Training Series #4 – More Research & Tips for Timing Presentations

More Research!

There Are EVEN MORE Key Questions to Answer for Designing Successful Training and Speech Content! Sob!

Cheer Up!

Let’s Get Going! What Is Your

TIMING IS EVERYTHING!

Well, it helps if you can speak clearly and engage your audience, too, but timing counts a lot.

Step One: What Are You Forgetting?

More Questions? More Research? Ha!

Yes, there is more to think about before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Furthermore, unless you are an authoritarian dictator with weapons and an army, the amount of time you actually have for the substance of your presentation can be far less than that which was given to you as “the time slot.” To start, let’s pretend you reviewed Training Series ~

• #1 (training scope and variables)
•  #2 (venue attributes as they affect your presentation)
•  #3 (time-consumers: amenities, protocols, introductions, politics, food, etc.).

However, after contemplating all those elements plus the following dynamics, you still may have to do more research before creating content. Note: Tips about Content Creation are in #5 of this Training Series.

It’s as Easy as 

But It Takes Time to Do More Research!

Think About These Things

In fact, you might need to finish Step Two (below) before refining the exact approach and title for your topic. Some, but not all, segments of the following conversation are an elaboration on what you found in the Checklist Chart. We’re going to talk about:

• Things we usually forget to consider that often interfere with the time you have to present your session. (Contingency Planning) + (Tips for Timing Your Presentations)
• “Up close and personal” details about your audience, co-hosts, fellow panelists, and how they feel about you or the subject.
• Keeping participants AWAKE.
• Use of content and images that are copyrighted. Use of content and images that require permission from audience, sponsors, hosts, etc.
• Ways of handling Q & A and Evaluations.
• The kinds of media in which your presentation will be created and how it is to be distributed, marketed, and advertised. (Advance planning will save you time and effort, and you can incorporate some of it into the content of your presentations.)

First, let’s do “Step Two.”

Step Two: Conduct More Research and Plan Your Options for These Important Contingencies

Tic Toc – It’s All About Time, Timing, and Being Timely

We’ve kind of answered the who, what, where, when, and why, but for how long will you speak? Again, you have a “time slot,” but the actual substantive presentation period often is much shorter. We’ll start with

1. getting there (to the venue) and contingencies
2. being there (at the podium) and contingencies
3.  physically timing your presentation

Think about time allotments for every task.

---

GETTING THERE ~

When Logistics Go Cuckoo

Have you figured out your transportation and estimated travel time per the chart I gave you in Training Series #2? Is it Suzy Q or Left-Brained Larry who will pick you up at the airport or drive supplies to the site?  AND:

• What is your backup plan (for a canceled flight, missed ride, dead car battery, traffic delays, etc.)?
• Do you have a shortened version of your presentation?
• Do you, at least, have an outline that helps you quickly see what elements you could skip or on which you can spend less time without ruining the talk?
• In a training class, are there ice breakers or exercises you can forego to ensure you are able to give the most critical material to the participants?
  

  ---

BEING THERE ~

The Sound and the Fury …

Research Your Options for When Technology Goes Kerflooey!

Yes, you are planning for the exigencies listed above. Great! Well, how ’bout this: have you allowed for what to do when the projector bulb breaks or you cannot access the Internet?

Create Contingency Plans While You Create Content!

• (I take hard copies of my presentations, even if I expect never to use them, just in case the electricity goes out or the equipment doesn’t work.) 
• In terms of content creation, I also usually give copies of the outline or presentation to the participants. At the beginning of my talk or class, I tell them I’ll do this, so they don’t have to take copious notes, and they’ll be able to have a memory jogger plus references for all the things I covered.
• Of course, I do NOT give them copies of other people’s copyrighted work unless I have permission to share the material I’ve been able to use.
  

  ---

Employ Your Backup Plan Fairly Quickly

Trying to make something work, finally giving up, and then punting uses up valuable minutes!

It also costs you in terms of reputation, attentiveness of the participants, and some people will leave if they feel their time is being wasted.

Is Your Presentation Interactive? If Yes, Can You Speed Things Up With Software?

How much time must you spend on “housekeeping?” (Directions to the bathrooms, arrangements for refreshments, silencing cell phones, wearing badges, etc.) Can you save time by using infographics (yours or mine)?

Even Use of Supplies May Require Inquiries

• Do you need a few minutes during the presentation to hand out materials or pencils and clipboards? It always takes longer than you think it will.
• Does the venue supply these items, or must you?
• Can you leave materials on or under the seats before the presentation to save valuable minutes?

Are there things you can do interactively with students online, rather than with pen and paper or other items that must be collected? Do you have the interactive software needed to get immediate audience responses or other input? Click Here to see a comparison of ten applications.

