During your presentation, time moves at different speeds for you and your audience.
Don’t say, we will wait a few more minutes for more people to arrive. This rewards the late arrivals and punishes those who showed up on time.
If it’s your meeting, set an odd start time. 9:04. That looks like you are serious. People are more likely to show up between 9:00 and 9:04.
Start at the promised time. Reward those who show up early. Tell a story. Provide a link to extra material – only for the early arrivals. Start some chatter. Don’t waste time by asking where everyone is from.
At the theme park, the sign promises a three-minute experience and you want the full expression. You want your three minutes. You would feel cheated if you only got two minutes and 45 seconds.
The smart theme park would promise a two and ½ minute experience, then deliver three minutes of experience. You would feel like you got your money’s worth and more.
Guess what? When you deliver a presentation, the logic is flipped. If you promise a 30-minute presentation and you speak for 35 minutes, they will feel abused.
They’re thinking, Why did you lie to us? Why did you waste five minutes of my life?
If you finish five minutes early, they will feel elated – not cheated.
Rehearse your presentation and make notes of the duration of each portion. Where should you be at the half-way point? How will you know if you are behind schedule?
How long is that key story? Can you deliver a short version if needed? How long do you need to deliver your planned close? If you don’t want to shorten it, be ready to leave some other part out.
If you were told to prepare a 30-minute presentation and when you arrived, they cut your time to 20 minutes, are you ready to adapt? If you can’t adapt, what does that say about you?
Place a timer or clock in front of you. This is easy if you are speaking virtually. When you are speaking in a board room, place a digital travel clock on the table.
When on stage, place a large clock at the front of the stage. At a conference, the AV people might set up a timer on the floor in front of the stage. Some meeting rooms might have a clock on the back wall. The worst place for the clock is on the wall behind you.
Don’t keep checking your watch because this emphasises the time to the audience. Never call out to the audience with, “How am I doing for time?” That silly question broadcasts the message that you are not in control of your time.
Always be ready to leave something out to finish on time. For that reason, never leave an important point to the end.
Respect the time of your audience and they will feel better about you.
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