honest pauses. The slider gives you the target for any length.