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Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath

Were you happy about it? Or were you mad that they now put you behind for your next appointment? Or did you leave before they wrapped up?

In this article, we examine the importance of finishing on time and give 5 tips for staying within your time constraints.

Is finishing your presentation on time important?

In most situations, yes!

Always assume that your audience is busy (because they are).

Always assume that could have chosen other places to be (because they could have).

Always assume that they have something planned immediately after you finish (because they usually do).

Audiences get uneasy if you are approaching your time limit and you aren’t wrapping up.

They start to consider walking out .
They start to get nervous thinking about their next appointment , and how they may be late.
They start wishing you’d wrap it up already.
Most importantly, they stop listening to you!

Not only do you lose credibility with your audience and risk offending them, but you also lose the opportunity to make a strong conclusion because they either aren’t listening or they aren’t in the room!

Is it better to end early, or right on time?

If it’s really bad to finish over time, then one might assume that you should always try to end well under your allowed time. However, that’s not always good either.

If you finish your presentation considerably under time (e.g. 20 minutes early in a presentation scheduled for one hour), your audience may feel cheated, particularly if they paid to listen to you speak. They may feel that you promised 60 minutes of value, but only delivered 40.

For this reason, one safe rule of thumb is to speak for between 90-100% of your allowed time . So, if your presentation is planned for 60 minutes, you should speak at least 54 (or 55 for a nice round number). This ensures that your audience doesn’t “feel cheated”, but also ensures that you don’t go over time.

There are all sorts of exceptions to the above rule of thumb, so use your judgement and do what makes sense in your situation.

5 Steps To Keep Your Presentation Within Time

It’s really not that hard to finish your presentation on time. Just follow these five simple steps:

#1 — Know Your Allowed Time

Have you ever heard a speaker walking away from a venue muttering: “I thought I had longer”?

This is the result of poor communication between the speaker and the event organizer. Both the speaker and the event organizer end up looking bad in this scenario.

Make sure you are always aware of how long you have to speak. Verify with the event organizer before the event.

#2 — Plan Your Content and Edit as Necessary

For many speakers, the problem is not knowing how much time the audience is giving them. The problem is being unreasonable with how much they can say within that allotted time.

Most people overestimate how much material they can adequately cover within a given time. They want to “share everything” and “leave nothing back”. On the other hand, the wise presenter develops strong self-awareness about how long it takes to effectively deliver their message.

When you are planning, also consider:

Q&A : Allow time for audience questions, either within your presentation or at the end.
Activities : Allow adequate time for any planning audience activities or exercises. One of my challenges is that I tend to underestimate how long it takes to explain an activity and “break into groups” before the exercise even starts.
Breaks : For longer presentations, budget time for breaks for stretching, bathroom visits, coffee, or meals. This all comes out of your allotted time. In a typical full-day (8-hour) training course, for example, you might only have 6 hours of instruction once you subtract out all of the breaks.

Cut mercilessly to make sure the material you intend to deliver can be delivered within your time constraints. It’s better to present the appropriate amount at a pace which the audience can absorb rather than whizzing through too much material so the audience grasps nothing.

#3 — Rehearse Effectively

Until you gain experience as a speaker, you may not be able to accurately gauge how much content fits within a given time. For example, how many pages would you write if delivering a 30 minute commencement address? How many case studies can you cover in a lunch-time seminar?

“ If you go over time while rehearsing, you’ve got to cut material. ”

The best way to measure how long it will take is to time yourself while you rehearse effectively:

Rehearse standing up and speaking out loud . Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can just “whisper” your way through your slides while sitting in front of your computer. Your pace will be different while standing.
Speak to a test audience , even if all you can arrange is one person. This eliminates the tendency to “practice within yourself” as some speakers do while rehearsing. Just one audience member forces you to make eye contact and look for audience feedback. It also simulates a bit of the pressure you may feel with a real audience. You can also get valuable feedback by asking “How was my pace? Did I go too fast?”
Make it as close to the real thing as possible . If you’ll be using a presentation remote to advance your slides, then rehearse with one. If you’ll be moving around in the “real presentation”, then do so as you rehearse. If you can rehearse in the room where you’ll be presenting, do so. The more closely you can mimic the real thing, the better your time estimate will be.
Make it a dress rehearsal . If I’m planning to wear a suit when presenting, I like to rehearse in one. For me, the act of dressing up creates the same nervous energy and tends to give me more accurate timing.

Rehearsing in this way allows you to accurately time your presentation under close-to-real circumstances. If you go over time while rehearsing, you’ve got to cut material.

#4 — Start on Time

How many times have you seen a presenter ask for “just 5 more minutes” at the end of a one-hour presentation, despite having started ten minutes late?

Do everything in your power to start on time. Arrive early, sort out your technology, and make sure everything is set to go when your time starts. Don’t waste a moment.

Your exact start time isn’t always within your control. For example, I know of one company where “lunch-time seminars” always start at 12:15. If you are invited to speak in this forum, you’ve got to know that. A thorough discussion with the event organizer should reveal this.

#5 — Measure Your Progress and Adjust

For short speeches (say, under 15 minutes), you can probably just launch into it and hit your end time target within reason (assuming you have rehearsed it).

For longer presentations, however, you can use a more strategic approach:

As you rehearse your content, note how long it takes for each “block” of your presentation. (Get someone to time you if necessary.)
12:05 – Start presentation
12:15 – Introduction and case study introduced
12:30 – Case study and lessons learned complete
12:50 – Live demonstration complete
12:58 – Q&A complete. Applause.
Write down these targets and have them with you as you present, perhaps on a small notepad by your water. (I do it with red pen and big letters.)
As you reach the end of each “block”, check the clock . If you are running behind, you can adjust your pace. For example, if you are starting the live demonstration at 12:35, then you know you are 5 minutes behind, and you’ll have to cut planned material to “catch up.”
If necessary, recruit an assistant with a watch to help you monitor your intermediate targets.

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We’ve all been there. The speaker speaks for far longer than anyone expects and as an audience member you just sit there thinking “when will this end?” I’ve seen it time after time at public speaking clubs in particular.

It’s worth reinforcing that when you are speaking in front of an audience, it will always take longer to cover the same material adequately. That extra time is necessary to let the message sink in with a real, live audience. Rehearsal time can be misleading, so don’t get caught out!

I would love to share this with clients. Your 5 minutes is not the same as mine, just make sure you finish on time. Great read!

this is great advise ur really smart dude keep doing you

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Presentation timing: 5 tips to avoid audience wrath http://t.co/Dw4Je0rz — Diane Dec 21st, 2012

recommend reading for presenters at conferences http://t.co/LfnlikwXp6 — @tweetsimon Jul 7th, 2014

@VMart speaks the truth! 5 tips to keep yourself on time and your audience happy. http://t.co/SWeQFQEcDE #AFS145 https://t.co/bxbn7wDSjQ — @pseanmc Aug 19th, 2015

.@6minutes Andrew! I just read your article on speech timing, so great! Also giving it to my students to read ~ https://t.co/JzheERLxNz — @JacksonHoleRose Oct 25th, 2015

Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath https://t.co/qjXmwcjwZ4 by @6minutes — Sleiman Skaf (@SleimanSkaf) Apr 20th, 2016

#TuesdayTips Good tips by @6minutes about keeping your presentation within the allotted time. https://t.co/Rk2GtzReRv — PitchVantage (@pitchvantage) Jul 26th, 2016

There is nothing worse than when speakers go on and on and on . . . https://t.co/XZVnTmNvHO — @speakers4change Oct 5th, 2016

#DMCIT Might be of interest for the upcoming presentations. https://t.co/oeGhqqc5F8 — @Zeet66 Nov 1st, 2016

Of course, you don’t want to go way under time, but, in my opinion, it’s much better than going over time. I like… https://t.co/4FPFvPxB6R — @justineldees Oct 28th, 2018

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Project Management

Mastering time constraints in a project: strategies, examples, and tools.

Sarah Burner

ClickUp Contributor

February 13, 2024

A constraint is a limitation, a set of boundaries within which you must work. Most people would see constraints as a negative, curbing what you can achieve.

Within project management, the opposite can be true. Imagine if you had infinite time to develop a feature. You’d never complete it!

Without constraints on the project scope, you’ll be pushed and pulled in all directions, significantly affecting your focus. Without resource constraints , your workflows might not be optimized for efficiency or productivity.

Project constraints enable efficiency and effectiveness, helping teams deliver software in small increments. Various types of constraints have different impacts on project outcomes. Let’s look at them one by one.

Scope constraint

Cost constraint, time constraint, what are time constraints, 1. project planning, 2. task prioritization, 3. realistic time estimation, 4. time tracking, 5. regular progress monitoring, 6. risk identification and mitigation, 7. streamlined communication, 8. agile project management, 9. managing meetings, 10. continuous improvement.

