Short on Time? What to Keep & What to Bleep

A client told me he was speaking right before lunch at a half day conference. The previous speakers had all run long - so the meeting planner asked him to please shorten his 45 presentation to 30 minutes.

He said, "Sam, I had already condensed my 60 minute program into 45 minutes, and with almost no notice, I had no idea what to leave in and what to leave out.

I was able to manage it, but it wasn't my best presentation. I hope that doesn't happen again, but just in case it does, how can I shorten a talk on short notice?"

First, I game him props for honoring the amount of time he was given, even when it was not what he expected.

I told him, "Mike, kudos to you for pivoting on the spot. A cardinal rule of speaking is 'Never, ever, go long. Not only is it unprofessional, the audience and event planner will resent you because taking more than your given time is a rather arrogant way of saying, 'I care more about what I have to say than about your schedule/program/agenda needs."

Next, I gave him these tips so he can be mentally prepared in case this happens again.

By the way, these tips don't just apply to speakers. If you host zoom calls, staff meetings, panels, podcasts, you can adapt these to honor your time commitment, whatever it is.

Sam Horn's Tips on What to Keep and What to Bleep if You're Running Out of Time

1. Before the presentation/meeting, clarify a one sentence answer to these questions.

a. What do I want people to remember at the end of this program/meeting?

b. What do I want them to start, stop, do differently as a result of this talk/call?

c. What is a change I want them to make, an action I want them to take?

Your answers to these questions are your purpose and editing tool to figure out which content is most likely to deliver the results you want in the time you have remaining.

Authors learn to follow William Faulkner's advice, "In writing, you must kill your little darlings."

In other words, we must be willing to let go of content we've spent a lot of time on - but for whatever reason - we realize it is superfluous and will not move the work forward.

As speakers and meeting/call hosts, that is also our role and goal.

If you need to condense, on the spot, what you planned to say, ask yourself, "Which insight, story, agenda item is 'nice', but will NOT achieve my/our purpose?"

Even if you originally thought it deserved to be included, at this point, discipline yourself to give 'its' time to content that is more likely to deliver the desired results.

If it's really important, you can say, "We were going to discuss ____, and to honor our agenda, we're putting that in the parking lot and moving it to next week's meeting."

Or, "I was going to tell a story about ___. AND to get our program back on time, I'm jumping to my final point. If you're curious, please come up to me at lunch or in the halls. I'm happy to share it with you and hear your story about a time you've ____ (reference your topic/theme.)

2. Another in-the-moment editing tip is to ask, "What HAVEN'T I (or the group said) that is fresh, relevant, surprising that will re-energize me and the group?"

Energy and attention matter. Part of our responsibility as a communicator is to sustain energy - and capture and keep interest - from start to finish.

Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver has an index card taped above her laptop that says, "Will the reader turn the page?"

The presenter/host's version of that is, "Will people keep watching and listening?"

If you only have a little bit of time left, what can you share that will cause people to care? What will pleasantly surprise them and boost their emotional engagement?

By the way, that's why I always have a few favorite pithy quotes in my verbal back pocket.

For example, you might want to share what Richard Branson said, "Time is the new money," and then say, "I believe time is the new trust." So you can always trust us to keep our time promise to start and end on time, we're going to wrap this up in the next five minutes."

3. Always have your final remarks ready to go. Being asked (or forced) to end early can discombobulate some speakers/hosts. They trail off or offer a weak apology which undermines their impact. Remember, "We never have a second chance to make a lasting impression."

Use these What NOT to Say at the End of Your Talk tips to craft a close that motivates people to remember you and want to follow up.

After all, people wanting to continue the conversation is a sign of success.

Hope you've found this useful. What do you do if you're short on time?