Let's make liberty sound good!

o   Just One More Thing

o   This Won’t Take Long

o   Before I Finish…

o   And Another Thing…

o   I Promise I’m Almost Done

o   I’ll Stop Now

o   Okay, I’m Done

o   Really, I’m Done

o   This Is the Last Thing

o   Let Me Just Finish

Any of those sound familiar?

 That is exactly the speaking habit I want to address.

I once prepared a talk for church that meant a great deal to me. I had prayed about it, thought deeply about what I wanted to say, and included some very personal experiences. I wasn't just preparing a speech—I was preparing to share something that was sacred to me.

Then the speaker before me went over their allotted time & there wasn't enough time for me to give the talk I had prepared. I had to set most of it aside and simply bear my testimony.

As I sat there, I had a painful thought: My message wasn't important enough for my time to be respected.

I knew the other speaker probably didn't intend to communicate that. They probably weren't thinking, "My message is more important than yours." But intentions don't always erase impact. By going over their time, they had unintentionally taken something from me—and from everyone in the congregation.

Every person we encounter has something important to share. Their experiences matter. Their time matters.

This   experience can teach us some things

1.    We can be passionate and still be considerate.

2.    We can have something important to say and still know when to stop.

3.    Good intentions don't remove consequences.

 I have run a nonprofit organization that brings speakers from around the country to our community. We work hard to make these events happen. We find the speakers, promote the event, rent the room, arrange the schedule, and try to create an experience where people can learn, connect, and be inspired. Our audiences can range anywhere from 80 people to 400, depending on the speaker.

One day, we had a speaker who was incredibly enthusiastic about her presentation. Before the event, she excitedly told us, "I have about 300 slides!"

I remember thinking, We have a problem.

She had 50 minutes.

So I reminded her of the schedule. We would give her signs at ten minutes remaining and five minutes remaining. When her time was up, we would hold up a stop sign.

The message was clear: 50 minutes.

When she started, she was energetic and passionate. She had a lot she wanted to share. But as the minutes passed, she kept going.

Ten-minute sign.

Five-minute sign.

Stop sign.

Still going.

Eventually, she was thirty minutes over her allotted time. My husband finally had to step in and stop her—partly because he has a louder voice than I do!

At first, it was frustrating and embarrassing. But afterward, I realized that something much bigger had happened. It wasn't just that one speaker had gone over time. Her decision affected everyone.

We paid for the room by the hour. Those extra thirty minutes cost our nonprofit more money than we actually received in donations that day.

About a third of the audience eventually got up and left. They weren't necessarily leaving because they didn't care about her message. They simply had other commitments. Their time mattered too.

And as people began leaving, the energy in the room changed. What had started as an exciting event slowly became uncomfortable and diminished.

There wasn't enough time afterward for people to gather, ask questions, visit with one another, or have a proper closing. The speaker didn't even get to finish her presentation gracefully. She had to be stopped in the middle of a slide.

This experience can teach us some things

1.    We can be passionate and still be considerate.

2.    We can have something important to say and still know when to stop

3.    Good intentions don't remove consequences.

 When someone gives us five minutes, perhaps the respectful thing is not to ask, "How much more can I fit into these five minutes?"

It's to ask, "How can I make the very best use of the time they've trusted me with?"

That is true stewardship.

And that is respect.

 When you are given a speaking opportunity, whether it be at church, evaluating employees, or a work presentation, it is important to respect the time given to you by attendees.  We can show respect for people we hope to influence.

I am a private math tutor.  I typically do 1-hour sessions.  I can tell when we are at 55 minutes on the dot without fail, every time.  Why is that??  Experience is one contributor. 

There are ways to help train your brain to recognize 5 minutes so that you can intuitively know how long you have been speaking. 

·      One idea is to get some table topics and utilize them over dinner.  Each response needs to last at least  1 minute but no longer than 2 minutes,

.

·      Another idea is the 5-minute estimation drill

o   Set a timer for 5 minutes, but don't look at it once you start.

o   Talk out loud about any subject—tell a story, explain an idea, or practice part of a presentation, drive, clean your room, or just cook dinner

o   When you think 5 minutes have passed, stop the timer.

o   Check how close you were.

o   Do this repeatedly. Your brain starts building an internal sense of what 5 minutes "feels like."

o   Once you're good at 5 minutes, practice estimating 10 and 30

Let's make liberty sound good! Practice good time management.  Your message may be important—but so is their time. When someone gives you five minutes, give them your very best five minutes, not 8-10.

Learn to watch the clock, feel the time, and know when to stop. Because respecting their time isn’t just good speaking—it’s good stewardship, good manners, and respect for the people who chose to listen.