The Triple Constraints of Project Management

A typical project can face three kinds of constraints: Time, cost, and scope. These are commonly known as triple constraints. They are also known as the project management triangle, iron triangle, or project triangle.

The scope refers to a product’s features or functions that the team has agreed to deliver or the tasks the project team has agreed to complete.

It outlines what needs to be done and at what quality. The project scope typically also determines the time and cost.

A good project scope gives development teams the clarity and freedom to build software. A bad one allows scope creep and throws the team off track.

Cost constraint is the budget, placing limitations on financial resources. This can include several things. For instance, an agile software development team can have constraints on the following project costs.

Team salaries
Equipment like laptops, servers, etc.
Allowances and travel expenses
Any software or automation tools needed for project completion

Effective cost constraints ensure return on investment (ROI) and business outcomes. A bad one leaves everyone demotivated and restrained.

The boundaries of time applicable to a project. In other words, deadlines. The time constraint is applied in the form of deadlines for each task, milestone, and the entire project.

A reasonable time constraint allows the team to build good products that meet all the acceptance criteria. An unreasonable time constraint or a tight deadline will force the team to cut corners and build a low-quality product, piling up technical debt.

Of the trifecta of constraints that keep a project manager up at night, today, we focus on time constraints. We see why they’re important and what you can do to avoid them from derailing your project.

Time constraints are the limitations of duration placed on you through the course project. By when you should finish the project, when you should push features to production, how many person-hours you can spend on a feature, and so on.

Time constraints are often visualized as a schedule. For example, you would schedule a project with deadlines for the planning phase, development, testing, final review, production push, and hand-off.

Any delay in one of the phases may have a snowball effect, pushing the entire project down a few days/weeks. These delays create unnecessary and artificial constraints on project delivery.

A project manager strives to avoid artificial constraints that arise in the middle of the project. Here are some ways to do that.

10 Strategies to Avoid Time Constraints

Avoiding time constraints is not a one-off activity but a continuous process. Project teams set structures and systems to avoid creating pressure on themselves. Some of the most effective ones use a project management tool like ClickUp. Here’s how.

A robust plan avoids half the constraints. Create a comprehensive project plan outlining the tasks, deliverables, and deadlines. Use the ClickUp Calendar view to see how your tasks map.

Pay special attention to dependencies. If you have a task that depends on another, pushing the latter might derail the former. Gantt chart view can assist in tracking overlapping tasks and dependencies .

Use this project stage to evaluate the financial resources needed to complete in time.

First time planning a project? Here are some excellent project planning templates to get you started on the right foot.

There is a natural limit to how much work you can get done within a specified period. Prioritizing the right tasks is vital for effective time management.

If you stack too much, you’ll miss deadlines. If you schedule too little, you might have unutilized resources, which is a waste of time. So, prioritize and schedule to optimize outcomes.

Use a priority list to guide your decisions. Try resource leveling , allocating more resources for complex tasks, and letting the team stay on track.

A project schedule is created based on how much time team members think will be needed to complete each task. This process, called time estimation, is a critical part of project time management .

Project managers and team members typically base their project forecasting on past performance. If GDPR compliance took 20 hours the last time, it’s likely to take the same now.

However, estimates are just likely guesses. To ensure your estimates are as accurate as possible, compare them to actuals. ClickUp’s time estimate and time tracking features are designed for this very purpose.

Clock hours for every task on your project timeline. There are several time management apps that will allow you to do this.

ClickUp’s time-tracking is built into the project management platform, allowing you to start and stop a timer or add manual times for every task you’re working on. Use this information to make your estimates more accurate.

Over time, your ability to estimate and plan will strengthen, reducing time constraints.

If you’re putting together a new team or are newly adopting ClickUp, here are ten time management templates to help you leverage time tracking to avoid future constraints.

If you switch on a project and let it run unattended, you will likely be surprised when the tasks aren’t done on time. So, managing time constraints needs regular monitoring.

Use any free Gantt chart software to track if the timelines are as planned. Customize the ClickUp Dashboards to see the reports you need to track your progress. Use the burn-up and burn-down charts to know how the project might go. Identify delays and make alternate arrangements.

What is the probability of you not meeting the deadline? What are the potential reasons for this?

Answering these two questions will help you identify the risks you face and gauge their impact on the project. These risks could be financial, operational, or even behavioral. Its impact might be anything from a couple of days’ delay to a complete inability to deliver the project.

Before you begin the project, gather the team for a discussion of risks. Identify and mitigate these risks to ensure your time constraints are not exacerbated.

What your team members don’t know, they can’t do. For example, imagine a situation where the acceptance criteria for a specific feature isn’t communicated clearly. The developer might think they delivered the feature, while the quality analyst might disagree. They would send the feature back to the developer, adding unnecessary rework time.

Avoid this by streamlining all project communication.

Document meeting notes, requirements, and other conversations on ClickUp Docs
Write detailed descriptions for each feature/user story within the task
Allow team members to clarify anything they need contextually in the comments section of the task
Add checklists/action items to ensure the acceptance criteria for each feature are always handy
In addition to those who are working on the features, add ‘watchers’ to ClickUp tasks so they can intervene, if necessary

Sometimes, the project doesn’t go as planned. The business stakeholder might bring in changes in the requirements. Team members might fall sick and need extended days off. Organizations might run short of cash. Things happen. As a result, you might inevitably face time constraints.

Agile project management is designed to meet precisely such eventualities. Agile project managers are expected to foresee potential problems and make contingency plans. Or, at the least, they must alert the leadership and manage expectations.

“This could have been an email” is an internet meme for good reason. One of the biggest time sucks for the development team is meetings, many of them unnecessary and ineffective.

To consistently prevent unforeseen time constraints, manage meetings better. Review your time management tools to understand how much time goes into meetings. Based on that, optimize your processes.

Conduct meetings only for activities that require active discussion. Timebox them and push towards action items. Document key insights and decisions so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel in the next meeting.

For everything else, use a good collaboration tool. The comments within ClickUp tasks enable nested conversations. ClickUp’s chat view allows you to see all messages in one place and take action from there.

Agile teams are big on continuous improvement, with good reason. A continuously improving team can deliver higher efficiency and value in the long run. For instance, you’ve optimized the containerization process for each feature through continuous improvement.

You can then automate the entire or parts of it, saving even more time and effort. This is a crucial way to avoid time constraints sustainably.

Conquer Your Project Constraints with ClickUp

Constraints are inevitable in every project. We would go as far as to argue that constraints are necessary.

However, unexpected and unreasonable constraints can derail the project entirely. Good project management should prevent that. ClickUp is designed with this in mind.

With ClickUp, you can follow best practices to avoid time constraints. ClickUp tasks, sub-tasks, and checklists ensure clarity of requirements. Calendar and Gantt chart views enable a bird’s eye view of ongoing work.

The ClickUp Dashboard offers visibility into project progress. With all the resources you need, you’re ready to conquer your project constraints with ClickUp. Try ClickUp now for free .

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12.3 Speaking in Business Settings

Learning objectives.

Employ audience analysis to adapt communication to supervisors, colleagues, employees, and clients.
Explain the role of intercultural communication competence in intercultural business communication contexts.
Identify strategies for handling question-and-answer periods.
Identify strategies for effectively planning and delivering common business presentations, including briefings, reports, training, and meetings.

Most people’s goal for a college degree is to work in a desired career field. Many of you are probably working while taking this class and already have experience with speaking in business settings. As you advance in your career, and potentially change career paths as many Americans do now, the nature of your communication and the contexts in which you speak will change. Today’s workers must be able to adapt content, level of formality, and format to various audiences including the public, clients, and colleagues (Dannels, 2001). What counts as a good communicator for one audience and in one field may not in another. There is wide variety of research and resources related to business communication that cannot be included in this section. The International Association of Business Communicators is a good resource for people interested in a career in this area: http://www.iabc.com .

Adapt to Your Audience

Speaking in business settings requires adaptability as a communicator. Hopefully the skills that you are building to improve your communication competence by taking this class will enable you to be adaptable and successful. The following suggestions for adapting to your audience are based on general characteristics; therefore expect variations and exceptions. A competent communicator can use categories and strategies like these as a starting point but must always monitor the communication taking place and adapt as needed. In many cases, you may have a diverse audience with supervisors, colleagues, and employees, in which case you would need to employ multiple strategies for effective business communication.

Even though much of the day-to-day communication within organizations is written in the form of memos, e-mails, and reports, oral communication has an important place. The increase in documentation is related to an epidemic of poor listening. Many people can’t or don’t try to retain information they receive aurally, while written communication provides a record and proof that all the required and detailed information was conveyed. An increase in written communication adds time and costs that oral communication doesn’t. Writing and reading are slower forms of communication than speaking, and face-to-face speaking uses more human senses, allows for feedback and clarification, and helps establish relationships (Nichols & Stevens, 1999).

