how to make a video presentation longer

8 Tips You Can Use to Make Your Presentation Longer

Last updated on May 31st, 2023

Striking that perfect duration for your presentation can be tricky. Your presentation should be brief so as not to bore your audience and to take advantage of the attention span , but it should also be thorough so you can fully deliver your message. There will be times when you’ll need to have a longer presentation than what you had planned, and it can be daunting to prolong the session on the spot if you don’t know what to do. Remember, a long presentation doesn’t mean a wordy presentation.

Let’s say you were forced to use a specific time frame for your presentation. As an example, let’s assume this is a 60-minute presentation. But when you realize you’ve prepared a presentation that you can deliver in 30 minutes, what would you do to cover the timing requirements and time constraints? While we already covered how many slides for a 30 minute presentation , in this article, we’ll share eight tips you can apply to make a presentation longer, some you can do before in preparation, and others you can use during the presentation. But first, let’s talk about why you might need a longer presentation.

What are some reasons you might need a longer presentation?

You don’t want to look unprepared. When not done properly, a presentation that is too short may give off the impression that you do not know a lot about the topic you are presenting, or that you did not exert enough effort in creating the presentation. This, even if you have delivered a message effectively and already said everything you needed to say. By having a long and effective presentation, you can show that you are capable and knowledgeable about the topic. It is not the idea to talk for the sake of talking, because if that is the case a wise decision would be to be honest with your audience and cut the presentation beforehand. But in some other situations, this is not the case, and you need to use all the time that you have available for the presentation.

Recommended reading: 75+ actionable topic ideas for your presentations in PowerPoint or Google Slides

You want your audience to feel engaged. Studies from military training have shown that there is a certain balance you should strike when delivering a message to make sure your audience connects with you and understands your key points. Too short a presentation usually does not give the audience enough time or information to fully embrace the topic.

Your presentation time was changed at the last minute . When you’re presenting as part of a panel, you always have to be prepared to adjust the duration of your speech in case you have to accommodate a change in schedule. If you have been asked to fill in for another presenter, you’ll have to find a way to stretch the presentation to make it longer .

What is the ideal length for a presentation? It will depend. Is the presentation you are creating a speech (not a workshop)? In those cases, ideal length may vary between 10 and 20 minutes. However, in some situations you may want to make your presentations longer in time.

How to make a presentation longer (8 Actionable Tips)

Before the presentation.

It is best to design your presentation to already be substantive beforehand so that you can take up as much time as needed to present your topic. Here are 4 tips and strategies to use when making your presentation:

Over-prepare

If you have been asked to present for 20 minutes, make sure to prepare enough content for at least 25 minutes. A common standard is that you should always be ready to speak 25% more than you were asked to do. It is much easier to be over-prepared and just cut the less important points from the presentation than to add points that you weren’t prepared for.

Layout a timed schedule for your presentation.

Plan out your speech by knowing how long you take for specific portions of the presentation. This includes your introduction, all the key points, your closing remarks, and any engagements you have prepared like a Q&A portion from the audience. This allows you to have a more detailed estimation of the duration of your presentation, and you can see which parts of your speech you can choose to stretch or insert additional information. This action requires a proper planning, and define the presentation structure beforehand. Alternatively, you can work in a presentation outline first.

Design your PowerPoint presentation purposefully.

Having a visual aid like a PowerPoint presentation is a must in any professional setting, and you can harness it to lengthen your presentation and make it more substantive. By including a graph or a data set to your slides, you are giving yourself a short break from constant speaking.

To help you in designing effective presentations, check out our roster of the best free PowerPoint templates , as chosen by the editor.

Present facts and quotes

A million dollar tip to make your presentation longer is to include new facts and why not, quote slides. Adding facts to your presentations not only will help to transmit the Logos part of the Rhetoric triangle (Logos is an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason), but also help to lengthen your presentation a few seconds.

Similarly, presenting quotes from famous characters (they can be from different areas, such as politics, sports, public speaking, etc.), you can motivate your audience and keep then engaged. The audience will dedicate a few seconds to reasoning about the quote, what it means, what it tries to say and also about the personality or character who said it, remembering different stories. This will of course help to stretch your presentation a few seconds more. Using a free quote slide for PowerPoint can help you to achieve this with no hassle.

