The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

How long should my speech be?

Your Speech Coach: “According to a study conducted by the U.S. Defense Department in 1974, the ideal length of a speech is 18.5 minutes.”

Your Corporate Communications Director: “As a general rule of thumb, the shorter the better.”

You: “I need to make the speech more concise. The sooner I shut up and sit down, the less likely I am to make any mistakes or give people an opportunity to criticize me.”

***

Your Audience: “Sure, if you are going to be incredibly boring, it is better to be boring for a short period of time rather than a long period of time. But why start with such low expectations? If you speak for just a few minutes, but you are really boring, we will zone you out after 30 seconds. However, if you are incredibly interesting, we will hang on yoru every word for hours!”