Much communication in the workplace is written for the sake of documentation. Oral communication, however, is often more efficient if people practice good listening skills.

Queen’s University – Alumn i Volunteer Summit – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

It’s important to remember that many people do not practice good listening skills and that being understood contributes to effectiveness and success. You obviously can’t make someone listen better or require him or her to listen actively, but you can strive to make your communication more listenable and digestible for various audiences.

Speaking to Executives/Supervisors

Upward communication includes speeches, proposals, or briefings that are directed at audience members who hold higher positions in the organizational hierarchy than the sender. Upward communication is usually the most lacking within an organization, so it is important to take advantage of the opportunity and use it to your advantage (Nichols & Stevens, 1999). These messages usually function to inform supervisors about the status or results of projects and provide suggestions for improvement, which can help people feel included in the organizational process and lead to an increased understanding and acceptance of management decisions (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005). So how do we adapt messages for upward communication?

The “executive summary” emerged from the fact that executives have tightly scheduled days and prefer concise, relevant information. Executive summaries are usually produced in written form but must also be conveyed orally. You should build some repetition and redundancy into an oral presentation of an executive summary, but you do not need such repetition in the written version. This allows you to emphasize a main idea while leaving some of the supporting facts out of an oral presentation. If an executive or supervisor leaves a presentation with a clear understanding of the main idea, the supporting material and facts will be meaningful when they are reviewed later. However, leaving a presentation with facts but not the main idea may result in the need for another presentation or briefing, which costs an organization time and money. Even when such a misunderstanding is due to the executives’ poor listening skills, it will likely be you who is blamed.

Employees want to be seen as competent, and demonstrating oral communication skills is a good way to be noticed and show off your technical and professional abilities (Bartolome, 1999). Presentations are “high-visibility tasks” that establish a person’s credibility when performed well (Weinholdt, 2006). Don’t take advantage of this visibility to the point that you perform only for the boss or focus on him or her at the expense of other people in the audience. Do, however, tailor your message to the “language of executives.” Executives and supervisors often have a more macro perspective of an organization and may be concerned with how day-to-day tasks match with the mission and vision of the organization. So making this connection explicit in your presentation can help make your presentation stand out.

Be aware of the organizational hierarchy and territory when speaking to executives and supervisors. Steering into terrain that is under someone else’s purview can get you in trouble if that person guards his or her territory (McCaskey, 1999). For example, making a suggestion about marketing during a presentation about human resources can ruffle the marketing manager’s feathers and lead to negative consequences for you. Also be aware that it can be challenging to deliver bad news to a boss. When delivering bad news, frame it in a way that highlights your concern for the health of the organization. An employee’s reluctance to discuss problems with a boss leads to more risk for an organization (Bartolome, 1999). The sooner a problem is known, the better for the organization.

Speaking to Colleagues

Much of our day-to-day communication in business settings is horizontal communication with our colleagues or people who are on the same approximate level in the organizational hierarchy. This communication may occur between colleagues working in the same area or between colleagues with different areas of expertise. Such horizontal communication usually functions to help people coordinate tasks, solve problems, and share information. When effective, this can lead to more cooperation among employees and a greater understanding of the “big picture” or larger function of an organization. When it is not effective, this can lead to territoriality, rivalry, and miscommunication when speaking across knowledge and task areas that require specialization (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005).

Many colleagues work collaboratively to share ideas and accomplish tasks together. In a sharing environment, it can be easy to forget where an idea started. This becomes an issue when it comes time for credit or recognition to be given. Make sure to give credit to people who worked with you on a project or an idea. If you can’t remember where an idea came from, it may be better to note that it was a “group effort” than to assume it was yours and risk alienating a colleague.

Speaking to Supervisees/Employees

Downward communication includes messages directed at audience members who hold a lower place on the organizational hierarchy than the sender. As a supervisor, you will also have to speak to people whom you manage or employ. Downward communication usually involves job instructions, explanations of organizational policies, providing feedback, and welcoming newcomers to an organization.

Supervisors can set a good example by keeping a good flow of information going to their employees.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

This type of communication can have positive results in terms of preventing or correcting employee errors and increasing job satisfaction and morale. If the communication is not effective, it can lead to unclear messages that lead to misunderstandings and mistakes (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005).

During this type of “top-down” communication, employees may not ask valuable questions. So it is important to create an open atmosphere that encourages questions. Even though including an open discussion after a presentation takes more time, it helps prevent avoidable mistakes and wasted time and money. Let your audience know before a presentation that you will take questions, and then officially open the floor to questions when you are ready. Question-and-answer sessions are a good way to keep information flowing in an organization, and there is more information about handling these sessions in the “Getting Competent” box in this chapter.

A good supervisor should keep his or her employees informed, provide constructive feedback, explain the decisions and policies of the organization, be honest about challenges and problems, and facilitate the flow of information (Bartolome, 1999). Information should flow to and away from supervisors. Supervisors help set the tone for the communication climate of an organization and can serve as models of expectations of oral communication. Being prepared, consistent, open, and engaging helps sustain communication, which helps sustain morale. Supervisors also send messages, intentional or unintentional, based on where they deliver their presentations. For example, making people come to the executive conference room may be convenient for the boss but intimidating for other workers (Larkin & Larkin, 1999).

Speaking to Clients / Customers / Funding Sources

Communication to outside stakeholders includes messages sent from service providers to people who are not employed by the organization but conduct business with or support it. These stakeholders include clients, customers, and funding sources. Communication to stakeholders may be informative or persuasive. When first starting a relationship with one of these stakeholders, the communication is likely to be persuasive in nature, trying to convince either a client to take services, a customer to buy a product, or a funding source to provide financing. Once a relationship is established, communication may take the form of more informative progress reports and again turn persuasive when it comes time to renegotiate or renew a contract or agreement.

As with other types of workplace communication, information flow is important. Many people see a lack of information flow as a sign of trouble, so make sure to be consistent in your level of communication through progress reports or status briefings even if there isn’t a major development to report. Strategic ambiguity may be useful in some situations, but too much ambiguity also leads to suspicions that can damage a provider-client relationship. Make sure your nonverbal communication doesn’t contradict your verbal communication.

When preparing for a presentation to clients, customers, or funding sources, start to establish a relationship before actually presenting. This will help you understand what they want and need and will allow you to tailor your presentation to their needs. These interactions also help establish rapport, which can increase your credibility. Many people making a proposal mistakenly focus on themselves or their product or service. Focus instead on the needs of the client. Listen closely to what they say and then explain their needs as you see them and how your product or service will satisfy those needs (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005). Focus on the positive consequences or benefits that will result from initiating a business relationship with you. If you’ll recall from Chapter 11 “Informative and Persuasive Speaking” , this is similar to Monroe’s Motivated Sequence organization pattern, which gets the audience’s attention, establishes the existence of a need or problem, presents a solution to fill the need, asks the audience to visualize positive results of adopting the solution, and then calls the audience to action.

Use sophisticated and professional visual aids to help sell your idea, service, or product. You can use strategies from our earlier discussion of visual aids, but add a sales twist. Develop a “money slide” that gets the audience’s attention with compelling and hopefully selling content that makes audience members want to reach for their pen to sign a check or a contract (Morgan & Whitener, 2006).

Include a “money slide” in your presentation to potential clients or customers that really sells your idea.

Yair Aronshtam – Slide projector – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Proposals and pitches may be cut short, so imagine what you would do if you arrived to present and were told that you had to cut it down to one minute. If you were prepared, you could pull out your money slide. The money slide could be the most important finding, a startling or compelling statistic, an instructive figure or chart, or some other combination of text and graphic that connects to the listener. Avoid the temptation to make a complicated money slide. The point isn’t to fit as much as you can onto one slide but to best communicate the most important idea or piece of information you have. A verbal version of the money slide is the elevator speech. This is your sales pitch that captures the highlights of what you have to offer that can be delivered in a short time frame. I recommend developing a thirty-second, one-minute, and two-minute version of your elevator speech and having it on standby at all times.

Speaking in Intercultural Contexts

It’s no surprise that business communication is occurring in more intercultural contexts. Many companies and consulting firms offer cross-cultural training for businesspeople, and college programs in cross-cultural training and international business also help prepare people to conduct business in intercultural contexts. For specific information about conducting business in more than thirty-two countries, you can visit the following link: http://www.cyborlink.com .

