Is it an oxymoron for someone who sometimes has issues with organisation and time management to blog about time or is it personal experience speaking.
One of the great things about the staff at Trischel is that they practice what they preach,, they walk the talk. They also know and are readily able to connect with participants on our courses because we have been there where they are, we have had the same issues with speaking, we have had the same time management, organisation problems and we have learnt how to overcome and deal with each and every one of these items. So when you attend one of our workshops or courses…. You know that we are there for you and we know all the issues you are dealing with.
We have talked about time and the respect we need to give our audience and fellow speakers by keeping to time, in previous blogs. The question that is often asked is “What do you do if you are the poor speaker following someone who has gone over their time? Where does that leave you as a professional speaker?”
You have 3 options:
1. You can give your prepared speech – don’t worry about the time challenge, take your allotted time and leave the next speaker to deal with the time issues. After all you have put a lot of effort in to your preparation and you deserve to give that wonderful presentation. Well let’s stop and think for a moment.. will it be quite so wonderful …. What about your reputation as a professional speaker… what respect have you given the speakers following you and to your audience…. If your time challenge is small it may not make a difference but if the time challenge is large… say 10 – 15 minutes late… then you could very easily lose your audience…. And definitely you would damage your reputation as a professional speaker and your fellow speakers … well they are not going to think much about your professionalism either.
2. You can cut your speech/ presentation down – bring it within the time limits and earn the respect of fellow speakers and the gratitude and respect of the audience. Oh no! I can hear you say … how do I do that and still make my points and have the presentation appear coherent. A good professional speaker should be able to be flexible enough to know what parts of the presentation to leave out.. what part you can condense. Too often I have seen speakers so enamoured of their pride and joy presentation that they insist on giving every little point when they could have appeared that much more professional by cutting segments out. Never become too attached to your speech / presentation that you can’t be flexible to cut or amend when required. You should have practiced the presentation and know your material well enough to be able to do this. Next time you are in a similar situation try it and just see the respect the audience and your fellow speakers have of you increase. Your professionalism will be duly noted!
3. That third option – well it happens rarely, thank goodness, but there may be times when you have to be magnanimous enough to say okay – we are running so over time that I will forego doing my presentation and catch up another time. This may not always be a viable option. More often it will be number 2 that will apply. However, if you do get into this situation – don’t be scared to opt out. I can guarantee not only will your audience respect your professionalism but the organisers will also be grateful!
So is it an oxymoron for someone who sometimes has issues with organisation and time management to blog about time or is it personal experience speaking.. This is the comment I got from some Trischel staff when I said I would blog on time, that is after they stopped rolling around the floor laughing!
I put it to you – who better to know the trials and tribulations of time than some one who has intimate concerns with time and deals with it on a daily basis. 
Trish @ Trischel