Cut Speeches Down To Size - Westside Toastmasters

Westside Toastmasters is located in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California Cut Speeches Down to Size

Making long speeches shorter. Advise from the experts...

I remember hearing an Ice Breaker in my Toastmasters club that went on for 13 minutes. When the new member who gave the speech was told of this faux pas, she was so embarrassed she almost quit. How I have often wished other long-winded speakers were as sensitive.

Why does any speaker go too long?

Darren_LaCroix, a professional speaker and Toastmasters' 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, says presenters need to know exactly what they want their speeches to accomplish.

The Price of Longwindedness

What's so bad about going over the time limit?

If you're speaking at a conference, you can cause a whole host of problems.

Presenters who can't rein in their speeches lose out in other ways, too. Talks that are too long rarely impress the audience, and listeners may miss the point of the speech - or worse.

How to Shorten a Long Speech?

It's not easy. LaCroix has to force himself to scale back. On his world championship speech, he did a Herculean job of editing, chopping his presentation from its original length of 1,400 words.

Care enough about your message and your audience to edit your talk and give listeners the best information you have. Next, ask yourself, "What difference can I make in the allotted time I have?"

It's better to present sufficient information on a few selected topics, and inform your audience, than to touch inadequately on too many points, leaving your audience at a loss to understand what they just witnessed.

Cutting in a Pinch

Have you ever been in a situation where you were told you'd have 30 minutes to speak - then when you arrived at the event, were asked to do it in 20 instead?

But how do you cut down a speech on the spot?

Bete says he always organizes his speeches into separate sections.

More Shortening Tips

He also says you should be over-prepared - yet ready to cut.

And, of course, make sure you practice.

He suggests eliminating examples from a speech that are too complicated given the time limit. Also, avoid the tendency to use too many examples to make a single point.

By Paula_Pace

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