What if your 30 minute presentation is cut to 5 minutes?
“What if your thirty minutes becomes five?”
Early in my consulting career, I worked on a project at the Centers for Disease Control. Steve, the head of the division, had been asked to give a presentation to the Director. He had been given thirty minutes to update her on their work, their achievements, and their priorities. This.was.a.big.deal. Gaining support from the Director could help them raise awareness and build momentum, potentially leading to additional funding.
After weeks of preparing, Steve gathered his team together for a dry run and invited me to sit in and provide feedback. He was a great presenter—thoughtful, charismatic, and clear. For thirty minutes, he discussed the division’s progress, the headwinds faced, and their priorities for the coming years. After finishing, he invited feedback from his team. They suggested additional examples to include. Immensely proud of their work, they wanted to showcase the details to the director. The challenge was that these suggestions added more content to an already packed presentation.
When the feedback slowed, I asked, “What will you do if your thirty minutes becomes five?”
“What do you mean?” Steve replied.
“What if the Director is running behind and can’t spend the full thirty minutes with you? How can you summarize the critical points she needs to know in just a few minutes? What are the two or three key ideas you can quickly communicate? Or, if you’re interrupted mid-presentation because she is pulled from the meeting, how would you finish the sentence, ‘Here’s what I want you to take away from this?’ Make sure those key points are solid, then build your presentation around them. That way, even if your time is cut short, you won’t be flustered and will still communicate what matters.”
Here's What I Want You To Take Away
I give this advice to every leader: Start with the takeaway. Begin by defining the key points you want your audience to remember before building the rest of the presentation. Work backward from these points as you develop your content.
Often, the time scheduled for your presentation isn’t the time you’ll actually get. You need to be flexible, able to expand or condense your messages without losing the essence of your key takeaways.
I’ve had many moments backstage, waiting to go on as the keynote speaker, and the opening presentation runs long. Panicked meeting planners come to me and say, “We need to make up 15 minutes.” In those situations, I have to figure out how to adjust my keynote without sacrificing the core messages. Starting with the takeaway ideas in mind makes it easier to determine where to trim and not amputate something important.
Plan for Less Than the Allotted Time
We often make the common mistake of preparing content for the full allotted time. Don’t plan thirty minutes of content for a thirty-minute presentation. I’m not even talking about saving time for Q&A. I’m talking about the content itself. Plan and practice no more than twenty-five minutes of content. If you include a Q&A, allow at least five extra minutes.
It’s easy to underestimate how long it will take to deliver the content. On the day of the presentation, pacing, pauses, and audience reactions change your delivery. Sentences and ideas become longer. Plan for less content. You’ll naturally use the time. My recommendations (excluding Q&A):
30 minutes: plan 20 - 25 minutes of content.
40 minutes: plan 30 minutes of content.
45 minutes: plan 35 minutes of content.
60 minutes: plan 45 minutes of content.
Start by defining your audience
What do you want them to know and feel as a result of your presentation? Perhaps you want them to trust you and your message, or to feel open to embracing a strategic change. Identify the internal shift you aim to create.
What action do you want them to take?
What is their mindset today regarding your topic?
What potential obstacles might prevent them from reaching the desired outcome?
Identify the Three to Five Takeaway Ideas
What are the top three to five things you want them to come away understanding? These are the points that you’ll summarize if your thirty-minute presentation becomes five. Fewer is better—three or five are memorable. The goal is not to include every thought you want to share, but to focus on the overall takeaway messages.
Create the Logline
Movies are pitched with a one-sentence concept called a logline. It’s a teaser that helps potential studios and investors quickly grasp the movie’s concept, genre, and plot. For example, Toy Story’s logline is: What if toys came to life when humans weren’t around? Loglines are memorable, repeatable, and quickly build understanding.
Create a logline for your presentation that incorporates your key takeaways and aligns with your audience’s needs. This longline serves as the high-level summary of your message. Think about times you’ve sat through a presentation and wondered what it was really about. You may have felt confused because the presentation didn’t stick the landing. This often happens when the speaker is unclear about the takeaway, which leads to confusion for the audience. By creating the logline, you’ll structure a presentation that connects your audience to ideas and influences action.
The next time you prepare for a presentation, be ready for the unexpected. Focus on your key takeaways and craft a clear, concise message. While your time may be limited, don’t hinder your ability to share ideas.
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Looking to refine your team or organization’s communication or storytelling skills to make every minute count? I’d love to help.
