One of the biggest drawbacks of talking for a long period of time (more than 30 minutes or so) is there’s a good chance that your listeners have already tuned out by the 25-minute mark.
This is because listening can be just as draining as talking, since listeners can only absorb so much information… and once they’ve reached a point where they can no longer process what’s being said to them, their interest in what you have to say will wane.
That said, does this mean you should only focus on quick, punchy talks, built around making the most impact as quickly as possible?
Absolutely NOT.
There will be times when you, as a speaker, will have to talk for a long period of time and as a consequence, have to make sure that your audience won’t tune out of your presentation before it ends.
While this may sound like a tall order, it’s not entirely impossible.
Crafting A Lengthy Presentation
Talking for a long period of time puts you at risk of losing your audience’s attention before your presentation ends.
However, as a speaker, it’s crucial that you learn how to craft a lengthy presentation because there will be times where you will be called on to present for more than 20 minutes.
So, how exactly do you go about this?
First, you need to get your audience’s attention immediately.
Since you’ll be talking for an extended period of time, you have to be effective at capturing your listeners’ attention from the get-go, since this will enable you to get them invested in you and what you have to say early on.
You can do this by:
- Starting your talk with a recollection of a story or an event you personally experienced.
- Presenting a startling or surprising fact that’s directly related to your topic.
- Creating suspense through beginning your presentation with an attention-grabbing hook.
Once you’ve gotten your listeners’ attention, the next thing you need to do is avoid getting unfavorable attention.
Dale Carnegie, in his book, “The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking,” emphasized the importance of capturing an audience’s favorable attention and this involves making sure to not insult your listeners by making statements that would turn them against you and what you have to say.
Aside from this, you should avoid:
- Opening your talk with an apology.
- Starting your presentation with a funny story or a joke, especially if it’s about yourself.
Aside from these pointers, you need to make sure you support your main ideas.
One of the advantages of talking for a long period of time is that you have enough space to back up every claim you’ll make in your presentation.
Doing this not only establishes your authority as a speaker but it also enforces the ideas you wish to impart to your listeners.
Here’s how you can effectively support your ideas throughout your talk:
- Use statistics.
- Cite information provided by subject matter experts.
- Make use of analogies to make advanced concepts easier to digest.
See?
As long as you keep the insights we shared with you and leverage them accordingly, you can still pull off a killer talk despite it being longer in duration.
Besides, longer talks give you more space in backing up everything you have to say. These enable you to not only establish your authority as a speaker but also support every claim you’ll make throughout your presentation.
The end result?
You’ll have a fully-fleshed out presentation that’s built not only to inform but also to convince!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants”
In a meeting with one person…
… a boardroom with five people…
… or a huge venue with hundreds of people…
—whatever the situation or setting, it’s very important to learn and eventually master the art of public speaking.
No matter what, you always need to effectively get your message across.
What good is a presentation with awesome content if you don’t deliver it properly?
Every Thursday, we publish different tips, insights, and secrets on how you can improve your presentation skills to captivate your audience and lead interesting discussions.
The need for great presentation skills applies EVERYWHERE.
(Small meetings with your team, big meetings with your boss, an important marketing pitch, speaking engagements for events with a big audience, etc.)
Learning these skills is not just for the corporate world. Being in other industries such as the Arts, Information Technology, Medicine, and Education while knowing how to communicate and present well will definitely give you an edge.
Have that advantage.
Hope you find this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s “Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!
Cheers,
Henry Desai
Managing Director
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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