Imagine you are sitting in an audience, during a workshop, scheduled right before lunch. As the clock ticks, ticks, ticks, toward lunchtime… then past… What are you thinking?
Are you thinking about the presentation? Or are you hungry and thinking about lunch?
How about if you’re reaching the end of the presentation and you have another meeting, and you are expected to be there? When the presenter goes over time, does that mean his or her time is more valuable than yours?
photo credit: Conanil
If you have experienced the scenarios which I just described than you know that staying on time is important.
As a presenter, you must also hold that opinion tight and respect the time of your audience. When you are the presenter, be aware of your time. Be aware of the lunch and break times. Make sure you do not run overtime.
If the workshop, presentation, or seminar starts to run over there can be many reasons. You could have planned badly, the audience could be very involved, or you may have been the victim of the presenter before you… which made you start late. You must remedy every one of those to really connect with your audience and gain their respect.
Wayne Botha, my partner in the Powerful Presentations Alliance, suggests some ways for you to keep yourself on time when you are on the platform.
How do you keep yourself on time? Would you like to share some ideas?
