My inspiration this week comes from a great article full of tips from TED talk speakers. The last one states that "If you have thirty minutes, take 25. If you have an hour, take 50." They say that you are respecting your audience when you are conscientious of their time. Whether it is a TED talk you listen to by choice or a routine meeting that you have to attend, finishing early can earn you a lot of respect back! Here's a few reasons why.

1. Get on to the next thing quicker
• We know you are ever so important and are running from one meeting straight to another. And when it is down 3 stories or a virtual meeting that requires 2 different hookups to get connected, travel time exists. After your 8:00 am meeting, all of a sudden you are late to every following meeting that day. Give them time to get where they are going and your audience will thank you.
2. Be succinct
• Ending your assigned time early doesn't mean you ran out of material for your audience. It means you took the time to compose your thoughts in a simple yet effective way. People love when you keep things simple for them to understand and you can get to the point quickly so they can make decisions.
3. What if scenarios
• You know it happens: the projector breaks, there are tons of questions, a surprise dependency comes up. Any project manager or meeting manager knows it is inevitable and you have to be flexible for whatever happens. If you give yourself and your meeting that extra time built in, dealing with mishaps will be tons easier for everyone!

I finished my first sci-fi book of the year and when I learned it was made into a movie I watched it right away. This 2010 movie, Never Let Me Go (which is actually also a song), just didn't live up to the book. There seemed to be so much left out, implied, or communicated in different ways that it was almost distracting. But then I realized, it was very similar to business in items you turn from report to presentation, proposal to pitch. Converting something written to something visual can take concentration and grace. What makes it so difficult to communicate the same content in a different medium?

1. Time investment
• It only takes 2 hours or less to watch a movie, but many weekends to finish a book. The same is true for presentations in the compressed time of hours to minutes. Our interest in the ending is built over time, drawn by clues leading us to answers. An fast action-packed film doesn't let us look away, but a poetic mystery may keep us on the edge of our seat when reading. And presentations? Something that doesn't make us crave a nap within 20 minutes is what I call success.
2. Pictures mean 1000 words
• When you look at a farmer in a field of dead corn, or a president at a podium with a stern face, or a , you notice little things that set the mood. Cloud cover can bring you down, or a chatty audience can perk you up. With words, such a scene would need pages to describe the detail and set the stage. Color, art, handouts, and gestures can keep people watching you.
3. Speed of listening
• Have you ever read a book out loud to someone? It is a very different experience. The speed at which we speak is much slower than the speed in which we listen and think. Influenced only by vocal tones of the reader, your imagination runs wild bringing the story to life in your own perspective. A balance of control, the best listeners take an active role in the story or presentation.

I was given some of the best feedback on my speaking and presentation skills last week during a training program. The feedback giver was able to put into words how the audience perceived me, my ability to react to participant on the fly, and my manner as the expert in the room. I was happy to learn that the things my intentions were coming across! Apparently I am a compassionate and relatable teacher; I probably got that from my Girl Scout days.


If you are like me, you've been given good feedback and bad feedback. Some people never want to hurt your feelings and only say "you did great". Others go into rants because they want you to perform just like them. How can you improve your own feedback giving skills? Here are some ideas:

1. Stay objective
• The number one mistake I've witnessed in feedback givers is that they are too specific to the situation at hand. They say things like "pause here", "change this word here", or "don't forget to say this on this slide". These small suggestions are so trivial that they aren't helpful. Even if I remember those suggestions, it will probably throw off my natural cadence of speaking. Instead, stay objective and suggest "pausing more", "stay in present tense", and "go into more detail on this important topic". These suggestions don't get caught in the details and allow the individual's own skills to shine through.
2. Applicable to all situations
• Feedback is only as good as its usefulness to apply to your next speech. Just like the specific feedback examples above, poignant improvements are only helpful if you are presenting that exact same speech again with the exact same environment. Instead, keep your feedback related to personality (how you smile, how much you ask the audience for questions, how fast you speak) and poise. These tips can help someone become a better and well-rounded speaker no matter who the audience or what the topic.
3. Stay positive
• No one wants a lecture in how they could do better after a stressful experience speaking in front of a crowd. Toastmasters teaches the sandwich method (one good thing, followed by one improvement, followed by a second good thing) but I think this can be taken a step further. If you are recommending someone speaks louder, give an example when the person did project their voice well during the speech. This constructive criticism all of a sudden seems obtainable because it turns a "start doing this" into a "do this more" which doesn't sound negative at all!