I’m sorry, we’re out of time
What do you do when the deadline looms?
I often hear blowhards on the radio, wrecking the entire interview because they don't know how to call it quits when the host tells them they have thirty seconds to wrap up. They try to say one more thing, one more thing, one more thing and they get hung up on and the message is lost.
I often hear presenters who always manage to need just two more minutes than the time allows. So, instead of exiting gracefully when there's ten seconds left on the clock, they either steal time from the next person or try to rush through six slides and their conclusion.
What a waste.
Do you save the most important part of the meeting for the end, when everyone is already standing?
Plan for the end.
Expect that the amount of time you've got is going to be the amount of time you've got. And then use a little less.
No one ever leaves a speech or a eulogy or a presentation saying, "I wish it was longer."
If the Groundhog understood this, winter would be a lot shorter.