Key points
- Speeches run over not because people talk too much, but because nobody told the speaker what comes after them — a speech with no end point keeps extending itself.
- Walking on stage takes time and has to be counted. In a 150-person venue, one person takes roughly 40–60 seconds to get from their seat to the stage.
- Recognising 10 long-service employees takes longer than you think once you count the name-calling, the walk and the photos: budget 12–15 minutes, not 5.
- Agree the time cue signal in advance. A card held up cold on the night reads as being rushed, and the speaker often talks longer because of it.
"We'll have the chairman say a few words — about five minutes."
That sentence is where the overrun starts. It gives a length but no content boundary — and on stage, without a boundary, a speech extends itself.
Speeches running over happens at almost every event. It isn't a personality problem; it's a result of how the segment was set up. Understand the structure and you can fix it.
1. The four structural causes of overrun
| Cause | What happens | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| No content boundary | You only say "five minutes"; the speaker picks their own topic and follows it wherever it goes | Give three points; when they're done, the speech is done |
| No idea what comes next | No sense of who they're handing over to, so there's nothing to close against | Tell them explicitly: "after you, the MC takes over for the lucky draw" |
| People added on the night | "It's rare to have so-and-so here — let's ask them to say a few words too" | Fix the list in advance; no additions on the day |
| No real cue | The cue card is ten metres away in the audience, or nobody holds it up at all | Agree the signal and the position beforehand |
The first one is the root cause. Giving a length without content means asking someone to improvise for five minutes — that's hard. Three points are easier to deliver and easier to close.
2. What to give the speaker
The most effective approach is a single sheet of paper, not a verbal briefing. Contents:
【SPEECH BRIEF】
Time: 18:30 (after the opening)
Length: 5 minutes
After you: the MC takes over for the first round of the lucky draw
Suggested three points (adjust freely):
1. Thanks for a hard year (you can name specific teams or projects)
2. One company result from this year (figure: revenue up 12%)
3. One line of hope for next year
Time cues:
・At minute 4, the events team will raise a hand to your front right
・Past minute 6, the MC will step in at your next full stop and close
Other speakers:
・18:45 Sales manager (3 minutes)
The line "After you: the MC takes over for the first round of the lucky draw" matters. It supplies an end point. Once someone knows what follows, they close on their own.
Write down the other speakers too. Knowing they aren't the only one speaking makes most people compress.
3. How to schedule the time
Scheduled time ≠ actual time
| Agreed length | Common actual length | What the rundown should allow |
|---|---|---|
| 3 minutes | 5–6 minutes | 6 minutes |
| 5 minutes | 8–15 minutes | 10 minutes |
| 10 minutes | 15–20 minutes | 18 minutes |
Source: these are the gaps we've timed on site, not a general rule. The same person speaking a second time is usually closer to target — so for an event you run every year, record the actual times in year one and year two will be far more accurate (see "Post-event wrap-up and review").
What to do: put the time that will actually happen on the rundown, not the time that was agreed. That isn't indulgence — it stops everything after it getting squeezed.
Walking on stage takes time
This is the item most often left out.
| Venue size | Time per person to reach the stage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 tables | 20–30 seconds | Short distance |
| 15–20 tables | 40–60 seconds | Has to go round the aisles |
| 30+ tables | 60–90 seconds | And you may have to find them first |
With three speakers, the walking alone costs 2–4 minutes. Schedule it.
How to shorten it: seat speakers near an aisle and near the stage. That decision belongs in the table plan.
4. Speaking order
General principle: outside in, top down.
| Order | Who | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Most senior person from the host company | Opening welcome |
| 2 | Guest of honour / external guest representative | When there are external guests (common at spring banquets) |
| 3 | Other managers from the host company | Usually keep just one |
Can there be only one speaker? Yes, and usually it's better. Three managers with five minutes each will repeat one another, and guests lose patience.
If the organisational culture requires more people on stage, put the others in the awards segment as presenters — same visibility, no extra speech. It's a very effective substitute.
