Public Speaking

I generally do not pay much attention to the technicalities of  public speaking. To me, the most important thing is to have your heart in your speaking. But here is one technicality I do pay very close attention to. Timing!

Limiting your public speaking time is very important. It plays key to several roles. Respect for your audience and their time. Not beating a subject to death. And for other speakers who may have arrangements to speak after you.

I had the experience several months ago to listen to a public speaking platform for internet marketers. One of the biggest mistakes these marketers were making was going way over time on their presentations. Here’s what happens. Your audience becomes annoyed. Many of them will even end up leaving. That’s a bad thing. If you are trying to sell them something at the end of your presentation do you want to guess how many are going to be interested? Not very many. If you do not limit your time it’s  going to end up hurting your presentation.

Here’s something else to consider. Most of us are not eloquent speakers that are begged for encore performances after we speak. Very few are that good. We can only be tolerated so long. So don’t overstay your welcome with your audience and management.

Here’s how you can practice limiting your public speaking time. One of the greatest inventions in this regard is the stopwatch. Use one. Before your speech do a complete rehearsal and time it. If you are going overtime, then you really need to scale back what you are speaking about. Also keep in mind your abilities. You may be a fast speaker when you are live on the stage or you could have the tendency to slow down. Figure that into your timing for adjustment.

Also it’s not a bad idea at all to bring a stopwatch on stage with you and see how your timing is going. You may need to make adjustments on stage to accommodate your time.

Stick to the time allotted you! It’s for your benefit. If you are selling something at the end of your public speaking engagements your audience will want more and you’ll make more sales. If you wish to be invited back people will be hungry for more of what you have to say.