If my allotted time is cut, what should I eliminate from my speech?
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.
If my allotted time is cut, what should I eliminate from my speech?
Your Marketing Director: “Unfortunately, you’ll have to drop the stories and examples and the jokes and humor. Just get the facts out as quickly as possible.”
Your Boss: “Get the facts out. Get in. Get out. Sit down and shut up.”
You: “I’ll just cut out the examples and stories and talk faster. That way I’ll still cover all of my points.”
***
Your audience: “The faster you talk, the faster we zone out, forget or fail to process in the first place. Since it is highly unlikely that we will remember more than a couple of points from your speech anyway, why don’t you figure out what the couple of points of greatest importance are from your speech? Then, without rushing, give us examples and stories to make those one or two points come alive. Far better to communicate one point with one story memorably then to quickly dump lots of data that is quickly forgotten. Plus, you can always give us handouts or direct us to a website for more information. If you have said anything remotely interesting and useful, we will seek out more information from you.”