While these trainings and resources are beneficial, many people expect intercultural business communication training to be reduced to a series of checklists or rules for various intercultural interactions that may be conveyed in a two-hour, predeparture “everything you need to know about Japanese business culture” training. This type of culture-specific approach to cross-cultural training does not really stand up to the complex situations in which international business communicators find themselves (Victor, 1993). Scholars trained more recently in culture and communication prefer a culture-general approach that focuses on “tools” rather than “rules.” Remember that intercultural competence is relative to the native and host cultures of the people involved in an intercultural encounter, and therefore notions of what is interculturally competent change quickly (Ulijn et al., 2000). To review some of our earlier discussion, elements of intercultural competence involve the ability to identify potential misunderstandings before they occur, be a high self-monitor, and be aware of how self and others make judgments of value (Ulijn et al., 2000).

I will overview some intercultural business communication tips that are more like rules, but remember there are always exceptions, so other competent communication skills should be on standby to help you adapt when the rules approach stops working (Thrush, 1993).

In terms of verbal communication, make sure to use good pronunciation and articulation. Even if you speak a different language than your audience, clearer communication on your part will help the message get through better. Avoid idiomatic expressions and acronyms, since the meaning of those types of verbal communication are usually only known to cultural insiders. Try to use geographically and culturally relevant examples—for example, referencing the World Cup instead of the World Series. Be aware of differences in communication between high- and low-context cultures. Note that people from low-context cultures may feel frustrated by the ambiguity of speakers from high-context cultures, while speakers from high-context cultures may feel overwhelmed or even insulted by the level of detail used by low-context communicators. The long history of family businesses doing business with family businesses in France means that communication at meetings and in business letters operates at a high context. Dates and prices may not be mentioned at all, which could be very frustrating for an American businessperson used to highly detailed negotiations. The high level of detail used by US Americans may be seen as simplistic or childish to audience members from high-context cultures. Include some materials in the native language or include a glossary of terms if you’re using specific or new vocabulary. Don’t assume that the audience needs it, but have it just in case.

Also be aware that different cultures interpret graphics differently. Two well-known cases of differing interpretations of graphics involve computer icons. First, the “trash” icon first used on Mac desktops doesn’t match what wastebaskets look like in many other countries. Second, the US-style “mailbox” used as an icon for many e-mail programs doesn’t match with the mail experiences of people in most other countries and has since been replaced by the much more universally recognizable envelope icon. Nonelectronic symbols also have different cultural meanings. People in the United States often note that they are pursuing the “blue ribbon” prize or standard in their business, which is the color ribbon used to designate second place in the United Kingdom.

“Getting Competent”

Handling Question-and-Answer Periods

Question-and-answer (Q&A) periods allow for important interaction between a speaker and his or her audience. Speakers should always be accountable for the content of their speech, whether informative or persuasive, and making yourself available for questions is a good way to demonstrate such accountability. Question-and-answer sessions can take many forms in many contexts. You may entertain questions after a classroom or conference presentation. Colleagues often have questions after a briefing or training. Your supervisor or customers may have questions after a demonstration. Some question-and-answer periods, like ones after sales pitches or after presentations to a supervisor, may be evaluative, meaning you are being judged in terms of your content and presentation. Others may be more information based, meaning that people ask follow-up questions or seek clarification or more detail. In any case, there are some guidelines that may help you more effectively handle question-and-answer periods (Toastmasters International, 2012; Morgan & Whitener, 2006).

Setting the stage for Q&A. If you know you will have a Q&A period after your presentation, alert your audience ahead of time. This will prompt them to take note of questions as they arise, so they don’t forget them by the end of the talk. Try to anticipate questions that the audience may have and try to proactively answer them in the presentation if possible; otherwise, be prepared to answer them at the end. At the end of your presentation, verbally and nonverbally indicate that the Q&A session is open. You can verbally invite questions and nonverbally shift your posture or position to indicate the change in format.

Reacting to questions. In evaluative or informative Q&A periods, speakers may feel defensive of their idea, position, or presentation style. Don’t let this show to the audience. Remember, accountability is a good thing as a speaker, and audience members usually ask pertinent and valid questions, even if you think they aren’t initially. Repeating a question after it is asked serves several functions. It ensures that people not around the person asking the question get to hear it. It allows speakers to start to formulate a response as they repeat the question. It also allows speakers to ensure they understood the question correctly by saying something like “What I hear you asking is…” Once you’ve repeated the question, respond to the person who posed the question, but also address the whole audience. It is awkward when a speaker just talks to one person. Be cautious not to overuse the statement “That’s a good question.” Saying that more than once or twice lessens its sincerity.

Keeping the Q&A on track. To help keep the Q&A period on track, tie a question to one of the main ideas from your presentation and make that connection explicit in your response. Having a clearly stated and repeated main idea for your presentation will help set useful parameters for which questions fall within the scope of the presentation and which do not. If someone poses a question that is irrelevant or off track, you can politely ask them to relate it to a main idea from the talk. If they can’t, you can offer to talk to them individually about their question after the session. Don’t engage with an irrelevant question, even if you know the answer. Answering one “off-track” question invites more, which veers the Q&A session further from the main idea.

Responding to multipart questions. People often ask more than one question at a time. As a speaker and audience member this can be frustrating. Countless times, I have seen a speaker only address the second question and then never get back to the first. By that point, the person who asked the question and the audience have also usually forgotten about the first part of the question. As a speaker, it is perfectly OK to take notes during a Q&A session. I personally take notes to help me address multipart questions. You can also verbally reiterate the question to make sure you know which parts need to be addressed, and then address the parts in order.

Managing “Uh-oh!” moments. If a person corrects something you said in error during your presentation, thank them for the correction. After the presentation, verify whether or not it was indeed a mistake, and if it was, make sure to correct your information so you don’t repeat the mistake in future talks. Admit when you don’t know the answer to a question. It’s better to admit that you do not know the answer than to try to fake your way through it. An audience member may also “correct” you with what you know is incorrect information. In such cases, do not get into a back-and-forth argument with the person; instead, note that the information you have is different and say you will look into it.

Concluding the Q&A session. Finally, take control of your presentation again toward the end of the Q&A session. Stop taking questions in time to provide a brief wrap-up of the questions, reiterate the main idea, thank the audience for their questions, and conclude the presentation. This helps provide a sense of closure and completeness for the presentation.

Which of these tips could you have applied to previous question-and-answer sessions that you have participated in to make them more effective?
Imagine you are giving a presentation on diversity in organizations and someone asks a question about affirmative action, which was not a part of your presentation. What could you say to the person?
In what situations in academic, professional, or personal contexts of your life might you be engaged in an evaluative Q&A session? An information-based Q&A session?

Common Business Presentations

Now you know how to consider your audience in terms of upward, downward, or horizontal communication. You also know some of the communication preferences of common career fields. Now we will turn our attention to some of the most frequent types of business presentations: briefings, reports, training, and meetings.

Briefings are short presentations that either update listeners about recent events or provide instructions for how to do something job related (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005). Briefings may occur as upward, downward, or horizontal communication. An industrial designer briefing project managers on the preliminary results of testing on a new product design is an example of upward briefing. A nurse who is the shift manager briefing an incoming shift of nurses on the events of the previous shift is an example of downward briefing. A representative from human resources briefing colleagues on how to use the new workplace identification badges is an example of horizontal briefing. Briefings that provide instructions like how to use a new identification badge are called technical briefings, and they are the most common type of workplace presentation (Toastmasters International, 2012). For technical briefings, consider whether your audience is composed of insiders, outsiders, or a mixture of people different levels of familiarity with the function, operation, and/or specifications of the focus of the briefing. As we have already discussed, technical speaking requires an ability to translate unfamiliar or complex information into content that is understandable and manageable for others.

Technical briefings, which explain how something functions or works, are the most common type of workplace presentations.

Shamim Mohamed – Debrief – CC BY-SA 2.0.

As the name suggests, briefings are brief —usually two or three minutes. Since they are content focused, they do not require formal speech organization, complete with introduction and conclusion. Briefings are often delivered as a series of bullet points, organized topically or chronologically. The content of a briefing is usually a summary of information or a series of distilled facts, so there are rarely elements of persuasion in a briefing or much supporting information. A speaker may use simple visual aids, like an object or even a one-page handout, but more complex visual aids are usually not appropriate. In terms of delivery, briefings should be organized. Since they are usually delivered under time constraints and contain important information, brief notes and extemporaneous delivery are effective (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005).

There are numerous types of reports. The line between a briefing and short oral report is fuzzy, but in general a report is a more substantial presentation on the progress or status of a task. Reports can focus on the past, present, or future. Reports on past events may result from some type of investigation. For example, a company may be interested in finding the cause of a 15 percent decline in revenue for a branch office. Investigative reports are also focused on past events and may include a follow-up on a customer or employee complaint.

