How Long Should Your Speech Be? | Public Speaking

27 Aug 2013 · 2 min

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2:18

TJ Walker argues that speakers should prioritize communicating a handful of memorable, useful ideas rather than aiming for an arbitrary length. He mentions a 1974 US Defense Department study that claimed an optimal speech length of 17.5 minutes but rejects this as over-simplified; instead he advises using examples, stories, and rehearsal when strict time limits apply.

Questions this video answers

17.5 minutes

1974

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So how long should your speech be? People come to me all the time and say, tj, I want you to teach me to be concise. I want to be short. I want to be concise. That shouldn't be your primary goal. Your goal should be to communicate information in a memorable way that's useful to your audience. Now, there was a major study done by the US Defense Department in 1974 on length of speeches. And their conclusion was that the optimum length of a speech is 17.5 minutes. Personally, I think that's a bunch of baloney, because here's the problem with that. If you're incredibly boring, two minutes is too long, People have fallen asleep. On the other hand, if you're incredibly interesting and memorable and giving useful information, I've seen speakers captivate an audience from 10 in the morning till midnight. So your goal should not be some arbitrary length. Your goal should be, what are the handful of ideas that are really important to you that you can make memorable to your audience? And how can you use that time through examples, stories, case studies, pictures, handouts, to make those ideas come alive? Because if it's a really important idea for you and it's important to your audience, they'll listen to you for hours. Now, all things being equal, if you're going to be really boring, yeah, it's better to be boring for three minutes than for an hour and three minutes. But that's not the choice. The choice is between boring and interesting and relevant. So my advice, Forget about the time. Instead, focus on the ideas that you want your audience to know. Then focus on all the ways you can make it memorable. Now, there are occasions when you're given a strict time limit. A financial presentation at a conference, and no one is allowed more than 15 minutes. Okay, make sure you rehearse with a timer and get it down. But just because you have less time doesn't mean speak faster or strip out examples. That's not the solution. So remember, focus on the ideas for your audience, and the time will generally take care of itself.