Yoodli Skill: Say more with less (talk time)

What is talk time and why does it matter?

Talk time is the percentage of a meeting that you spoke for. You don’t want to monopolize the entire conversation as that means you’re not interested in what others have to say. You also don’t want to be silent through the entire conversation because that could indicate that you’re either not paying attention or have nothing valuable to contribute. Finding the right balance for talk time is one of the most important communication skills.

What’s considered good talk time

Talk time highly depends on the context of the conversation (if you’re presenting material, you’ll likely speak for more time than others, as an example). For a conversation, here are general rules:

• 2 person conversation: 40 – 60%

• 3 person conversation: 29 -36%

• 4 person conversation: 22 – 27%

How can I manage my talk time?

The best way to manage your talk time is to follow this plan:

1. Measure your talk time: Use Yoodli on 5-7 calls to see which which kinds of calls you tend to speak more or less on. Getting quantifiable data is the first step in improving
2. Get live analytics: Turn on the Yoodli live talk time functionality when you’re on a call so you can course correct in realtime (think of this as a car dashboard that shows you your realtime statistics)
3. Track your progress: Improving your speaking is like building a muscle – you need to stay in practice. Use Yoodli to track your progress and ensure you’re speaking just enough (but not too much) in conversations

More details about talk time