Reports on the present are often status or progress reports. Various departments or teams that make up an organization, or committees that make up a governing board, are likely to give status reports. Status reports may focus on a specific project or task or simply report on the regular functioning of a group.

Components of a Status Report (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005)

State the group or committee’s task or purpose.
Describe the current status, including work done by the group and/or individuals and the methods used.
Report on obstacles encountered and efforts to overcome them
Describe the next goal or milestone of the group and offer concrete action steps and a timeline for achieving the goal.

Final reports are presented at the conclusion of a task and are similar to a progress report but include a discussion and analysis of the results of an effort. While some progress reports may only be delivered verbally, with no written component, a final report almost always has an associated written document. The written final report usually contains much more detail than is included in the oral final report, and this detail is referenced for audience members to consult if they desire more information (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005).

A common future-focused report is the feasibility report , which explores potential actions or steps and then makes recommendations for future action based on methodical evaluation. The purpose of these reports is basically to determine if an action or step is a good idea for an organization. Facebook made a much-discussed move to go public in 2012, a decision that was no doubt made after analyzing many feasibility reports.

Components of a Feasibility Report (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005)

Introduction to a problem or situation and its potential consequences
Overview of the standards used for evaluating potential courses of action
Overview of process used to identify and evaluate courses of action
Details of potential courses of action
Evaluation of the potential courses of action
Recommendation of best course of action

People in supervisory or leadership positions often provide training , which includes presentations that prepare new employees for their jobs or provide instruction or development opportunities for existing employees. While some training is conducted by inside and outside consultants, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics notes that about 75 percent of training is delivered informally while on the job (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005). As the training and development field expands, this informal training is likely to be replaced by more formalized training delivered by training professionals, many of whom will be employees of the company who have been certified to train specific areas. Organizations are investing more time and money in training because they recognize the value in having well-trained employees and then regularly adding to that training with continued development opportunities. Common focuses of training include the following:

Compliance with company policies. Includes training and orienting new hires and ongoing training for existing employees related to new or changing company policies.
Changing workplace environments. Diversity training and cross-cultural training for international business.
Compliance with legal policies. Sexual harassment, equal employment, Americans with Disabilities Act, and ethics training.
Technical training. Instructions for software, hardware, and machinery.

Companies are also investing money in training for recent college graduates who have degrees but lack the technical training needed to do a specific job. This upfront investment pays off in many situations, as this type of standardized training in field-specific communication skills and technology can lead to increased productivity.

Corporate trainers prepare new employees for their jobs and provide development opportunities for existing employees.

Louisiana GOHSEP – Employees Attend Training Classes – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Trainers require specific skills and an ability to adapt to adult learners (Ray, 1993). Important training skills include technical skills specific to a discipline, interpersonal skills, organizational skills, and critical thinking skills. Trainers must also be able to adapt to adult learners, who may have more experience than the trainer. Training formats usually include a mixture of information presentation formats such as minilecture and discussion as well as experiential opportunities for trainees to demonstrate competence such as role-play, simulation, and case-study analysis and application. Trainers should remember that adult learners learn best by doing, have previous experience that trainers can and should draw on, have different motivations for learning than typical students, and have more competing thoughts and distractions. Adult learners often want information distilled down to the “bottom line”; demonstrating how content is relevant to a specific part of their work duties or personal success is important.

Steps in Developing a Training Curriculum (Beebe, Mottet, & Roach, 2004)

Do background research based on literature on and observations of the training context you will be in.
Conduct a needs assessment to see what sort of training is desired/needed.
Develop training objectives based on research, observations, and needs assessment. Objectives should be observable, measurable, attainable, and specific.
Develop content that connects to the needs assessment.
Determine the time frame for training; make the training as efficient as possible.
Determine methods for delivering content that connect with objectives developed earlier.
Select and/or create training materials.
Create a participant’s guide that contains each activity and module of the training.
Include the following for each training activity: objectives, training content, time frame, method, and materials needed.
Test the training plan on a focus group or with experts in the field to evaluate and revise if necessary.

Over eleven million meetings are held each day in the United States, so it is likely that you will attend and lead meetings during your career. Why do we have meetings? The fundamental reason is to get a group of people with different experiences and viewpoints together to share their knowledge and/or solve a problem. Despite their frequency and our familiarity with them, meetings are often criticized for being worthless, a waste of time, and unnecessary. Before you call a meeting, ask yourself if it is necessary, since some issues are better resolved through a phone call, an e-mail, or a series of one-on-one meetings. Ask the following questions to help make sure the meeting is necessary: What is the goal of the meeting? What would be the consequences of not having it? How will I judge whether the meeting was successful or not? (Jay, 1999)

Meetings are important at the early stages of completing a task, as they help define a work team since the members share a space and interact with each other. Subsequent meetings should be called when people need to pool knowledge, refine ideas, consider new information, or deliberate over a decision. Most meetings are committee size, which ranges from three to ten people. The frequency of the meeting will help determine how the meeting should be run. Groups that meet daily will develop a higher level of cohesion and be able to work through an agenda quickly with little review. Most groups meet less frequently, so there typically needs to be a structured meeting agenda that includes informational items, old business, and new business.

In determining the meeting agenda, define the objectives for various items. Some items will be informative, meaning they transmit information and don’t require a decision or an action. Other items will be constructive, in that they require something new to be devised or decided, such as determining a new policy or procedure. Once a new policy or procedure has been determined, a group must decide on the executive components of their decision, such as how it will be implemented and who will have responsibilities in the process. As the items progress from informational, to constructive, to executive, the amount of time required for each item increases, which will have an effect on the planning of the agenda (Jay, 1999).

After completing the agenda, continue to plan for the meeting by providing attendees with the agenda and any important supporting or supplementary materials such as meeting minutes or reports ahead of time. Consult with people who will attend a meeting beforehand to see if they have any questions about the meeting and to remind them to review the materials. You can also give people a “heads up” about any items for discussion that may be lengthy or controversial. Make sure the meeting room can accommodate the number of attendees and arrange the seating to a suitable structure, typically one where everyone can see each other. A meeting leader may also want to divide items up as “for information,” “for discussion,” or “for decision.” Start the meeting by sharing the objective(s) that you determined in your planning. This will help hold you and the other attendees accountable and give you something to assess to determine the value of the meeting.

People’s attention spans wane after the first twenty minutes of a meeting, so it may be useful to put items that warrant the most attention early on the agenda. It is also a good idea to put items that the group can agree on and will unify around before more controversial items on which the group may be divided. Anything presented at the meeting that wasn’t circulated ahead of time should be brief, so people aren’t spending the meeting reading through documents. To help expedite the agenda, put the length of time you think will be needed for each item or category of items on the agenda. It is important to know when to move from one item to the next. Sometimes people continue to talk even after agreement has been reached, which is usually a waste of time. You want to manage the communication within the meeting but still encourage people to speak up and share ideas. Some people take a more hands-on approach to managing the conversation than others. As the president of the graduate student body, I attended a few board of trustees meetings at my university. The chairperson of the committee had a small bell that she would ring when people got off track, engaged in personal conversations, or were being disruptive to the order of the group.

At the end of the meeting make sure to recap what was accomplished. Return to the objective you shared at the beginning and assess whether or not you accomplished it. If people feel like they get somewhere during a meeting, they will think more positively about the next one. Compile the meeting minutes in a timely fashion, within a few days and no more than a week after the meeting (Jay, 1999).

Tips for Running Effective Meetings

Distribute an agenda to attendees two to three days in advance of the meeting.
Divide items up on the agenda into “for information,” “for discussion,” and “for decision.”
Put items that warrant close attention early on the agenda.
Since senior attendees’ comments may influence or limit junior people’s comments, ask for comments from junior attendees first.
People sometimes continue talking even after agreement has been reached, so it’s important to know when to move on to the next item in the agenda.
At the end of a meeting, recap what was accomplished and set goals for the next meeting.
Compile meeting minutes within forty-eight hours and distribute them to the attendees.

