Beat the Clock!

When I’m on vacation, I often go days without wearing a watch. It’s nice not to be guided by the clock, at least for a short while each year. What time is it? I don’t know: time for a swim; time to eat; time for a beer.

For a speaker, on the other hand, losing track of time is a major faux-pas, especially if it results in running over time. Even worse is the speaker who feels no compunction about speaking for 5, 10 or even 15 minutes beyond his allotted time.

In almost every case, running over time is highly disrespectful of one’s audience. If the speaker is one of several on the agenda, it is also disrespectful of the other speakers and the event organizers who will be forced to adjust the schedule. And rarely is a speaker who drones on remembered kindly by the audience.

So here’s an idea from an old TV game show for your next presentation: Beat the Clock!

The premise behind the show was simple: contestants were given a series of challenges that they had to complete in less than the time allotted. If they succeeded, they beat the clock and won a prize.

The next time you have a presentation, see if you can beat the clock. Speak for less than your allotted time.

I realize that this might sound counterintuitive to many people, but I have yet to see an audience complain when a speaker finishes a little early. The reaction is usually one of pleasant surprise and appreciation.

Let’s be clear, though, about what I am suggesting. You should not race through your material at breakneck speed; nor should you speak for much less than your allotted time, thus leaving a gap to fill. Rather, you should aim to have your presentation, including questions and answers, completed a few minutes before your time is up. For example, do you have an hour? Aim to have everything wrapped up in 55 minutes.

Of course, the less time you have to begin with, the more difficult the exercise is. Five minutes is only 8% of a one hour presentation, but it is 33% of a 15-minute presentation. You probably don’t want to leave that much time on the table.

Nevertheless, aim to finish with a few minutes to spare or, at the latest, when your time is up. You might not win any prizes, but you will win the the respect and appreciation of your audience, your fellow speakers and those who organized the event.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
Picture of mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. Two memories came to me, reading your post.
    First – in a church (in Bristol I think it was) I once saw a sermon glass. Before watches, regular public speakers, like ministers in their pulpits, would have to time themselves with hour glasses. As I recall I was told this particular glass contained enough sand for a 45 minute sermon. The glass was visible to the speaker and to the whole congregation. You can imagine how a poor speaker would see the audience’s attention shift from his face to the sand falling in the glass. And how he might face difficulties if he over-ran!
    The second memory was hearing Peter Eriksson, one of the Swedish Green Party leaders, speaking in a formal debate from the Riksdag not so long ago. He had 45 seconds to respond to a statement from the Prime Minister. It’s pertinent to this story that the current PM (Fredrik Reinfeldt, a conservative), since taking over the reigns of power, has developed a speaking style that comes remarkably close to the measured, pedantic, slightly superior style of the previous Prime Minister (Göran Persson, a socialist). Instead of responding to the PM’s platitudes, Eriksson used just half the time available to remark on the transformation in the PM’s speaking style. I thought it was both well-observed and rather funny, but the 20-odd second pause when no one spoke was too long and ended up filled with nervous titters from some of our fine political representatives.
    I suppose the point of this comment is to support what you say about over-running, but to stress that even under-running has to be got right too.

    1. John, thanks for the thoughtful comments and great anecdotes. I can well imagine how an emptying hourglass would attract attention in the way an ordinary clock never could! And I agree completely about going too far under time which is not a good thing either.
      John

  2. I agree that finishing early should be done with caution, but you’re absolutely right – audiences love it when a presenter or speaker finishes early. It implies that you respect their time – and may even put them in a better mood too. I remember the sheer delight on the (extremely) rare occasions when a university lecture would finish early…

    1. Thank you, Jessica. I think we all tend to get caught up in what we are saying so much that we lose sight of the audience’s perspective as well as their ability to retain information. Your reference to the length of university lectures brought back pleasant memories. And unpleasant ones too!
      John

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 + six =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International