Another great day at TED, with everything from how games will save the world to the next emancipation of slaves to slicing wings off mosquitoes via laser beams. Eclectic, to say the least.
Yet one of the major lessons had little to do with content and much to do with context. TED runs on a very anal-retentive schedule. Speakers get their time (usually three, six or 18 minutes) and heaven forbid they go over. To ensure compliance, there's an ominous, red-alert-styled digital timer smack-dab in the middle of the stage counting down the minutes and seconds left like a doomsday clock.
So what happens? Well, in a number of cases over the past two days, you see speakers trying to jam seven minutes of ideas into three minutes of clock, or 10 minutes into six (you get the drift). The end result is obvious to all watching--a stressed delivery and the unfortunate garbling of ideas. Pity, given who's delivering them.
It seems elementary, but in this situation, speakers should undershoot, and give themselves some slack, not added pressure. More diligence paid to editing before hitting the stage will allow speakers the chance to take a deep breath, enjoy the drama of a pregnant pause, maybe even take a sip of water. Slack also allows for some much-needed improvisation, and/or reaction to audience reaction.
And ya know what? This micro-level observation plays out even better on a macro level, in almost any life or business situation. Better to have time to kill than be killed by time.
Jeez, who needs extra stress? Cutting yourself some slack will prevent you from cutting your throat. Or your ideas. Or your lifeline.