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Presenting for Geeks: How do I estimate duration ?

 
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Hello,

I always come up with a wrong estimate about how long it would take to present my slide deck. Often, I hurry up towards the end. Is it just me or does this happen to others ? Are there any suggestions around this topic in your book ?

Thanks,
Anand
 
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Estimations for the duration will get better with practise. If you often find yourself going over time then that's an indication that you're trying to cram too much content into your presentation. Focus on the main points, the things that your audience really needs to know.

For example, if you're talking to an expert audience, you can skip the introductory material. If you're talking to beginners, cut down on the advanced content. Don't try to create a presentation that covers all of those aspects. Find out who your audience is and adjust the content accordingly.

The only safe way, however, to know how long your presentation is going to be is to rehearse - on your own or in front of a friendly audience. As I said, you'll get better with practise.

The book will help you with the preparation of your presentation, so you (hopefully) won't have the problem of going over time in the first place. Also, I wrote an article on my blog recently on how to cut down your presentation.

Hope that helps
 
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You may also find that presentations simply take X% longer with a certain audience. For example, when presenting to management, I expect I will spend Y minutes on questions/tangents. By budgeting for this, I don't get caught by surprise and have to rush.
 
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:You may also find that presentations simply take X% longer with a certain audience.



If you notice that things are taking longer than expected due to unexpected questions or requests for more detail, it may be possible to ask the audience to wait until after the presentation is complete before you respond so that you can deliver the information to everyone on time and those interested in more detail can get their answers without inconveniencing the others. If it's a meeting with managers, and the questions/details are pertinent, then they may agree to set aside more time for the presentation.

Burk
 
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Burk Hufnagel wrote:If you notice that things are taking longer than expected due to unexpected questions or requests for more detail, it may be possible to ask the audience to wait until after the presentation is complete before you respond so that you can deliver the information to everyone on time and those interested in more detail can get their answers without inconveniencing the others.


I'd say if you do get a lot of unexpected questions, then it may be an indication that you're giving the wrong talk to this audience. Consider abandoning your presentation and switching to a Q&A session.

Of course, especially with a geeky audience, you'll often have people who are a step ahead of you. If it's only a minority of the audience, then you can (politely) ask those people to be patient. But if you get the impression that it's the majority, you need to change your approach (see above).


Burk Hufnagel wrote:If it's a meeting with managers, and the questions/details are pertinent, then they may agree to set aside more time for the presentation.


For a meeting with managers, who are usually short on time, the approach by Joey Asher from his book "15 minutes including Q&A" may be better: Give the shortest possible presentation with only the minimum of required information and then do a Q&A where you answer all the questions about details.
 
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Dirk Haun wrote:For a meeting with managers, who are usually short on time, the approach by Joey Asher from his book "15 minutes including Q&A" may be better: Give the shortest possible presentation with only the minimum of required information and then do a Q&A where you answer all the questions about details.



Dirk,
I just checked out the book on Amazon and now I've got two 'presentation' books to read. Thanks!
 
Jeanne Boyarsky
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Burk Hufnagel wrote:

Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:You may also find that presentations simply take X% longer with a certain audience.



If you notice that things are taking longer than expected due to unexpected questions or requests for more detail, it may be possible to ask the audience to wait until after the presentation is complete before you respond so that you can deliver the information to everyone on time and those interested in more detail can get their answers without inconveniencing the others. If it's a meeting with managers, and the questions/details are pertinent, then they may agree to set aside more time for the presentation.

Burk


When very senior people in an organization have a question, sometimes you have to answer it...
 
Dirk Haun
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:When very senior people in an organization have a question, sometimes you have to answer it...


Yep. But presentations in a corporate environment have their own rules and are quite different from giving a conference talk. Have a look at Joey Asher's book (see above) - I think his approach will work much better there.
 
Jeanne Boyarsky
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Dirk Haun wrote:Yep. But presentations in a corporate environment have their own rules and are quite different from giving a conference talk. Have a look at Joey Asher's book (see above) - I think his approach will work much better there.


Of course they are different. I didn't realize we were limiting the discussion to conference talks.
 
Dirk Haun
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:I didn't realize we were limiting the discussion to conference talks.


I didn't intend to. Just pointed this out since my book isn't really covering the specifics of presentations in corporate environments.

I did have some interesting experiences in that environment myself (fun with CI, for example). Not enough for a book yet, though
 
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Dirk Haun wrote:
Just pointed this out since my book isn't really covering the specifics of presentations in corporate environments.


Got it. That is good to point out given this week is a promotion for the book!
 
Burk Hufnagel
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Dirk Haun wrote:Just pointed this out since my book isn't really covering the specifics of presentations in corporate environments.



Dirk,
I've been thinking the book was intended to help geeks be better at presenting in general... so maybe I should ask. Is it aimed at just technical presentations for technical conferences, or is it wider than that?

Thanks,
Burk
 
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Burk Hufnagel wrote:Is it aimed at just technical presentations for technical conferences, or is it wider than that?


It's wider than that (as wide as you can get on 60 or so pages ...). It does have a bit of a bias towards conference scenarios in general, though.
 
Burk Hufnagel
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Sounds fair, and I suspect that most of the things that work for conferences will work well in other scenarios - though presentations to your management does seem to have its own rules. Maybe that would be a good follow up book, or at least an article for your blog.
Thanks,
Burk
 
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