Time - Over, Under or Just Right?

Rambling.

Speaking too fast.

Letting the audience keep you off topic.

Are you tired of delivering presentations that never make it within the time alloted? Here are some things to think about the next time you get ready to deliver a powerful punch.

1. Plan For The Time Allocated
As you map out your speaking points, do you note how many minutes you want to spend on each topic? You should have this outlined before you start your presentation so you can note where you want to be about every 10-15 minutes in the conversation so you can check to see if you need to speed up, slow down or cut out a topic to ensure you get to end on a high note.

Also, as you pull together your content, make sure the content you have will allow you to stay on track of the time outline you mapped out.

2. Getting Thrown Off the Presentation Path
How are you going to handle questions during the presentation? You should figure out in advance if you are going to entertain questions during the presentation or at the end. What if you get a question during the presentation that could take you completely off topic - entertain it or ask for the person to come up to you after the presentation? Think about how you want to handle this before begining your delivery. Also try to second guess the questions that may come up so you can have answers prepared.

3. Not Enough "Meat" To Fill The Time?
You don't want to get stuck in a presentation situation where you don't have enough content to have people leaving your session asking themselves "where was the beef?". If you find you are short on content find a few ways to add in interactive components such as a hands on activity, open question for debate, or survey for the audience to go through with you to take up some time.

It's critical to stay on time, on topic and with enough content to keep an audience wanting to come back to you for more.