The 4 Hour Work Rule: Work Smarter Not Longer To Get Better Results From Your Public Speaking

How many of you would like to get better at public speaking but work less hours preparing?? A show of hands?

Yup, my hand is right up there with yours.?

I’ve discovered something called The 4-Hour Work Rule and it’s all about getting better results from your preparation and practice and working less hours.

The human brain can handle only so much input of information at once and for only a limited amount of time.? Beyond a few hours and your brain starts to shut off because it’s reached saturation point.

The 4-Hour Work Rule says that four hours is just about the maximum length of time your brain can optimally soak up information.? Beyond that, you’re basically beating a dead horse and wasting valuable time trying to put letters into an already full post box.

Here are three ways to use the 4-Hour Work Rule to benefit your public speaking and get better results from your preparation and practice time.

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#1? Quality Not Quantity is the Key

We’ve all heard that it’s quality, not quantity that wins the day in many areas of life.? You can apply this to your public speaking preparation time as well as to how many people show up at your birthday party.? It’s not about how many people show up, it’s the right people showing up that matters.

Centuries Of Burn Out Tells Us More Isn’t Better

Japan and America are just a two countries that for centuries have advocated that the more hours you work, the more money you’ll make and the more productive you’ll be.? Pictures of employees pulling ‘all-nighters’, face down on their desk, having fallen asleep where they sit, are commended for their diligence.

We know now that exhausted employees only leads to having to replace them or giving them time off because they get sick or burned out.? When you practice your public speaking skills and prepare for that big presentation or interview, it works the same way.

Your brain works better when it has time to take a break and process information.? Practice for an hour, take a break, practice again, then engage again and process again.? The body needs time to recover so take your work in bite sized chunks instead of one very long, relentless stream of hours and hours.

Remember:? Quality, not quantity is the name of the game.? You’ll learn better, receive more value from your preparation time, and be more productive when you take consistent breaks when you practice.?

#2? Work Smarter, Not Longer

The 4-Hour Work Rule says that when you cut down on the amount of hours you work and concentrate instead on quality of hours, you reap more benefits of that intense time.? In the book The 4-Hour Work Week author Tim Ferriss talks about D.E.A.L., the steps that will lead you to get more value in less time.

‘D’ is for Definition, defining your goal for this practice time and being specific about what you’re practicing.? Is your goal to work for 2 hours?? 1 hour?? 4 hours?? Define what you’re practicing and why and you’ll get higher return on the results from that preparation time.

‘E’ is for Elimination, getting rid of old mindsets that are holding you back.? Is there an area of your public speaking that you need help in?? Could you hire a coach?? This can be tricky but be ruthless with what you need and admit what isn’t working for you.

‘A’ is for Automation.? Now, for self-employed people this can be tricky but it can be as simple as an app that helps you schedule your social media.? You can hire someone to do that for you so you have more time to practice your presentation or pitch.

?‘L’ is for Liberation and freeing yourself to spend time doing things you want to do.? The era of working until you’re exhausted are well and truly over.? ?

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#3? The Pareto Principle

Here’s my last kicker.? You’ve probably heard of the 80-20 rule, which comes from The Pareto Principle.? This aphorism states that 80% of outcomes result from 20% of all causes.? To put this in a business context, 80% of your income will be generated by 20% of your clients.? Or in public speaking terms:? 80% of the value of your practice time comes from 20% of your preparation time.

So, again, we run into quality not quantity.? Figure out what’s really important to you and what really works for you and concentrate on those things.? Find that 20% of your practice time and pour love into it.

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The 4-Hour Rule Is There For You To Use

At the end of the day, we’d all love to work less and still get massive value from our time.? When you practice public speaking skills it’s all about quality and not quantity.?

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Work with focus and purpose, be specific about what you’re practicing and what value you want from it, and you’ll get better results from your time.

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If you’ve never thought about working less hours, be bold and consider the alternative.? You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain from changing the way you think about time and how to use it well.

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You’ve got this.? Give me a bell if you want to know more about nailing your public speaking and presentations.?

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See you on the inside!

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A presto,

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Maria xx