Key Takeaways

What counts as being a good communicator in one business context doesn’t in another, so being able to adapt to various business settings and audiences will help you be more successful in your career.
Upward business communication involves communicating messages up the organizational hierarchy. This type of communication is usually the most lacking in organizations. However, since oral presentations are a “high-visibility” activity, taking advantage of these opportunities can help you get noticed by bosses and, if done well, can move you up the organizational ladder. Present information succinctly in an executive summary format, building in repetition of main ideas in the oral delivery that aren’t necessary for the written version. Don’t just focus on the boss if there are other people present, but do connect to the vision and mission of the organization, since most managers and executives have a “big picture” view of the organization.
Horizontal communication is communication among colleagues on the same level within an organizational hierarchy. This type of communication helps coordinate tasks and lets people from various parts of an organization get a better idea of how the whole organization functions. Many workplaces are becoming more collaborative and team oriented, but make sure you share credit for ideas and work accomplished collaboratively so as not to offend a colleague.
Downward communication includes messages traveling down the organizational hierarchy. These messages usually focus on giving instructions, explaining company policies, or providing feedback. As a supervisor, make sure to encourage employees to ask questions following a presentation. Good information flow helps prevent employee errors and misunderstandings, which saves money.
Initial communication with clients, customers, or funding sources is usually persuasive in nature, as you will be trying to secure their business. Later communication may be more informative status reports. Connect your message to their needs rather than focusing on what you offer. Use persuasive strategies like positive motivation, and always have a “money slide” prepared that gets across the essence of what you offer in one attractive message.
When adapting business communication to intercultural contexts, take a “tools not rules” approach that focuses on broad and adaptable intercultural communication competence.

There are various types of business presentations for which a speaker should be prepared:

Briefings are short, two- to three-minute “how-to” or “update” presentations that are similar to factual bullet points.
Reports can be past, present, or future focused and include status, final, and feasibility reports.
Trainings are informal or formal presentations that help get new employees ready for their jobs and keep existing employees informed about changing policies, workplace climates, and legal issues.
To have an effective meeting, first make sure it is necessary to have, then set a solid foundation by distributing an agenda in advance, manage the flow of communication during the meeting, and take note of accomplishments to promote a positive view of future meetings.
Identify a recent instance when you engaged in upward, horizontal, downward, or intercultural communication in a business setting. Analyze that communication encounter based on the information in the corresponding section of this chapter. What was done well and what could have been improved?
Prepare a briefing presentation on how to prepare a briefing. Make sure to follow the suggestions in the chapter.
Think of a time when you received training in a business or academic setting. Was the communication of the trainer effective? Why or why not?

Adler, R. B. and Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst, Communicating at Work: Principles and Practices for Businesses and the Professions , 8th ed. (Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2005), 15.

Bartolome, F., “Nobody Trusts the Boss Completely—Now What?” in Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), 92.

Beebe, S. A., Timothy A. Mottet, and K. David Roach, Training and Development: Enhancing Communication and Leadership Skills (Boston, MA: Pearson, 2004).

Dannels, D. P., “Time to Speak Up: A Theoretical Framework of Situated Pedagogy and Practice for Communication across the Curriculum,” Communication Education 50, no. 2 (2001): 144.

Jay, A., “How to Run a Meeting,” in Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), 34.

Larkin, T. J. and Sandar Larkin, “Reaching and Changing Frontline Employees,” in Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), 152.

McCaskey, M. B., “The Hidden Messages Managers Send,” in Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), 128.

Morgan, S. and Barrett Whitener, Speaking about Science: A Manual for Creating Clear Presentations (New York, NY: Cambridge, 2006), 18.

Nichols, R. G. and Leonard A. Stevens, “Listening to People,” in Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), 14–15.

Ray, R. L., “Introduction: The Academic as Corporate Consultant,” in Bridging Both Worlds: The Communication Consultant in Corporate America , ed. Rebecca L. Ray (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993), 6–8.

Thrush, E. A., “Bridging the Gaps: Technical Communication in an International and Multicultural Society,” Technical Communication Quarterly 2, no. 3 (1993): 275–79.

Toastmasters International, “Proposals and Pitches” accessed March 17, 2012, http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/BusinessPresentations/ProposalsandPitches.aspx

Ulijn, J., Dan O’Hair, Matthieu Weggeman, Gerald Ledlow, and H. Thomas Hall, “Innovation, Corporate Strategy, and Cultural Context: What Is the Mission for International Business Communication?” Journal of Business Communication 37 (2000): 301.

Victor, D., “Cross-Cultural Communication” in Bridging Both Worlds: The Communication Consultant in Corporate America , ed. Rebecca L. Ray (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993), 113.

Weinholdt, R., “Taking the Trauma Out of the Talk,” The Information Management Journal 40, no. 6 (2006): 62.

Communication in the Real World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Ace the Presentation

How to Effectively Manage Time During a Presentation? Short and Long Ones!

Slides are one of the best ways to engage an audience and nail a presentation. Nowadays, people use the most efficient and practical skills to make the slides clear, easy to understand. However, most people struggle to plan and manage time in their presentations.

How Many Slides are Suitable for Finishing a Presentation on Time?

The general rule says 1 to 2 slides per minute. However, it is critical to note that the presentation’s number of slides will vary according to the topic complexity, audience, available time, presentation structure and format, and goal. Good planning, rehearsal, and delivery skills are essential!

To be more specific, if you have too many slides in a presentation at the range of 3 to 15 minutes, you will end up confusing your audience or spending a significant part of your time explaining the slides. It does not mean you have to prepare a lot of information and squeeze it into few slides, and the best practice is to summarize your content to understand it easily.

From 25 minutes to 60 minutes, you can make a considerable number of slides. Some experts recommend 1 to 2 slides per minute, but as I said before, it will depend on the topic. Imagine that one of your slides contains graphs about some work you have been doing that can take more than 2 minutes, and it is important to explain it in detail to the audience.

It all starts with planning, researching, organizing all the collected data, prioritizing your key points, and making a structure. After this exercise, it will be easier to know how many slides you will have according to your given time.

To sum this up, there is no exact rule to set a number of slides for a given time frame, and it will vary according to the topic, your research, and your presentation skills. All you have to do is to balance the slides with your speech and time.

How many Slides for a 3-minute Presentation?

For a 3-minute presentation, the presenter should use four slides. Depending on how the slides are structured, 15 seconds to 2 minutes can be spent on each slide.

What really matters is not the amount of the slides but the quality. You can make three powerful slides and nail your presentation or make 5 with too much content and ending up having a boring presentation.

A good practice for a 3 minutes presentation is to keep it clean and straightforward. Keep in mind that slides are more engaging with visuals rather than texts. And on your speech, be as brief as possible, make a 15 to 20 seconds introduction, and do the same on the conclusion.

How many Slides for a 5-minute Presentation?

Five minutes is enough time to deliver your message and engage your audience with content that is straight to the point. The only thing you need to do is keep in mind that every second of your time counts a lot for your presentation.

How many Slides for a 10-minute Presentation?

The Rule of Thumb for a 10-minute presentation is having 10-12 slides. Presenters with good skills use up to 30 seconds per slide to keep it nice and engaging. This time frame is suitable for elaborately introducing the subject or topic, diving deep into it, and highlighting the key points.

According to your topic, you can even make eight slides considering the fact that slides are only the guide of your presentation. That is why it is essential to make an excellent structure to organize your content on the slides properly; this will help you to put aside unnecessary data and focus only on what is essential for the audience.

How many Slides for a 20-minute Presentation?

According to Guy Kawasaki , a 20-minute presentation should have ten slides where each slide utilizes a 30 point font. Using this rule of 10/20/30, the speaker would spend up to 1 minute per slide, which gives time for even allowing 1 or 2 questions from the audience.

To structure a 20 minutes presentation using the rule of 10/20/30 from Guy Kawasaki , you have to use the first slide to introduce your subject, case study, or others, and from the second slide, start diving deep until you get to the conclusion.

In some cases, each slide has a different theme, and you will need to approach them differently. Having different themes per slide will require you to summarize each slide’s content in under a minute.

Although the Rule of Guy Kawasaki is suitable for a 20-minute presentation, you can set your own number of slides according to your subject and how much time you spend on a single slide as long as you deliver the message properly and engage your audience.

How many Slides for a 25-minute Presentation?

For a 25-minute presentation, the general rule is to use 20 to 30 slides. By spending up to two minutes per slide and focusing on the main subject, the speaker can keep the audience engaged for this period of time.

Kawasaki believes that a human being can comprehend at least ten concepts in a meeting. In other words, you have to include in your topic or subject up to ten themes to be discussed. Any More than that can make your audience get confused or bored.

In this given time frame, you now have the opportunity to interact more with the audience, start with a quote, let them raise some clarification questions, and get more involved with them.

How many Slides for a 30-minute Presentation?

Experts recommend 30 to 40 slides to make a memorable presentation. With 30 minutes, the presenter has more options compared to when the given time frame is short. Consider making the content as straightforward as possible. Also, make two paragraphs per slide at the most.

This technique will allow the audience to read all the information on the slide easily and quickly and move to the next one alongside you. If you add too much content on one slide, the audience will likely read something that you are not explaining yet or the opposite.

But you can make more than 40 slides and still have a memorable presentation in just 30 minutes, and I will explain to you how. Well, if you want your audience to understand clearly each content of your slide, make it one paragraph or one sentence, and use more visuals.

Using this method, you will spend 1-2 seconds per slide, and the audience will understand way better seeing the visual (which counts more than text). The explanation is gradual from the beginning to the end.