Keeping Them Awake

Having mentioned this previously, I include it here as a reminder. Have you allowed time for a stretch or coffee break to keep people’s attention?

Do you want to use infographics to announce a timeout for this activity? They can be useful in long-term training, conferences, or retreats as you establish schedules and agendas.

Planning for Questions

(Online and In-Person)

Many presentations these days are a combination of Zoom (or other platform) meetings with an additional in-person audience.

Will you provide a formal question and answer period in the end, and/or will you take questions during the talk? We’ll talk more about this in the Training Series #5 about Content Development. You can use your own or some of Nancy’s Novelty Infographics to give instructions.

Note Cards or Trips Down the Aisle?

Might you require that participants submit questions on notecards to be brought to the podium? What arrangements must be made for that? Are we talking pen and paper, or could it be done electronically?

• Will people have to travel down the aisles to get to a microphone to pose questions to you?
• Who will staff the handling of the microphones?
• Who will get the mics to work in the first place? Where are they kept? Do you have a key to their storage area?

What If … No Questions During the Presentation

If you won’t entertain questions during the presentation, will you stay for questions afterward? Have you allowed time for the latter, as well as for packing up your stuff, as you contemplate your transportation departure arrangements?

Do You Need Time for Group Reports After Breakout Sessions or for Evaluations at the End?

Do You Have to Wait for Other Speakers to Do Something Before You Can?

Did you allow time for people to fill out and return evaluations? Do you have someone who can collect them for you while you talk with members of the audience?

Again, what about using Interactive Software? Statistics demonstrate that participants are far more likely to give you feedback if they do it while still “in the room.” The return is far less if they take away forms to fill out later. Later never happens.

Question: Will You Issue Certificates, Awards, Gifts, Raffle Items?

Did you factor in time to sign and distribute certificates of completion or calculations of CEU’s, if applicable? What about awards or gifts, etc.?

Do You Need Time for Clean-up?

Are you responsible for cleanup? Do you have to wait until other speakers perform before you can do that work? How does that affect your schedule in terms of travel, your health regimen, your next Zoom meeting, or date with your kids or loved one?

Tips for Timing Your Presentation

How Fast Do or Should You Talk?

Here are Factors to Consider.

Many people (especially when they feel nervous) speak much faster when presenting than they did while reading their presentations to themselves.

Practice in front of a volunteer audience (or even one person) if you can. You also could practice in front of a mirror, but feedback from others is preferable.

Time Yourself

Time yourself. You’ll be amazed at the actual minutes and seconds it takes, per page of a presentation, when you are saying things aloud, versus reading them on your computer, smartphone, or hard copy notes.

You may find that there is a typical amount of time per page that it takes you to present material. It then becomes easier to estimate the length of your talk by multiplying the number of pages times that average amount of time.

Add additional minutes for breaks, questions, breakout group exercises, videos, etc. This provides a good “guesstimate,” so you know whether you must cut back on or add more material.

One More Time! Who Is Your Audience?

Once again, consider your audience. If you are presenting highly technical subject matter to lay people or are speaking in a language to an audience of people for whom that is not their native language, you could help them by speaking more slowly and distinctly than you probably do normally.

FOCUS – Don’t Wander

True story: I once knew a preacher of whom his parishioner said, “I don’t have to worry about letting my mind wander all over the place during sermons, because (the preacher) does it for me.”

Speakers routinely wander off topic or feel they must “go there” in response to audience questions or reactions. This eats up valuable time. An outline may help you get back on topic to ensure you don’t run out of time before you’ve made the main points.

Enuff About “More Research” Already!

Okay, People. Thank you for your patience! I can’t promise there won’t be more questions for you to ask and answer. However, the next article in the series will be all about writing content.

No More  Research Before Working on Writing Content!

I promise that – if I think of more things to consider before you start writing the speech – I won’t add a new page. I’ll go back and put it into one of the series articles I’ve already done and repost that segment.

Please come back to “get into the weeds” or contact me with your questions. Remember, you can do training, teach, and give presentations yourself, or you can outsource it. I create, edit, and review content, as well as providing classes, training, and speeches. How may I help you? MyPersuasivePresentations@gmail.com. Please put “Training Inquiry” in the subject line or state that if you have to leave a voicemail message. Thank you.

Free Initial Consultation

Contact me for a FREE initial consultation. 540-646-4311 or email me at MyPersuasivePresentations@gmail.com. Please put “Free Consultation Training Inquiry” in the subject line or state that if you have to leave a voicemail message. Thank you.

Do It the Write Way! Let My Fingers Do Your Talking!