Whenever you have a speech or presentation to deliver, there’s a Calculation that you should always do beforehand. Multiply the time you have to speak by the number of people whom you anticipate will be in the audience. The result is the true amount of your speaking time. Because, however long you speak, each person in the audience is spending that much time with you.

Thus, for example, if you are going to speak for 45 minutes to 20 people, the calculation would be: 45 x 20 = 900 minutes or 15 hours of total time. If you are going to speak for 30 minutes to 50 people, the calculation would be: 30 x 50 = 1,500 minutes or 25 hours of total time.

In 2016, I gave a 1-hour workshop to 1,000 people at the Toastmasters International Convention in Washington. So that was 1,000 hours of total time! For a single person, it would be 25 weeks of work, assuming a 40-work week.

I have written about this calculation previously, but the concept is so important that I have made a video about it. I welcome your thoughts either here or on YouTube.

Knowing the true amount of your speaking time should change your perspective whenever you have a speech or presentation. People will never get that time back and so you have to make whatever you say worth their while.

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