When your speaking slot is cut short, focus on delivering the core message clearly and concisely. Prioritize key points and trim less essential details. Start with a strong opening to grab attention, then move quickly to the main takeaway. Use impactful stories or examples to reinforce your message, ensuring they are brief but memorable. End with a powerful, concise conclusion or call-to-action. By focusing on clarity and brevity, you can still leave a strong impression, even in a shorter time frame.

For starters, I get my key points out quickly, then repeat them with real-world examples and relatable content (adding humor and my conversational style along with it; I no longer accept speaking gigs that are more like a lecture or lectern speech). From a content design perspective, I prepare 3 versions of my content where v.1 is the full slot, v.2 is 3/4 of the content (and time), and v.3 is half the content (and time). That way my core message remains intact; the rest is building outer layers to deepen the understanding and relatability of my content. As speakers, we are providing a service, and last minute changes will happen. Part of our profession is to be ready to roll with it in support of our sponsors.

I always hate when my speaking time is shorter than I was told, but it happens for different reasons. Sometimes I’m not told to cut my talk, but I can tell it would be helpful to get the meeting/conference back on schedule. In these times I’m usually cutting illustrations - shortening opening remarks - summarizing rather than going into detail - and cutting a couple of points if I need to. (If I had 7 points maybe only 5). Bottom line though, I try not to make the audience think I was asked to cut or that the schedule is running over - that’s not fair to the people in charge and won’t get you asked back to speak.

Agility is key to any speaking engagement, whether shortened in time or other changes occur. If time is short, and you are on a panel, build off other’s comments, saving time by reflecting back on their observations vs restating them. If a solo speaker, better to shorten than rush. No one but you likely knows the remarks are shorter than you had hoped. Relax into the adjustments and hit home your key points!

Some ways to tackle unexpected slot cuts : 1) Assess the topics which your audience will gain most value from and make sure you present those 2) Don't go through the entire slide content. It's always helpful to have the key points summarized on slide notes so you can cut short wherever needed. 3) Offer another follow up session if anything can't get converted despite your best efforts