The deadly sins of public speaking can completely wreck your best efforts to give a good speech. It’s important to be aware of them so that we can eradicate them from our speaking. Time theft is the third deadly sin in my series.

Time theft – the deadly sin of Greed

As a speaker, you have an allotted speaking time.  You have a responsibility to stick to the time allocated to you.  Overrunning is disrespectful to other speakers, the organisers of the event and your audience who may switch off when you talk for too long or leave the room because they have somewhere else to be.

As listeners, our attention spans are short. Some say as little as 8 seconds, less than a goldfish! While the numbers may be exaggerated, our ability to stay focused and absorb information is limited.  This is why speakers need to say less and deliver with dynamism, contrast and colour to make what you have to say interesting and memorable.

What can you do about time theft?

Manage your infobesity – remember your mantra: Less is Always More.

Be clear about why you are giving the speech and your message. Strip out all information that doesn’t directly support your message.

Have you ever heard anyone complain about a speech being too short? Prepare less content than you think you need. For instance, if you have a 15-minute speaking slot, prepare 10-12 minutes at most. Once in front of an audience, your delivery is likely to be slower and you also need to allow time for audience reactions, such as laughter.

Then practise your speech, out loud, with a timer to gauge the length. If you overrun, edit and make some cuts or add some powerful pauses to your delivery so that you keep to your allotted time, with room to spare!