Vary the elements of your presentation.

When appropriate, you can add more types of media into your presentation. A short video clip or an impactful image is a great thing to incorporate. Not only do they lengthen your presentation, but they also spice up your speech and make it more engaging.

If your presentation is too short, you can apply the 10/20/30 rule for presentations, in which there should be no more than 10 slides, the presentation should last no more than 20 minutes, and there should be no text smaller than 30 points. This way, you can extend your presentation to a 20-minute length.

During the presentation

Making a presentation longer while you’re already at the podium is all about adapting and taking control of the time. Here are 4 tips that you can employ to make your presentation longer, during the presentation:

1. Speak slowly yet deliberately

Your nerves when public speaking can cause you to speak in a rush or in a panic. Take control of your voice and speak more slowly and include short pauses when making a point. By speaking slowly yet deliberately, you effectively lengthen your speech, and you also help your audience grasp your message much easier.

2. Stress out and repeat key concepts

When presenting, do not shy away from repeating the main points of your message throughout the presentation. By repeating key concepts, you hammer them down so that your audience remembers them and takes them away after the presentation. Stressing out main points is also one of the tips in making a brain-friendly presentation.

3. Add in your reserved examples, stories, and anecdotes

If you’ve done your over-preparation, this is the time when you can include the extra information you have exceedingly prepared and incorporate them into the speech. However, make sure that what you add is still related to the topic and adds substance to the speech. Remember, a long presentation does not mean a wordy presentation.

4. Enrich your presentations with videos

Adding videos to your presentations or embedding a video into your slides and playing it during the slide show can help you to make your presentation longer. However, this technique must be combined with other ones. If you embed a video in your PowerPoint presentations, make sure that it resonates with the topic and speech, and try to keep the attention span in mind. Videos longer than 3 minutes may make your presentation too boring unless the video is engaging enough. Please be sure to use this technique with caution. Additionally, consider that when using videos, the estimated number of slides may vary because each video is generally presented in a slide. So, for instance, if you rely on a specific number of slides for a 10-minute presentation , understand that using videos would require fewer number of slides.

Engage with your audience

Audience participation is a great strategy to use when you’re playing for time and need a longer presentation. There are many ways you can engage your audience throughout the presentation. You can say that you are open to questions during the speech rather than afterward in the Q&A session (Questions and Answers). You can also ask a question, and ask for simple input from the audience like a show of hands.

Final Thoughts

When you need to explain your topic thoroughly and intensively, long presentations are the way to go. However, keep in mind that longer presentations have to be engaging so as not to lose the interest of your audience You can use the 8 tips and techniques that we have mentioned above to help you deliver longer presentations that remain effective and dynamic, so you can nail your presentations every time.

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From ideas to screen: How to make presentation videos that shine

Visuals can mean the difference between a killer presentation and a lost opportunity.

For salespeople, it’s difficult to close a deal without business presentations to back up your pitches. For marketers and business owners, video presentations help communicate ideas and share results from projects to ensure future success. 

Customers also love high-quality visuals, like branded explainer videos and product tours. They’re the fuel that drives eight in 10 people to make online purchases. 

But what makes a good presentation? And how can you engage viewers throughout your video? This guide covers what you need to know about creating video presentations, no matter the purpose.

What is a video presentation?

A video presentation refers to a sequence of visuals combined with audio to convey information, arguments, ideas, or narratives. It can be about a product, service, internal business reports, or even a topic of interest.

Video presentations can range from simple slideshow-style videos with voiceovers to more complex productions involving animations, live-action footage, music, sound effects , and more.

A good video presentation provides information clearly and concisely. But the best video presentations engage your target audience with professional video quality: a good camera and mic, skilled editing, and a confident presenter. 

There are a ton of different types of video presentation formats you can choose from, including:

• Animated explainer videos
• Employee onboarding videos
• Screen recordings
• Training videos
• Product demos
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with a talking head
• Sales presentations
• Awards presentations

Benefits of a video presentation 

These are great reasons to put in the effort to produce this type of video content.

