We’ve all been on the receiving end of speeches that overrun. Timing it right means producing and delivering speeches and presentations that stay within the time you’ve been allocated. This shows respect for yourself, your audience and the event organisers, as well as demonstrating that you are well prepared.

Speeches can overrun for many reasons, including starting late, unexpected disruptions, eg fire alarms, last-minute tech failures, etc. While you can do all the sensible checks, ultimately, these reasons tend to sit beyond your control as the speaker.

In contrast, the most common reasons for overrunning lie squarely within the speaker’s control and usually reflect a neglect to rehearse and time a speech before going live or simply a bad case of ‘infobesity‘ or trying to cram in too much. It is, of course, hard to leave things out when it’s a subject you care about and are eager to share ‘everything you know’ with your audience.

However, less is more in terms of sticking to time and less is definitely more for the audience. So, here are three steps to timing it right for speeches that keep everyone happy, timewise at least.

Timing counts – minutes and words

First, you need to decide how long you will speak for. You will have received a time allocation from the ‘event’ organiser.  But you don’t want to fill every minute. As a guide, reduce your time allocation by 15-20%. If you have a 10-minute slot, then aim to produce a speech that lasts about eight minutes.

This flexibility is essential for your audience that hasn’t heard your material before. They need time to absorb and reflect on what you are saying, time for unanticipated explanations or questions, as well as time to laugh when you make humorous remarks. In addition, it allows you time to adjust your speaking pace and gestures to reinforce your words. If you finish early, you can always take questions or simply stop. How often do you hear people complain about a speech being too short?

Second, convert the planned length in minutes into the approximate number of words you will need to fill that time. I typically aim for 80-100 words per minute when speaking in public. With this in mind, I know that if I have a 10-minute slot, I need to write approximately 800-1,000 words.

Speaking rate is highly individual. English conversational speed is about 120-150 words per minute (wpm); presentations about 100-150 wpm. Some of the most-viewed TED Talks have speaking rates between 154 wpm (Brené Brown, The Power of Vulnerability) and 201 wpm (Tony Robbins, Why we do what we do). The faster you speak, the greater the need for easy-to-understand language, very clearly articulated.

Record and time yourself giving a speech or presentation and calculate the wpm, try out an app or website, such as WordCounter, or invite friends or colleagues to give you feedback on your pace. This input will give you a fairly reliable guide for subsequent speeches.

Time to write – crafting your content

Getting the timing right begins when you’re drafting your speech or presentation. You know how long you have to speak and roughly how many words you need. This gives you a good indication of the appropriate breadth and depth of your material.

Purpose & message

Next you need to determine the purpose and message of your speech. What is the single main point you want to make? I find it helpful to write this down, in large letters, and keep the page in view while you are compiling your content. You then work backwards to outline of the essential information required to support your message – stories, data, quotes, etc. Don’t worry about any material being wasted; it might simply belong in a different speech or article.

Scrutinise all your material and evidence against your message. Anything you try to add that does not directly support your message does not make the cut.

Structure

Now, consider the structure of your speech. What is the most efficient route from your opening remarks to your core message? What is the optimum number of sections and sub-sections? How many examples? The more layers you introduce, the harder it is for your audience to follow what you’re saying and for you to keep to time. And, as we know, three works well, so wherever practicable, aim for three key points, sections or examples.

Signpost

Signposting also helps you ensure your speech flows easily and affords clarity to your audience. What will the next few minutes or ‘chunk’ of your speech cover and, at the end of that chunk, a few words summarising its main point … all building towards your core message.

If you tend to write out your speech in full, this is when you may find it useful to convert your script into ‘chunks’, with a keyword to remind you what you want to say. Chunks give you greater flexibility than a script to shorten your speech in real time if you find yourself overrunning.

Rehearse your timing

The process of presenting often takes longer than you expect, so it’s important to practise. Run through your speech  with a stopwatch, speaking (not reading) aloud. Make it as realistic as possible, using any visual aids, building in gestures, pauses and changes of pace. This rehearsal time will also help you iron out any wrinkles in your speech, such as awkward words or phrases, over-complex sentences, non-sequiturs and so on.

If you are using slides, factor in time for your audience to read any words that they contain. People read in preference to listening  so allow them time to do this before you start talking. This is a good reason for keeping text on slides to a minimum.

The more you rehearse, the more fluent and comfortable your delivery will become as you internalise what you want to say and finesse your word choice.

We tend to be poor judges of time. On the day, ask someone to flag key timing milestones or use your phone stopwatch to keep you on track.

3 steps to good timing

Three steps to good timing – determine the word count, craft message-driven content and rehearse – will leave a positive impression and earn you the heartfelt appreciation of your audience and your host.