“Take a big clock,” was the advice of my friend Vickie Austin, the week before Christmas as she helped me prepare a speech I would give to hundreds of professionals at Microsoft’s annual women’s conference.

Now, I have a lot of respect for Vickie. She is an executive coach and the founder of CHOICES Worldwide ( www.choicesworldwide.com). She is also an excellent public speaker. However, this rather odd suggestion suggested to me that she’d been hitting the eggnog.

“Excuse me?” I replied as politely as possible.

She went on to explain that whenever she speaks she takes a large battery-powered clock that she sets up in her sightline. That way, she always knows how much time has elapsed and can pace herself through her presentation without ever looking at her watch.

As it turns out, this has several advantages. Because, let’s face it, if we are checking our watch during our own presentation, we might inadvertently give our audience the idea that:

a) We are even more bored with our own speech than they are.

b) We are thinking to ourselves, “Just 40 more minutes of this dreck and then I’m going to Disneyland.”

c) We are, as they are, wondering when lunch will be served.

So I took Vickie’s advice. Office Depot had one for $7.99 that takes a single AA battery. It worked like a charm.

I never once wondered if I was running out of time. When I gave the audience two minutes to complete an exercise, I actually knew when to call time without squinting or putting on my granny glasses. And, at the end of the Q&A, I knew precisely when to say, “I’ll take one last question.”

A golden rule of successful public speaking is to never go over your allotted time. In fact, you’ll never lose points for ending five minutes early (especially before lunch).

I may never travel again without my big clock. However, I do recommend taking the battery out before placing it in either your checked or carry-on baggage. Think about it: tick tock tick tock.

Thanks, Vickie. You rock.

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