Enhanced engagement

Video recordings—whether on social media or hosted on your website—are great for engagement and getting your audience’s attention. Wyzowl found that 95% of marketers have said video marketing has helped them increase brand awareness, 90% say it has helped generate leads, and 87% said it has helped them increase sales.

Visual clarity

There's a reason many people suggest something like "If you can learn it, you'll find it on YouTube." The presentation video format is unique in its ability to teach and demonstrate, similar to the in-person experience you'd get with a tutor or salesperson. 

The same Wyzowl report found that 96% of marketers say videos have helped increase user understanding of products and services. In short: video helps customers retain your information.

Global reach and accessibility

Video presentations are a great way to reach a global audience. More than half of people say they’re more likely to share a video with others than any other type of content. 

A video presentation is also better for accessibility than other content types. With video editing software , you can:

• Easily add subtitles and annotations to your video footage for those with hearing loss.
• Add an audio description voiceover for those with sight loss.
• Change the color filters for those with color blindness.

Personal connection

Building a personal connection with your audience is critical for overall brand engagement. A video presentation, especially one with a person in the video, helps you do that. Research shows that students have positive feelings for videos presented by an instructor, for example.

How to create a video presentation

Step 1. plan and prepare.

Proper planning and preparation can help the rest of your presentation creation process run smoothly. 

Think about what you’ll say, and use a storyboard to build out a visual plan of your presentation ideas. Storyboarding your presentation, instead of making it on the fly, will help you stay focused when you fire up your presentation software. (You don’t need to be an artist; just set out the scenes in a way that makes sense to you.)

At this point, start writing the video script for your presentation. You’ll know what to say and when to say it, and won’t fill your presentation up with filler words like “um” and pauses when trying to think about what to say next. 

Step 2. Gather resources

After you’ve completed your paper storyboard and script, it’s time to go digital. With Descript, you can build your slideshows into the video editor just like any slideshow tool . 

To create a presentation video in Descript:

• Hit New project .
• Import any media (images, infographics, short video clips, GIFs, or sounds) you want to include in your presentation.
• Drop your visuals into the script and edit them into a sequence, or work scene by scene by adding a / at the beginning of each slide.
• Add the background of your presentation, then your script in the left panel.
• Add captions to your presentation by hitting the T icon at the top and choosing Captions.

When you've set up all your slides, you can get fancier and add transitions, extra media, and special effects later.

But maybe you’d prefer to create the presentation using more familiar software, like Prezi, PowerPoint slides, or Google Slides. In that case, you can import the presentation into Descript later or use its screen recording functionality. (If you upgrade your Descript plan, you can create your own video presentation templates to use over and over again, if that’s your style.)

Step 3. Record your presentation video

With your slides all set up, it’s time to turn them into a video. This step is pretty straightforward if you’ve used Descript to make the presentation slides. All you’ll need to do is go to the beginning of the presentation and hit the Record button at the top of the screen:

 If, like in the image example above, you’ve written your script into the scenes, change the default setting Record into script to Record new layer . This preserves your script so you can read from it whil recording your presentation video. 

Decide if you want to record a voiceover only (leaving the record option as Audio only ), or add a floating head video with your webcam to show yourself as the speaker by clicking the Screen option. Either way, go through your script as the slides move along. 

If you created your presentation in another software like Google Slides, there may be no built-in option to record your presentation over the slides. In that case, use Descript’s screen recorder to film your screen with audio. The video file will be ready and waiting for you in the video editor when you finish recording.

Step 4. Edit and enhance

At this point, you’ve got the basic presentation down. It’s time to bring out your inner filmmaker and turn the slideshow into something special. 

With Descript’s free video editor, you can:

• Add title screens to introduce your presentation.
• Choose from a library of background music.
• Change the fonts of your captions and any other text layer.
• Add cool slide transitions.
• Improve audio quality with Studio Sound .

Descript’s video editing is different (and easy) since you can edit the video using the script instead of a traditional timeline editor. This makes the process super efficient since you can quickly identify what needs cutting. Simply delete the part of the script you don’t want, and the accompanying video will disappear.

