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In our new “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:
What is the ideal length for a job talk when you have an hour (plus an hour for Q&A)?
Is using the full 60 minutes less ideal than, say, 50-55? Is there a big difference between, say, 58 minutes and 62 minutes?
Or does it really not matter at all?
I have no idea! Does anyone have any helpful insights?
If you are given 60 minutes for your talk, do not ever go one minute over … rather, fault on the side of ending early. Leave your audience hungry for more. 62 minutes is a terrible sin. Any extra time can be spent on more questions. (David Hull, one of my mentors, once remarked: when you are invited as a speaker, let your hosts talk … they will find you so interesting!).
Whenever I am invited to give a talk, I always ask my hosts how long the talk should be and how long I should leave for discussion, and I always make sure my talk is slightly shorter than the recommended time. And certainly for a job talk, you want to leave plenty of time for questions.
OP here! I actually already gave my talk lol but I followed the advice above after being told something similar, and I am very pleased with how it turned out (it was around 56-57 minutes)!
One thing that’s interesting is that when timing the talk on my own, it was almost always about 2-3 minutes longer than when I did it in front of people. I think this is because of the adrenaline that causes one to speak a little faster than normal.
But for anyone prepping for a job talk I can’t recommend highly enough practicing in front of actual human beings who you respect! It really made a big difference for me and it’s interesting how one’s behavior changes in ways one can’t predict perfectly.
Also, I really recommend practicing it often enough that you are consistently coming in within 1-2 minutes. I practiced my talk at least ten times before giving it and it really helped ease my nerves when actually giving it!
I think you should shoot for 50 minutes (+/- like…2). You don’t want people to feel short-changed in terms of question time. Many places start a minute or two late and have a practice of taking a break for a few minutes between the talk and Q&A. If you talk for 50 minutes, then everyone can take a nice break and still have an hour for questions.
Strong agree with anon above that going over an hour is a bad look. Don’t even risk it. (Coming in at 57 minutes when you practice counts as “risking it”.)
Agreed – it’s fine to go a few minutes under (although don’t go TOO short, it will look like you didn’t plan well), but absolutely don’t go over.
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