When Giving A Speech, Less Is More.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(CHOICE WORDS: MARKETING)

Byline: Morey Stettner

As a professional speaker, Seth Godin usually gives a 50-minute presentation. So he grew alarmed when, at the last minute, his hosts asked him to limit a talk to 20 minutes.

"I had a choice: pay short shrift to everything I was going to cover or pick just the best and get rid of everything else," he said. "I decided to stick to the best and leave out the rest."

His audience loved the shorter version of his speech.

The experience reinforced one of Godin's rules of public speaking: Most presentations are too long.

Godin is the author of "Purple Cow, as well as "Permission Marketing," "Unleashing the Ideavirus" …