A common observation after oral presentations is “Wow, the time went so fast! I couldn’t believe I ran out of time!” A close second is “Wow, I can’t believe I talked so fast—I can’t believe I finished so early!” Both of these are reflections about the pace of an oral presentation. Nerves and adrenaline always affect a speaker’s pace—they either slow you down or speed you up. And inexperience may lead you to miscalculate how long it will take to deliver a presentation. So here are some tips for controlling the pace of your presentation.
1. Many people think that a presentation should be given at a conversational rate of speech. But conversations are usually conducted between people who are familiar with each other and know (to some extent) the ground the speaker is covering, which lets you talk at a fairly rapid pace. For a larger group, or when you’re introducing new material, you need to slow down. Speak a little more slowly than feels natural to you (I sometimes imagine I’m speaking to a slightly-older relative). That's the right pace. That pace also helps your speak more clearly because you enunciate your words more carefully. The right pace helps the audience follow your thoughts more easily.
2. Storyboard your presentation. Do what a director does with a TV show or movie—break the presentation down into time units. For instance, if you have a five-minute presentation (300 seconds), you may divide it like this:
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0-30 seconds |
30-60 seconds |
60-210 seconds |
210-290 seconds |
290-300 seconds |
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Introduction and icebreaker |
Review known material and preview approach |
Introduce and discuss new material |
Sum up and answer questions |
Thanks and closing |
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60-120 first point |
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120-165 second point |
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165-210 third point |
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This is a very rough diagram, but it lets you
figure out how much material you can cover in the appropriate time. You can then
put time goals on your outline or on your notecards—at 3 minutes, for instance,
you should be well into discussing the third point. This gives you time goals to
shoot for when practicing as well.
3. Know in advance what material you can cut and what material you could add if your time management runs awry. If you have an extra notecard you can stick in if there are no questions, or if you know which notecard you can skip over should you be running behind, you’ll be able to adjust the pace of your presentation “on the fly.”
4. Rehearse out loud. Practice doing individual sections first, until you can deliver them within your projected time limit every time without effort. Then string the sections together and practice those out loud, in sequence, until you can meet your time goals effectively.
The more planning you give your presentations and the more practice you give yourself, the better your oral presentations will become. Don’t just “wing it”—analyze the elements and practice them to become a more effective oral presenter!