I was doing article research this week, and I came across a statement by a world-renowned public speaking coach that made me stop dead in my tracks. This coach was answering the question, "If I’ve only got five minutes for a speech, how do I get my key points across in an interesting way?" The speaker answered by saying, "Five minutes is too short a time to persuade an audience of anything complicated, sophisticated, or controversial." I was dumbfounded. That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard. In fact, it is right up there with...

• "Read my lips... No new taxes."
• "I did not have sexual relations with that woman..."
• "Saddam has weapons of mass destruction."
• "If you like your plan you can keep your plan."

So, I guess that the statement is not the most ridiculous statement that I've ever heard, but it is in the top five.

The way that I know that this statement is ridiculous, though, is two-fold. First, because I am a married man. If this statement were true, then I and about 95% of all men would never, ever get married. (Most proposals take way less than five minutes.)

Second, for the last 20 years, students in the Fearless Presentations ® public speaking classes have put together thousands (cumulatively) of persuasive speeches that all lasted about five minutes or less. In fact, we create these presentations dozens of times each week. Here is the process that we use.

SHOW NOTES: https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-persuade-your-audience-in-five-minutes-or-less/