Thanks Guymond,

You are absolutely right.

– Nobody never complain for a presentation that ends before the time.
– If your presentation was interesting, people will come to you at the end to discuss further.

“Don’t try to tell more, try to tell better” – Denis Francois Gravel

Your post reminded me of a tip from the first edition of the book PressentationZen from Garr Reynolds

“…no matter how much time you are given, never ever go over time, and in fact finish before your allotted time is up. How long you go will depend on your own unique situation at the time, but try to shoot for 90-95 percent of your alloted time. No one will complain if you finish with a few minutes to spare. The problem with most presentation is that they ar too long, not that they are too short.” Chapter 9, page 204

From experience, I would say that if you can stimulate interaction and get feedback at the end of your presentation, people from your audience will want more and may comme to discuss with you when the meeting will be over. That will be the real indication that your speech was a hit.

Thanks Jessica for your comment. Cut the fat is crucial in presenting. How many time did you saw a presenter rushing the end of his presentation to try to respect the time (and bust it anyway). Don’t try to tell more, try to tell better.

– Denis Francois Gravel

Having to cut an hour-long presentation down to a thirty minute one can be tough, but it will ultimately leave the presenter with a better, more concise presentation, and the audience will be grateful for this.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by PRESENTability: Speaking tip: How to respect allowed time [blog post] http://ow.ly/11NMM #speaker…