I am, and always will be, an admirer of anyone who understands that the shorter sermon, the shorter meeting, the shorter training session, and the shorter story are almost always the best versions of those things.
Time is our most precious commodity.
In truth, it’s our only precious commodity. Everything else is meaningless in the face of time.
Honor it as such. When standing before a group of people, I have an obligation — a duty — to be relevant, engaging, entertaining, and concise.
Every single time.
My keynote may be 60 minutes.
My solo show may be 100 minutes long.
My workshop might be scheduled for half a day.
Even so, I still make sure these are the shortest versions possible. If you hire me to teach for four hours, you get outstanding, entertaining, engaging, impactful content for those four hours, and it will likely feel like two.
I’m never stretching. Instead, I’m jamming. Making sure that every minute matters. Trying to get through the material early so I can offer bonus material. Extra strategies. Greater insight. Longer Q&As.
If my meeting is scheduled to last an hour, and it lasts exactly one hour, I have failed. The goal shouldn’t be to fill the hour, but to accomplish my goals in less time than allotted.
This is what is known as being efficient. The definition of this word is one of the most beautiful collections of words in the English language:
Efficient: Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
Strive to be efficient in all things, including meetings. Especially meetings.
This church gets it.
