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There have been public speakers for millennia; however, many were prone to give lectures of two hours or more. Today, in our instant gratification culture – people want their information quickly, often in less than half an hour.

It is important that you learn to cut your time down. In many cases, you will only have to give a twenty-minute speech. You will find that if you take the time to define the key points of your speech, you’ll be able to make it short and stick to the point. With our fast-paced society, you will find that your audience will not tolerate a long and dragged out speech. They only want to hear the main points and then some suggestions and have a few minutes to ask questions. When giving a speech you will find that short and sweet is always the best approach.

Following are some tips on how you can learn to limit your speeches.

First – stories – keep them short, you will want to keep your stories less than two minutes in length. You may think that two minutes is too short, however, it is usually just enough time for you to give your audience the point to your story – without losing their interest. You may even want to leave out some stories if you know they seem to be long and dragged out. Always keep in mind that if you do tell
a long story than it had better be funny or you will lose all the respect and interest of your audience. You also want to watch how you tell the story. You don’t want to leave them with questions like “Who, What, and Why.” Stick to the point and be clear.

Secondly, remember that less is more. You should leave out anything that doesn’t really relate to the topic of the speech. You will also want to make sure that you don’t get off track. “No bunny trails.” Make sure that you do everything that you can to filter yourself from the filler words. Words that aren’t even words should not be used in speech, like, umm.

Next, you may find that it is more comfortable to speak in public when you use short sentences and phrases. You will find that the audience will understand more clearly and that there aren’t as many questions at the end of the speech.

Lastly, unless you are told a specific time frame, you should try to keep your speech to twenty minutes or less. Practice in front of a mirror and run through your speech so that you can get your timing just right, especially if you have a specific amount of time.

Wrapping up, you will end up spending a lot of your time on the content of your speech, however, you will want to make sure that you cover all the points in the speech without skimping. By budgeting the time allotted to your speech, you’ll feel more prepared and confident when it’s time for your public speaking presentation.

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