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Speech Duration

How long is long enough?

The ideal length for a keynote speech can vary depending on the event, audience, and the goals of the speech. However, a typical keynote speech usually ranges from 20 minutes to an hour. Context is everything, and overstaying your welcome is a major faux pas.

Start with the kind of a event you are invited to speak. With that, the schedule. Are you the only speaker or are you culminating a long day of speakers?

If it’s a conference with multiple speakers and workshops, a shorter keynote might be more appropriate to keep the agenda on track. For a standalone keynote event, you might have more flexibility with the duration.

This brings us to the audience. Why are they there? If it is to learn, they are ready for a longer talk. Attentions spans will be patient.

If it’s a business audience or professionals at a conference, they may be more accustomed to longer presentations. For a general audience or a youth-oriented event, shorter, higher energy speeches might be more effective.

Is your speech intended to inspire, inform, entertain, or motivate? The purpose can influence the length. An inspirational speech may be shorter and more impactful, while an informational keynote might require more time.

What you’ve come to say is part of the formula. How long do you need to lay out your viewpoint or argument? Give it the time you need without filling it with nonsense. If there’s not enough time, adjust your topic. Don’t try to cram 60 minutes of ideas into 20 minutes worth of words.

Of course, you want to be compelling. If your audience tunes out (a real danger), you’ve wasted their time and your opportunity. If your content is compelling and your delivery is engaging, you can hold the audience’s attention for a longer duration.

Time allotted. If the organizers tell you that you have 20 minutes, that is not code for, “But if you are really, really good, you can go 21 minutes.”

You have 20 minutes. You can speak for 18 minutes, but never a second more than 20. This should be easy, but for too many speakers, ego or unprofessionalism gets in the way. Sometimes, event organizers may specify a particular duration for keynote speeches. It’s important to respect these time constraints.

Once you think you’ve got it all figured out, practice enough that you discover a true window for your delivery duration. As you practice, you’ll work out a consistent time. One time, you might hit 18:45. Another time, 19:15. That’s OK. You are under, for the sake of this example, 20 minutes, and yet close enough. When you are first practicing, your time might vary wildly while slowly stabilizing.

It is the balance of these factors that define your duration. It is worth the work, increasing your engagement and effectiveness as you go. Find the sweet spot for speech duration and you’ll knock ’em dead.