How many Slides for a 45-minute presentation?

As a general rule, for a 45-minute presentation, between 20 and 50 slides would grant a memorable presentation. Spending 1-2 minutes per slide, the speaker will have time to make a great introduction, interact more with the audience and have a questions and answers session.

A 45-minutes presentation is in the range of long times ones, and in these cases, you have to use the slides very carefully, making them proportional to your presentation time. Consider having a wristwatch to control your time.

A good practice is to use the slides only to guide your speech during the presentation, but you will need to master them. Rehearse the most important of each slide to make sure you spend the right time, or even less. This time management will give you an advantage because you will have enough time to make a great conclusion.

How many Slides for an hour Presentation?

Experts recommend 30 to 60 slides for a 60-minutes presentation. This period of time gives the speaker two main options: summarize the content in 30 slides or make a structure that allows one theme per slide. These two options also give more time to interact with the audience make a great introduction and conclusion.

Both of them are OK. But there are aspects that you have to consider; if you are preparing few slides, you will need to train how to summarize content to make sure you don’t spend too much time explaining all the points or having your audience stuck on reading your slide.

And if you are planning to make one theme per slide to facilitate the understanding to the audience, make sure you spend 30 seconds at the most. But also consider having black screen slides to make pauses or small breaks and entertain or reengage your audience.

How many Slides for a 90-minute Presentation?

A 90-minutes presentation should have not more than 60 slides. In this situation, the speaker will need to know how to keep time on presentations. Experts recommend up to 2 minutes per slide, but depending on how the presentation is flowing, spending more than 2 minutes per slide is possible.

If you fail to make these pauses to double-check if the audience is on the same page with you, you will be running a risk of going back from almost the end of the slides to the first ones to explain something that the audience did not get very well.

How many Slides for a two-hour presentation?

A two-hour presentation would need 60-80 slides to deliver the message memorably. Some experts recommend one theme per slide to make it clear and easily understandable. Keep in mind that a presentation this long requires careful planning and a very well-organized structure.

Generally, a presentation with more than one hour of duration is for professional speakers who can deal with time management. The best way to not have your audience boring is to use the method of one idea per slide; it will make them easily understand each part of your content.

How many Slides for 2+ hours presentations?

Presentations with more than two hours should have not more than 80 slides. Long presentations with over 2 hours, the speaker can organize the information in order to spend 2-3 minutes per slide.

120+ minutes is considered an extended time frame; a good practice is to keep the slides brief and clean to ensure your audience won’t get exhausted.

What are the skills needed to Deliver Long Presentations or Speeches?

For long presentations, several skills are required to ensure successful delivery, such as:

Time management;
Engaging the audience
Solid posture
Good eye contact
Controlling your voice, and more.

All these skills will keep your audience engaged and entertained, and make sure you reserve 15-20 minutes for questions and answers after a long presentation or speech.

How to keep time in your presentation?

First of all, to have complete control of your time on stage, you have to write the schedule of time you will spend on each part of your presentation, something like setting time for your opening, how long time you will spend on the introduction, how long time you reserve for questions and answers, etc.

Make sure you start your presentation on time. If you fail this step, then everything that comes ahead may also delay and end the presentation after the scheduled time. You also need to plan how long your speech will take and have a clock to control it.

Planning is also crucial to keep time on your presentation. The main thing in the plan to deliver your message is the structure of your content. A good structure will allow you to know how much time you will spend on each point.

I have an excellent article with a guide for outlining your speech , which should help you nail this part of the process. A good speech outline is key in managing presentation time.

And last but not least, you need to rehearse before you go on stage. It will allow you to know how much time you need for the presentation and practice to see if you need to remove or add something to your presentation to make it perfect.

Why do people usually fail to finish a presentation within the stipulated time?

Generally, people fail to finish a presentation on time because they do not make a good plan, underestimate rehearsing, and fail at an impromptu delivery attempt at the last minute. What commonly happens is that people make too many slides and fail to go from one to another on time. The rule of thumb says that 1-2 minutes per slide is enough using standards.

Another session that makes speakers fail to finish the presentation in time is the question and answers. This mistake happens when the speaker does not practice enough or predict questions that may come and end up thinking about the answer when the question is raised.

Not setting time for each session of your presentation also makes you not finish on time. This mistake will cause you to take longer at one point or another, especially if you don’t have a clock to keep track of the time.

How to keep your Presentation Brief and Clear

To keep a presentation brief and clear, organize your content to be only one theme per slide. To be more specific, consider having one paragraph or idea per slide, one that is concise, straightforward, and should also include minimalist visuals.

The design is also essential to help you get a clean design. Choose a layout that comfortably suits your text and image. Another detail is the color, which has to be neutral to help the reader focus on the content only.

For More Tips on Designing and Nailing a Presentation, open the recommended articles below.

Designing a Killer Presentation in 8 Steps

Planning and performing a presentation that meets expectations and involves the public requires a lot of care. The details involved in holding a talk will be super important to ensure her success and approval from those who participated. Therefore, we have prepared a post with a few crucial steps that you should follow to organize…

What Makes a Great Presenter? 9 Key Qualities to Look for!

Want to Stand Out? 15 Key Tips for an Awesome Presentation

In conclusion, the number of slides a presentation should have for a given time depends on who is presenting and the topic or subject. And also, it varies according to the methods that you use to deliver your message. As long as it reaches the audience properly and on time, the number of slides should be the least of your concerns.

But you can follow the standards that some experts recommend for a presentation from 3 minutes to 120+ minutes. For example, Guy Kawasaki recommends the rule of 10/20/30 for a 20 minutes presentation. This rule of thumb allows you to have ten slides to be presented in 20 minutes, and the font should be 30 points.

This example shows that you can follow the standards and still have a successful presentation. the main thing you have to do, is a good planning, a good structure, and make your content brief and clear, that will help them understand and enjoy your presentation

References and Further Reading

How to Create a Killer 5-Minute Presentation (hubspot.com)

How Many Slides For A Whatever-Minute Presentation? (slidecow.com)

https://www.soappresentations.com/how-many-slides-should-be-used-for-a-60-minute-presentation/

The ideal number of slides for an hour-long presentation, and other thoughts on preparing slides | I’d Rather Be Writing Blog (idratherbewriting.com)

Presentation Slide Counts (duarte.com)

3 Ways to Choose the Right Number of Slides for a Powerpoint Presentation (wikihow.com)

Brevity, Clarity and Wit: 10 Commandments for a 10-Minute Talk | Cath Lab Digest | HMP Global (hmpgloballearningnetwork.com)

How Many Slides to Use For a 5, 10, 15+ Minute Presentation (tutsplus.com)

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint – Guy Kawasaki

How Many Slides to Use in a Presentation? 5 Tips | Design Shack

DELIVER AN EFFECTIVE DEBATE AND SPEECH WITH THIS 5-STEP STRATEGY

Delivering a debate and speech is actually different from just writing your debate speech. This is why some people can actually prepare outstanding content for their debate speech and still not ace it, not because there was a lack of quality material but because the debate and speech wasn’t effectively presented. A poorly researched debate…

Informative Speech: Definition, and 155 Informative Speech Topics

What is an Informative Speech? An informative speech can be understood as one whose real aim seeks to thoroughly inform and educate a particular audience on a specific topic or subject, using genuine life application use cases. The bane of speech to inform topics bothers around the intricacies concerning a particular subject and those key…

10 AWESOME TIPS ON HOW TO START A SPEECH WITH A BANG!

How to start a speech with a bang? What makes a great introduction to your speech, and how should you prepare to open your speech like a pro? Today, I will be sharing ten great tips that should prove helpful in your quest to craft that great introduction to your speech. First impressions, they say,…

How to Prepare and Deliver a Great Memorized Speech

A memorized speech can be a real nightmare; We easily forget most things even setting schedules and alarms, or asking a friend to remind us about important things to do proves to be a challenge sometimes – now imagine memorizing an entire speech. Today we will learn a bit about how to prepare ourselves and…

13 Tips to Overcome Public Speaking performance anxiety

Do you think you are the only one afraid of speaking in public? That your public speaking anxiety is abnormal and you can’t possibly deal with it? Here are 13 ways to overcome public speaking anxiety: Acknowledging that you are afraid Study and Research your topic Get to know your audience before the speech Prepare…

7 Steps for Writing an Inspiring Graduation Speech

You were chosen to make the graduation speech of your class, you were pleased by the trust placed by your colleagues, but now you face a problem: the blank page of Word waits to be filled with inspirational words. First thing, breathe out and relax; everyone who has ever made a graduation speech has faced…

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5 secrets to sticking on time in your business presentations

Hanieh Vidmar | 24 September 2018 | 5 years ago 0 0 0

You show respect to your audience by sticking to the time frame and not underdelivering or going over the allotted time.
If you’re amongst other speakers you respect them and the event organisers by sticking to the time frame and allowing the event to run as per schedule.
And thirdly, by sticking to your time and having a presentation planned for that time you don’t risk stressing out, panicking and worrying about whether you have enough time left to finish, if you have too much time left when you’re about to finish or you’ve gone over and you still have a long way to go.

