When
you give a presentation, you have a certain amount of information you’d like to
convey, centered on one core message, but you also have a limited amount of
time in which to communicate it.
We have
all been in presentations where the speaker exceeds the time limit and keeps
speaking. Or when he is given the
five-minute warning and is not even halfway through the presentation, so he
rushes through the rest of his slides at full speed.
It is disrespectful
to the audience (and to any project managers following you) to go over your
time limit.
If you
are given ten minutes to present, plan to speak for eight. If you are given 60 minutes to present, plan
for 50. You should know enough about
your topic to speak for longer, but you should prepare your actual presentation
to be under the time limit. No one will complain if you end a few minutes
early.
It
takes preparation, practice and focus to stay within the time limit. After you organize your material around your
core message, practice giving the presentation and time it. If you are over the
time limit, cut out something. Repeat
this process until you are well under the time limit.
If you
do nothing else differently other than to end your presentation before the time
is up, you will automatically be a better presenter.
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