Step 5. Review and fine-tune your video

What makes Descript extra special is the ability to edit your audio by taking out filler words you might have accidentally recorded. Remove “ums,” “uhs,” and awkward pauses in a single click with filler word removal . 

If, like me, you also have a habit of forgetting to say something important, you can use Descript's Overdub feature to add those few missed words without re-recording the whole scene. The software will create an AI clone of your voice to fix audio mistakes. 

With your video presentation fine-tuned, you’re ready to save and share it with the world. Click the Publish button in the top right corner and download the MP4 file, or export it directly to a platform like YouTube or Wistia.

6 key elements for crafting a great video presentation

Now you know the practical how-tos of making a presentation video, let’s look at some key elements that turn a good video presentation into a great one. 

Clear and engaging content

Visual appeal, narration and voice quality, engagement techniques, structure and flow.

• Audience-centric approach 

No one likes feeling confused. If your presentation isn’t clear, you’ll end up frustrating your audience. A nice trick for clarity is to imagine you’re explaining your presentation to a child; don’t use big words to sound smart. Presentations that are clear from the start are naturally more engaging.

Gone are the days of 360p Nokia footage. Even if you don’t have a professional camera setup, you can still record a video on a PC, phone, or webcam with high quality. But don’t forget about the images and text overlays. No one wants to try deciphering pixelated visuals—use the highest quality video resolution you can.

Even the best-quality video presentation can be ruined by bad audio. Poor-quality narration is hugely frustrating to viewers. Prioritize your audio quality, especially for information-rich videos like presentations, and use Studio Sound to remove distracting background noise from your presentation video.

When it comes to video presentations, you should think like a salesperson. You can't expect your audience to believe the information you give them if they don't trust you. Engage your audience by telling a personal story, describing relatable scenes, or emphasizing important points throughout your video.

Treat your presentation like a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Information should flow nicely from one point to the next. Do a test run through your slides before you start recording to ensure any questions don't crop up prematurely because the viewer thinks you haven't covered it (when you do a few slides later). 

Learn: Narrative structure: How to compose the best story for your footage

Audience-centric approach

It's pretty much always to the audience's benefit when you make a presentation video, so you shouldn't focus too much on yourself. Address your audience's needs and go above and beyond to answer any questions they may have. Otherwise, why would they listen to you?

5 tips to help you craft remarkable video presentations

Now we know what makes a great presentation video, here are five bonus presentation tips to create yours. 

1. Practice and rehearse

You won’t always get it right the first time, and that’s okay. But the more you practice before hitting record, the better your presentation video will be—and the less legwork you’ll need to do throughout the video editing process.

2. Invest in good equipment

Top-notch equipment makes your life easier throughout the video creation process. Replace your webcam with your iPhone to improve picture quality, and invest in editing tools that allow you to record and edit in the same dashboard.

3. Optimize lighting

Another area where you can improve the quality of your video is the lighting technique . If you have the budget, you can use a simple ring light, but if you don’t have the cash to invest in video equipment, use natural light (such as a window) behind your camera.

4. Engage with eye contact

If someone was talking to you and they weren’t looking at you, you’d probably be a little confused or uncomfortable, right? It’s the same with video. Look into the camera when making video presentations to simulate real eye contact with your audience. If you forget, use Descript’s Eye Contact AI effect to fix it.

5. Keep it concise

If you waffle on with unnecessary information or get sidetracked on a story, you’ll lose your audience’s attention, and they’ll click away or switch off. Stick to your video script and keep your presentation concise.

Elevate your video presentations with Descript

Creating an informative and engaging video presentation isn’t the easiest task in the world. You’ve got to know your audience and what they want, present the information confidently, and do it with visually appealing content.

With Descript, you can take your presentation video to the next level with an editing experience that allows you to:

• Record your screen on a Mac or Windows device
• Create and record slides (with voiceover) in one dashboard
• Remove filler words with a single click
• Use Studio Sound to remove background noise from your presentation
• Turn your presentation into a YouTube video, or download it as an MP4 file

Take a free tour of Descript and see why thousands of creators love its video editing platform.

