Duration
of the speech
The length
of the speech will determine how long you spend preparing the speech.
Prepearing
a five minute speech is not the same as preparing a one and a half
hour speech.
When you
are preparing a speech you need to try and and make it slightly shorter
than asked for. As it is very common for speeches to go on longer
than planned (greetings, thanks, an unplanned anecdote, etc)...
It is
always better to make a speech shorter than go over the assigned
time. The audience appreciates brevity.
You have
to be aware of the possibility that at the last moment the event organizers
could modify the duration of the speech, either making it longer (because
another speaker has pulled out) or shorten it (because the event is
going slower than planned).
The speaker
should take with her/him additional material (other arguments, anecdotes,
examples, slides, etc) just in case they need to speak longer than
previously agreed.
The
speaker should also identify parts of the speech that he/she could
leave out, just in case they want to shorten the speech.
During
the speech you need to control the time (have a watch in view which
you can look at discreetly) making sure that the speech develops as
you have planned, ensuring that time doesn't run out when you are
in the middle of your speech.
You can
not forget that the main part of the speech is the conclusion, so
it is important to be able to develop this with necessary time.
If the
speech is long then you shouldn't try to learn it from memory as you
run the risk of forgetting a main point, or worse still, your mind
might go blank.
Therefore,
it is convenient to take with you some support cards which can serve
as a guide througout the speech.
Last but
not least, one thing you should always be aware of:
The speaker
will only speak for a greater amount of time if he has something
interesting to say, what shouldn't happen is that the speaker tries
to "fill" time with information that is of no real interest
(you can not bore the public).
If
you think the assigned time is too long, you should speak to the
event organizers and tell them that the time they have assigned
you is too long for the topic that you are going to talk about.
