Presentations Training:
Presentation Skills Training - 5 Steps For Professional Presenters To Manage Time

One of the major problems experienced by presenters involves the time; not enough time, too much time and running out of time. The difficulty is that when time becomes a problem we suffer -- and sometimes we go to pieces. Presentation timing problems cause anxiety and stress for a presenter. We end up giving the wrong impression to the presentation audience and we need to fix the problem.

There are 5 key planning steps that we have to consider for any presentation:

Time to plan. As presenters we are responsible for being at an event and making a presentation at the right time, on the right day and on the right subject. That's something we can do with planning. We have a lead time before the event in which to do our research, prepare our content, build outlines, consider themes and share notes with the organizer. And we have to be ready and rehearsed on the day at the appointed time.

Plan to time. We are ultimately responsible for sound timekeeping. Whether it's a Board room presentation, a sales pitch, a PowerPoint presentation or a conference room address we owe it to the organizers and the audience to start and finish on time. This shouldn't be problematic. We have already rehearsed, and dress rehearsed.

Run to time. Actually running to time can be a different matter. But we are familiar with the subject and our built-in outline should keep us to time. We aim to stick to the outline, to stick to the stories we had planned to tell and stick firmly to the major presentation points. Our breathing and pausing techniques must be followed -- and we can finish to time.

Planning quick time. The challenge is typically when we start our presentation late because of an untoward delay earlier in the event. If an earlier speaker over runs their allotted time or if the Board room discussion goes on longer than planned. In such circumstances we have to speak with the organizers very smartly. We have to know our options. Will lunch be delayed by 15 minutes if we stick to time? Should we run for 25 minutes and not the planned 40 minutes? Does the organizer want us to make up time? All of these scenarios should be considered. And if the organizer wants us to save some time, then we have to be prepared to do so -- without sacrificing the core purpose of our presentation. It's a raw situation. But it's a situation that is very common. Our content editing skills might need to be used very quickly -- we should be ready to drop some material in the middle. Our beginning and conclusion should not be touched at this point.

Tangent time. As a last note we have to consider the potential scenario where the organizer asks us to fill a conference agenda for longer than initially planned. This might not seem as hard as it first appears -- because we should always plan for tangent time. This is the time that we feel can be given over to explore some content in more detail if we sense that the audience requires it. If our content is clearly working with the audience we might have the opportunity to go into more detail than we had previously anticipated. So with our prior investment in tangent time material (stories, anecdotes and sub-points) we should be able to work this into our main presentation -- thus meeting the organizer's needs.

Presentation timing does not need to be a problem. And it certainly should not impact our professional performance as a speaker. We have the time to plan and we use the time wisely. We know the time slot available and we plan to fill it. Our rehearsal techniques ensure that we do run to time and finish when we should. Our planning and preparation mean that we are ready if asked for a shorter presentation - and we can achieve that politely and professionally. And finally our investment in research means that we have the material to extend our presentation should that be needed. A presenter's time is there to be managed -- we just have to do it.

Source: Andrew Ivey link

Related: Presentation Skills Training

More Presentations Skills Tips