How to cut a talk down to fit the time limit

A line-by-line test for cutting a talk to the time the room gives you, until nothing is left to remove.

This lesson covers cutting a talk to the time you have. Audiences reward compression, and the longer a talk runs, the more every line has to earn its place. The lesson treats eighteen minutes as the classic ceiling and notes that shorter is often stronger. A talk improves when nothing in it is wasted.

The tool is a single question asked of every line, 'so what'. A line stays if it moves the throughline forward, makes the room feel something, or earns belief. Any line that does none of these comes out, however much you like it. The hardest cuts are the lines you are proud of that fail to serve the talk.

Format shapes the target, and this links back to the Room Cuts. A pitch has its own time limit, often very short. A TED-style talk works inside the eighteen-minute frame. A speech bends to the occasion. You cut to the time the room actually gives you. The talk is finished when it feels like there is nothing left to remove.

Key ideas.

Audiences reward compression, so the longer a talk runs, the more every line has to earn its place.
The 'so what' test keeps a line in a talk only if it moves the throughline forward, makes the room feel something, or earns belief.
The classic ceiling for a talk is eighteen minutes, and a shorter talk is often stronger.
A talk is finished when it feels like there is nothing left to remove.

Questions.

How long should a talk be?

A talk should run to the time the room gives you. The classic ceiling is eighteen minutes, the frame for TED-style talks, and shorter is often stronger. A pitch has its own limit, often very short, and a speech bends to the occasion. Audiences reward compression, so the longer a talk runs, the more every line has to earn its place.

How do I decide what to cut from my presentation?

Go through the talk line by line and ask 'so what' of each one. Keep a line only if it moves the throughline forward, makes the room feel something, or earns belief. Everything else comes out, however much you like it. The hardest cuts are the lines you are proud of that fail to serve the talk. Stop when nothing is left to remove.

Lesson 7.5 of From Story to Stage, a free written course by Aaron C. Leaman, published by Brighter Future. The terms it uses are defined in the glossary.