How to make presentation videos FAQ

How do i make a presentation video for free.

• Choose a slideshow software like Descript
• Create your slides
• Add transitions 
• Record your voiceover
• Edit your presentation
• Share your video 

How do I video myself when presenting a PowerPoint?

Use PowerPoint’s built-in recording feature and choose the “Cameo” option to record yourself when presenting. Or, use Descript’s screen recording feature and have the presentation ready for editing when you finish recording. 

How do I make an audio-video presentation?

If you don’t want to record yourself on video, use a screen recorder to film your presentation slides. Video presentation makers like Descript allow you to record a voiceover.

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Product Updates

Introducing Descript Pro, Overdub, and more

Today, we’re rolling out a new set of Descript subscription plans with new pricing tiers. And we’re thrilled to announce the long-awaited public launch of Overdub, a state-of-the-art voice synthesis feature that replicates your own voice, included in the new Descript Pro plan. Of course, Overdub isn’t the only thing that makes Pro our most powerful offering yet — check out the full feature set in this video.

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How to make a show-stopping video presentation in 5 simple steps

Learn how to make a show-stopping video presentation to engage your audience, using Dropbox Capture to record your screen, voice and camera simultaneously.

Whether you’re a teacher, student, business professional or even a YouTube content creator – for many of us, delivering presentations quickly becomes a standard part of everyday life.

But what happens if you can’t be there to deliver your presentation in person, need a key point to land perfectly or you need your audience to watch it asynchronously in their own time? Have no fear, video presentations can be a great solution to all these challenges.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything there is to know about creating your own high-quality video presentations so your audience can benefit from your content whenever they need it.

Jump to section

• What is a video presentation

What makes a good presentation video?

What tools do you need to make a video presentation, how to make a video presentation.

• Making a video presentation in PowerPoint
• Making a video presentation in Keynote

Starting from the top: What is a video presentation?

A video presentation is a method of communication through which information is delivered partially or entirely through video. In other words, it’s the process of using video to deliver a message or presentation.

Common formats for video presentations might include pre-recorded slide presentations, instructional videos, sales material, inspirational talks, entertainment or anything you can think of.

While the reaction to a video presentation will be subjective, there are a few general qualities that can be beneficial to keep in mind:

• Make your video valuable – have a clear intended outcome for the viewer and be sure to reach it
• Make sure your audio and video are clear – you want your audience to focus on your message, not your video quality
• Bring your key points to life – use stories, questions and examples to illustrate key concepts and engage viewers
• Establish expectations – use your introduction to set clear expectations, either with an agenda or teasing where the session is heading
• Don’t rely on slides – if the slides added all the value, you could just send your audience a PDF. Ask yourself: what are you adding to the content by presenting it?
• Keep an eye on time – don’t make your video presentation longer than it needs to be.
• Mix it up – break the monotony and change pace at appropriate intervals
• Don’t start again for the sake of perfection – if you make a mistake during recording, you can always edit it out later

Before you can start creating your own video presentations, you’ll first need a few basic tools.

Hardware for a video presentation

Let’s start with the basics, your tech. In most cases, you’ll have everything you need if you have a standard laptop or desktop computer.

Here’s what you’ll need to start making video presentations:

• A laptop or PC – you’ll need something to make the presentation recording on
• A microphone – to record your voice-over, either built-in or USB
• A camera – if you want to include video of yourself, either as a built-in webcam or a USB camera

Video recording software

With your tech set up, you’ll need software to record your presentation. Depending on your needs, this might be something to record your screen, record your voice or record yourself with your camera.

With Dropbox Capture , you can do all three at the same time .

Dropbox Capture is video and screen recording technology, designed to make it easy to quickly capture whatever you need. All without needing advanced editing skills or specialist equipment.

With Capture, it’s easy to:

• Record your screen, webcam and microphone simultaneously
• Create GIFs
• Draw on or annotate recordings
• Automatically generate closed captions
• Share in just a few clicks

While presentation applications like PowerPoint and Keynote have some built-in screen and presentation recording capabilities, they only allow you to record the presentation.

