E-Tips

Taming The Time Demon!

Imagine this. You're the third speaker for a morning briefing. You're scheduled to come on at 11:20 AM, just before lunch. The first speaker is the VP of Sales and Marketing. He has lots of funny stories and runs over by 15 minutes. The second speaker is the VP of R&D. She drills down into the technical issues, gets in debates with engineers in the audience, loses track of time and goes over by 20 minutes. You look over at the director who is hosting the meeting only to see a look of hopeless despair on his face.

At 11:50, he announces your presentation. What do you do?

1. Throw up;
2. Talk really fast (making 'em drink from a fire hose);
3. Keep 'em till 12:30 (running up against hungry bellies and full bladders);
4. Dump 3/4 of your talk and end on time.

Correct answer: #4.

Timing is the invisible success factor for presenters. I was recently invited to do a short program for senior trainers on the topic of "How To Control Timing?" I asked the group to come up with strategies that have worked for them. Here are some of their comments in three distinct areas:

1. Make it relevant.
   
   
   1. Get an overview of the audience, their concerns, and interests. Tailor slides and presentation to them without introducing unnecessary information.
   
   
   
   2. Understand the audience's specific need, to ensure that the content is tailored to fit the context. Incorporate their hot topics and remove extraneous information.
   
   
   
2. Get agenda buy-in
   
   
   1. Get buy-in on topics to be covered. If time goes over, you can tick off topics that have to be eliminated.
   
   
   
   2. Agree with the group on time constraints and agenda topics. This sets the stage to stay on track to meet group objectives.
   
   
   
3. Use real-time control strategies
   
   
   1. Have someone else be the timekeeper.
   
   
   
   2. Be willing to toss content as necessary.
   
   
   
   3. Hold questions until the end.
   
   
   
   4. Remind audience of how much time is left.
   
   
   
   5. Salt the PowerPoint slides with the agenda and check off the items you have completed.

To this excellent list, I would add these strategies:

1. Modularize your content.
   
   This will allow you to easily jettison parts of the presentation and the audience will never know.



2. Use the 75% rule.
   
   Prepare enough material for about 75% of the allotted time. This should allow for starting late, and unexpected interruptions.



3. Plan to end early.
   
   Audiences rarely get mad at a speaker for ending early.



4. Get a strong MC (master of ceremonies).
   

Most timing issues stem from the fact that the person who is running the meeting is not strong enough to jump in and stop rambling, out-of-control presenters. Often these presenters are senior in the organization and the MC is too intimidated to take control. This results in everyone's timing getting off.