Before you plan your presentation, know how much time you have to speak

Organise a schedule, rehearse against the clock, monitor your progress.

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Timing Tips for Successful Presentations

Would you consider a presentation successful if the speaker went beyond the allotted time? It may have been a really good presentation, but because of the delay, you were late for some other important appointment. Remember, for the speaker to go over the allowed time is a big no-no.

In this article, DeckRobot examines the importance of finishing your presentation on time and gives tips for staying within your time constraints.

Know your time

The first thing to do is to determine how long your presentation is going to run . Consider that a 10-minute presentation needs to be prepared differently than a 30-minute one. No surprise that longer presentations require longer preparation. If you don’t prepare properly, then there is a risk of running out of things to say or show.

Know your talking time

If you are familiar with presenting basics then you probably know that your talking time is not the same as your presentation time. For instance, if your presentation is about 30 minutes, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to speak for 30 minutes sharp. Depending on the nature of your presentation, you may need to allocate 10 minutes for a Q&A session. Thus, check with the presentation organizers and see how many minutes should be allotted for questions.

The number of slides

Determining the right amount of slides is a bit difficult. According to Guy Kawasaki , you should follow the 10/20/30 rule – 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point font. And this technique is one of the best, but truly it depends on the nature of your presentation. However, it shouldn’t technically matter how many slides you use as long as you make everything fit within your allotted time.

Time for your slides

The best timing tip for successful presentations is to figure out how many minutes you’re going to spend on each slide. You don’t need to spend a uniform number of minutes on each slide. Some slides may only take you a few seconds, others may take several minutes. As you go through each slide take note of how long each one is going to take. Use your phone’s stopwatch app for this. Tap on the ‘lap’ button once you finish a slide. The idea is to have each lap correspond to one slide, so you can figure out how long each slide takes.

One trick to make sure you’re timing your slides properly is by delivering your presentation as you would on presentation day – by doing it verbally! This means practicing your entire speech and actually saying it out loud. If you just say the words in your head, then you could mistime your presentation. We do read faster in our minds. Don’t forget about pauses. Every pause counts. In addition to helping you rest for a bit, you can also use pauses to emphasize certain points.

Speaking over your allowed time is disrespectful and will annoy at least some people in your audience. It’s a privilege to have their attention, whether it’s for 5 minutes or 5 hours. Your task as a presenter is not to abuse it! Following a strict timing schedule during rehearsal and your actual presentation are necessary steps to being a successful speaker. You’ll not only position yourself as an expert presenter but also as someone who respects people’s time.

If you liked this article make sure to check our News section for more interesting articles and follow our LinkedIn page to stay tuned about our company’s updates.

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COMMENTS

BUSG 240 Chapter 14 Flashcards
For business presentations, time constraints are usually rigid, permitting little or no flexibility. If the audience for a presentation will be interested in, but neutral to, what you have to say,
Business Communication ch 14 Flashcards
The two most common purposes of business presentations are to. inform and persuade . When organizing a speech or presentation, your first step is to. define the main idea. For business presentations, time constraints are usually. rigid, permitting little or no flexibility. If the audience for a presentation will be interested in, but neutral to ...
Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath
For this reason, one safe rule of thumb is to speak for between 90-100% of your allowed time. So, if your presentation is planned for 60 minutes, you should speak at least 54 (or 55 for a nice round number). This ensures that your audience doesn't "feel cheated", but also ensures that you don't go over time. There are all sorts of ...
Mastering Time Constraints: Strategies, Examples, and Tools
Avoiding time constraints is not a one-off activity but a continuous process. Project teams set structures and systems to avoid creating pressure on themselves. Some of the most effective ones use a project management tool like ClickUp. Here's how. 1. Project planning. A robust plan avoids half the constraints.
Constraints Are The Key To A Creative Presentation
Matthew May's new book, The Law of Subtraction, explains the science behind it. According to May, "Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints.". May persuasively argues that by ...
How to Manage Your Time During a Presentation Effectively
4 Engage your audience. One of the best ways to manage your time during a presentation is to engage your audience and keep them interested and attentive. You can use various techniques to achieve ...
10 Timing Tips For Successful Presentations
Tip #1: Know your time limits. One of the first things you need to determine is how long your presentation is going to run for. This is because a 10-minute presentation will need to be prepared differently than a 30-minute one. Generally, longer presentations need more preparation.
12.3 Speaking in Business Settings
Since they are usually delivered under time constraints and contain important information, brief notes and extemporaneous delivery are effective (Adler & Elmhorst, 2005). Reports. There are numerous types of reports. The line between a briefing and short oral report is fuzzy, but in general a report is a more substantial presentation on the ...
How To Effectively Manage Time During A ...
Experts recommend 30 to 60 slides for a 60-minutes presentation. This period of time gives the speaker two main options: summarize the content in 30 slides or make a structure that allows one theme per slide. These two options also give more time to interact with the audience make a great introduction and conclusion.
5 secrets to sticking on time in your business presentations
Rehearse against the clock. Once you've planned your presentation, spend time rehearsing it against the clock. If it's too short, add to it. If it's too long, edit it. If you're under by a few minutes, it's not the end of the world but going over can cause issues for you on the day. Keep rehearsing and editing it until you have the ...
Chapter 16/17 Quiz Review Flashcards Flashcards
For business presentations, time constraints are usually Select one: a. not important if you are presenting to your colleagues. b. rigid, permitting little or no flexibility. c. meaningless-audiences expect presenters to take a little more time than they're allotted. d. imposed only on lower-level employees.
Timing Tips for Successful Presentations
In this article, DeckRobot examines the importance of finishing your presentation on time and gives tips for staying within your time constraints. Know your time. The first thing to do is to determine how long your presentation is going to run.Consider that a 10-minute presentation needs to be prepared differently than a 30-minute one.
PDF Excellence in Business Communication, 12e (Thill/Bovee) Chapter 14
Learning Outcome: Describe steps for developing oral and online presentations 8) For business presentations, time constraints are usually A) rigid, permitting little or no flexibility. B) meaningless since audiences expect presenters to take extra time. C) imposed only on lower-level employees.
Tips for Presenting Data Analysis Under Time Constraints
5 Be confident and honest. The last tip on how to present data analysis under time constraints is to be confident and honest. Confidence comes from knowing your data analysis well, having a clear ...
Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath
Powerpoint Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath. by Andrew Dlugan. Published: Decl 2nd, 2012
Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath
Five tips up avoid annoying your audience by speaks over your allowed time. Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath | Six Minutes / Excellence in Business Communication, 12e (Thill/Bovee) Chapter ...
Ch16
If you feel like you are losing your way, simply refer to the single-sentence main idea for direction and focus. Diff: 2 Skill: Application Objective: 1 AACSB: Communication Abilities Learning Outcome: Plan and prepare business messages. For business presentations, time constraints are usually A) rigid, permitting little or no flexibility.
Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath
Five tips to avoid annoying your target by speakers over your allowed time. Presentation Timing: 5 Tips to Stay On Time and Avoid Audience Wrath | Six Minutes - Time Constraint - 10 Tips to Keep Your Project on Schedule
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For business presentations, time constraints are usually rigid, permitting little or no flexibility. You want to prepare a speaking outline for an upcoming presentation.
Time Constraint
The thrice projects inhibitions meaning. According to the project management theory, on are 3 constraints of project management the could affect the outcome of thine efforts - Time, Cost, and Scope.. An Timing constraint conversations about how into manage a project stylish adenine way that it meets the set deadlines and allocates all the resources effectively.
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The three request limits meaning. After to the project management theory, there are 3 limits of project company so can affect the outcome starting your your - Time, Cost, real Scope.. To Time constraint talks about how to manage a project includes a paths that it meets the set deadlines and allocates all the resources effectively.; The Cost constraint refers to handling an project to stay ...
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
The Theory by Constraints a a methods fork identifying the most important limiting factor (i.e., constraint) such stands in the way away achieving ampere goal and subsequently systematically improving that limit until it is no longer the constraining factor. ... including: 8) For business presentations, choose constraints are usually. A) rigid ...
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
The Theory for Constraints takes a scientific approach to improvement. It hypothesizes that every complex systematischer, including factory processes, consists of multiple linked related, one of which acts like a constraint upon the entire system (i.e., the forced activity are the "weakest link in the chain").