Learn To Speak Less. Speak Better.

In the very near future,presentations are going to look:

• More simple
• Shorter
• More personal
• More Interactive
• Collaborative
• More Fun

Today's lesson: Learn To Speak Less. Speak Better.

• Shorter

TED conferences last 18 minutes maximum. I love them, and posted a few on this blog.I used to watch them entirely, now I switch to shorter extracts, and wish they also offered "MicroTED".

Audience attention spans have grown shorter and shorter, so unless you have been assigned a talk of a specific length, make your talk as short as possible.About 10 minutes is ideal for a "classical" presentation, unless you are an exceptional speaker.

If you want to create an online video presentation, (a pitch, a tutorial, etc...), aim for 3 minutes. That's the maximum of time we will give you :)

Recently, I had to answer a tender for a major European bank. It was in a very challenging and innovative way.I had been asked to include a short 3 minute video of myself, presenting my CV and why I was  best suited to do the job. There was a very short notice to perform this exercise, and most of my colleagues, who also got the tender, had no clue on how to start with this video and eventually, missed the opportunity.

Among those who courageously took the challenge, they admitted the result was a poor reflect of what they expected.Anyway, it was an excellent experience which taught us to be ready, prepared for new way of presenting ourselves in the Corporate World as consultants and coaches.

I believe presenting with video in a limited amount of time requires a minimum of training, mentoring and coaching.

And practice, naturally...

If you really want to get attention, create micro presentations, lasting just a few seconds. Ridiculous? Not at all!

Do you know Ellen McGirt ? She's the Dean of a very special MBA The 30 Second MBA on Fast Company.

Yes. Thirty little seconds!

Yet, every week, Ellen McGirt and her team interview a very eclectic range of "30 Second Professors" who answer a question like "Leaders born or made

Look at what Andy Dunn , CEO of Bonobos, says: 

For Twitter, you have Bubble Tweets.
Bubble Tweet add Videos to your Twitter profile, called bubble messages. They are 30 second video clips that appear on a side when someone visits your profile.You may notice that I already have created mine, couldn't resist! It's at the top right of the blog navigation bar.

Still not convinced that we need to learn to make shorter and shorter presentations?

Have a look at what Robo.to .They aim for ...4 seconds!

"We have microblogging, so why not microvideoblogging. That's the idea behind Robo.to, a website that lets you publish micro videos - or visual status updates - that are no longer than 4 seconds in length. The videos can be distributed on Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites."

Okay, I stop there!

• How comfortable are you with watching a video of yourself?

• Have you ever tried recording a video presentation of you in less than 3 minutes?

• Why don't try, right now, from your office or from your home, with a flip cam, hand held or simply with your integrated video camera?

• What added value would it bring you if you were be able to present yourself shortly and efficiently?

Read related post How to pitch Yourself in less than 5 minutes

You know how to make me happy before Christmas? Join the discussion, and start right now by commenting, sharing YOUR stories of short (or too long!) presentations. Thank you! :)

Comments

[Jane Perdue]

Marion -- great insights and assistance on how to be bright, be brief, be gone!

[Account Deleted]

Article rich connotation, rich in content. And rich life some trivial things. Impress every reader, thank you for the article!http://www.ornamentschic.co.uk/