Time Targets Across the Full Speech
Knowing roughly how many seconds each section should take helps a competitor self-correct in real time if a section is running long or short. You will be able to recite approximate time targets for every section of a seven-minute speech.
A Standard Time Map
A common time map allocates roughly fifty to sixty seconds for the AGD through preview, seventy-five to ninety seconds for each of the three points including citation and analysis, and thirty to forty-five seconds for the conclusion, which sums to approximately six minutes forty-five seconds to seven minutes, leaving a small buffer. Competitors should treat this as a flexible guide, adjusting slightly based on which point has the strongest evidence, rather than a rigid stopwatch requirement enforced sentence by sentence.
Self-Correcting Mid-Speech
If a competitor notices, from a timer's hand signal, that they are behind pace after point one, a practiced adjustment is trimming analysis sentences in point two slightly, not cutting the citation or the impact, since those anchor credibility and crystallization. Cutting the conclusion short to make up lost time is one of the worst adjustments, since it sacrifices the section that leaves the final impression on the judge.
Building In a Deliberate Buffer
Advanced competitors deliberately target six minutes fifty seconds rather than a full seven minutes as their internal goal, building in a ten-second buffer that absorbs small pacing surprises without ever risking going over time, since going over is penalized more heavily by most judges than finishing a few seconds early.
A competitor's timer shows one finger (one minute left) right as she begins her third point.
She realizes she has less time than planned for her third point and quickly compresses her analysis to two tight sentences instead of three, while keeping her citation and impact statement fully intact, then moves directly into a slightly shortened but still complete conclusion rather than abandoning the callback altogether.
1. In a standard time map, roughly how long should each of the three points take, including citation and analysis?
2. True or False?
"If running behind pace, the best adjustment is to cut the conclusion short to save time."
Answer all 2 to check.
A flexible time map — roughly a minute for the intro, seventy-five to ninety seconds per point, and thirty to forty-five seconds for the conclusion — helps a competitor self-correct pacing without sacrificing the conclusion.