Short of using a grappling hook to pull Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from the stage, there was little U.N. officials could do but listen in baffled silence to his rambling 100-minute long speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York yesterday.

The eccentric Colonel, who was given 15 minutes to address other world leaders, broke one of the cardinal rules of public speaking – overshooting his allotted time. And he did so in spectacular fashion, speaking for six times longer than scheduled.

One newspaper described Qaddafi’s address as one of the most rambling and incoherent speeches in history.

Qaddafi is not the only leader to get carried away with his own rhetoric. Cuban leader Fidel Castro is renowned for his marathon speeches.
Straying beyond your allotted time as a public speaker is fraught with risks and makes audiences anxious. Time keeping is as important in public speaking as in any other part of life. It is considered a courtesy to your audience and fellow speakers to stick to your allotted time.

The danger of a long speech is that your audience will remember it for just one thing: its length rather than its message.

Unlike a conversation, which we can interrupt, speeches force a captive audience to listen, tune out or walk away.

The best public speakers can gauge the mood and attention span of their audiences. Crucially, they never lose sight of the delicate interplay between audience and speaker.

An audience will never complain if your speech or presentation was too short. But they’ll remember it for all the wrong reasons if it was too long.

(pgallagher@ecdinsight.com)