One down . . . more or less

Hi everyone,

I spent much of this week working on the first talk for the conference next month. I decided to start with the 75-minute presentation for teachers of PreK-1 students. How many pages does it take to speak for one hour and fifteen minutes? I looked through various speeches on hand but didn’t see anything that long in my files.

No problem. I’m a pro. Been there done that. Been giving talks about one thing or another most of my life. I love an audience. I gathered my thoughts, made an outline, and began. The script grew as I developed my thesis, introduced cogent points, and seasoned with just the right touch of humor at strategic places. Feeling good. Doing it! I hadn’t worked up the slides for the power point yet but the main draft of the talk was finished and ready to read aloud to test for leaks. It looked good, felt right, and should weigh in very close to my time limit.

Wednesday afternoon the big moment came. Time to take my talk to the living room, sit in my favorite chair, turn on my stopwatch, and read to an enthusiastic audience of lamps and sofas. “Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you. Thank you. Oh please. Sit down. You’re embarrassing me!”

I read. Smiled. Chuckled appreciatively at the expected reactions. Finished with a flourish, and checked my stopwatch. I figured 70 – 80 minutes.

It said 47 minutes.

Yesterday was all about improving my talk by 28 more minutes. In the process I made 32 slides and chose my handouts. The time has come this morning to try it aloud again. Please hold your applause until I get back. This time it’s going to peg 75 minutes. I know it. I feel it! Heck yeah!