5. The awards segment
Recognition (long-service employees, annual awards) is different from a speech: the time goes not into talking but into people moving and having their photo taken.
How to calculate the time
Time per person ≈ name called 10s + walk to stage 40–60s + award and handshake 15s + photo 15s
≈ 80–100 seconds
| Number recognised | One at a time | In batches (5 per batch) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 people | 7–8 minutes | 4–5 minutes |
| 10 people | 13–17 minutes | 7–9 minutes |
| 20 people | 27–33 minutes (too long) | 12–15 minutes |
Above 10 people you must batch them. Once one-at-a-time runs past 15 minutes, the room starts talking among itself.
How to run the batches
- Call five people up together and line them up.
- The presenter hands out the awards in order, without a handshake and small talk for each.
- Take one group photo at the end, not one photo per person.
- If a few people need a special introduction (the longest-serving, say), pull that person out separately as the finale.
Trophies and movement
| Item | Confirm in advance |
|---|---|
| Where the trophies sit | On a table at the side of the stage, with someone assigned to hand them over |
| Who hands them over | Name one person; don't grab someone on the night |
| Where the presenter stands | Mark it on the floor with tape beforehand |
| Where recipients come on | Up on the left, down on the right (or the reverse) — one fixed direction avoids collisions |
| Where the photographer stands | Agreed beforehand, and not blocking the audience's view |
| Trophy weight | A heavy trophy makes hands shake in photos; consider a symbolic item |
Always walk it through at the rehearsal. The awards segment is the part of the night most likely to jam, because it involves the most people moving.
6. Time cues
Agree them in advance, not on the spot
| Element | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Who gives the cue | One named person, usually from the events team |
| Where they stand | Where the speaker can see them but guests can't (front side of the stage) |
| How to cue | Raised hand / card / fingers showing a number — agreed beforehand |
| When to cue | Once a minute before the scheduled end, then every 2 minutes once over |
The key is agreeing it beforehand. A card raised cold reads as being rushed — and some people talk longer because their train of thought was broken. A cue that was explained in advance reads as help.
When it really won't stop
That's the MC's job. The method is to wait for a full stop, step in immediately, and repeat one line they said:
Thank you, Chairman! That line just now — "doing things well matters more than getting them done" — is the best summary of this year I can think of. Another round of applause for the chairman, please!
Repeating their own words sounds like a close rather than an interruption. For the full script, see "How to write an MC script".
7. A few practical notes
Confirm the pronunciation of names and titles first. Calling the chairman the general manager is the most awkward three seconds of the night. Give the MC a list with phonetics or romanisation marked.
Have enough microphones. At least three — speeches, awards, MC — plus spare batteries.
Don't serve food during speeches. Service staff moving around pulls attention away; agree this with the venue in advance.
Get the award list confirmed by three parties: HR, the department manager, and the person themselves. A wrong or missing name is worse than not running the segment at all.
Leave room for improvisation. If the boss tends to add things on the spot, schedule something compressible after them (a video, for example) rather than going straight into the lucky draw.
Checklist
D-14
- Speaker list finalised, including order and length
- Award list confirmed by HR, managers and the recipients themselves
- Written speech brief given to every speaker (three points, what comes next, cue method)
- Name pronunciations and correct titles given to the MC
D-7
- The rundown shows the times that will actually happen, not the agreed times
- Time to walk on stage is counted in
- Speakers and award recipients seated near an aisle and near the stage
- More than 10 people being recognised — switched to batches
On the day
- Cue person, position and method all in place
- Trophies in position, handler assigned
- Presenter positions marked with tape
- Awards segment walked through once at the rehearsal
- Three or more microphones, spare batteries ready
- Venue told: no food service during speeches
→ How to write a year-end party MC script → Year-end party rundown template → Get a rundown template you can use as-is
Figures come from events we delivered and public sources. Actual terms vary by venue and date — always confirm with the venue.