Whereas with Dropbox Capture, you’re free to jump between windows and applications throughout your presentation recording – giving you greater freedom on what you present. 

File storage and sharing tools

Ultimately, you’re going to want to make your video presentation available for viewers somewhere.

With Dropbox cloud storage , this is as easy as copying a link , with full control over access and permissions for your files.

We’ll now cover all the steps to create an impactful video presentation, starting from the very beginning – your plan.

1. Plan your topic, examples and intended audience

You likely already have an idea of what you’ll want to cover in your video presentation, but it can help to formally get this down on paper:

• Presentation aim – what do you want your audience to understand by the end of the video?
• Approach – broadly, what will you cover to help them understand this concept?
• Resources – what examples will you be able to share to illustrate the key concepts?

To help with the planning process, Dropbox Paper has a number of pre-built templates to get your creative juices flowing, like the brainstorming template .

2. Create your presentation slides and your video presentation storyboard

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to create your slides.

While doing this, you should also think about the overall storyboard of your video presentation – what are the key beats, how will you present them and what slides do you need?

A storyboard is a visual tool, used by video producers to map out the narrative flow of a video and the visuals that will accompany it. In many cases, your presentation will almost act as a storyboard, but it might help to get this down on paper first.

You can learn more about the storyboarding process in our in-depth guide to storyboards .

3. Record your video presentation

With your storyboard and presentation ready, it’s time to go about creating your recording.

You can record your screen first, then later record a voice-over or video narration and edit the two together. Or with Dropbox Capture , you can record your screen, webcam and microphone simultaneously. Using Dropbox Capture makes it easy to create your pre-recorded video lesson in one take. Perfect if you don’t have access to advanced video editing software.

To record with Dropbox Capture , it’s as simple as the following steps:

• Open Dropbox Capture
• Click Screen recording & camera
• Choose which part of your screen you’d like to capture
• Click the Record icon to start recording and click it again to stop recording
• Click the Pause icon in the side panel while recording to pause or resume recording
• Click the Draw icon in the side panel while recording to draw on your recording

4. Edit your video presentation

If you’re already happy with your recording, there is no further editing required.

In any other cases, you can use video editing software to apply finishing touches to your video as you see fit. These edits might include:

• Editing your screen recording and voice-over together (if you have separate files) – with Dropbox Capture you can record your microphone and camera simultaneously, without the need to use editing software
• Cut and delete unwanted sections of video – like an awkward pause or a dog barking, with Dropbox Capture you can do this directly within the app, no editing software required!
• Remove awkward filler words – for cleaning up those pesky ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’, with Dropbox Capture you can do this automatically, directly in the app
• Adding text overlays to emphasise key points of video sections
• Additional flair and visual elements
• Adding background music to create an atmosphere

5. Share your video presentation

With your video presentation finished, you’ll need a way for your viewers to access it.

If you’re using Dropbox Capture, sharing your presentation couldn’t be easier. Simply click the Share button and the sharing link will automatically copy to your clipboard.

If you’re not using Capture, Dropbox cloud storage makes it easy to share your video files with anyone and see who’s viewed your video presentation. All you need to do is copy a link to the file.

If you want to send a copy of the full video, complete with its cumbersome file size, Dropbox Transfer makes it easy to send large files securely. 

How to record a video presentation in PowerPoint

It’s worth keeping in mind that, when recording directly within PowerPoint, you can only record your slides and your editing options will be limited. The best way to give yourself complete control over what you record – and how you edit it afterwards – is with a purpose-built screen recording app like Dropbox Capture .

If you’d still prefer to record directly in PowerPoint, you can do this by following these steps:

• Open PowerPoint and open your presentation file
• Navigate to the slide you’d like to start recording from
• Select Record in the top-right corner of the PowerPoint window
• Click the red Record button, wait for the countdown, then start your presentation

With your presentation recorded, you can then save it to your Dropbox cloud storage , making it easy to share your video files with anyone and see who’s viewed your video presentation.

How to record a video presentation in Keynote

If you’re a Mac user and would prefer to record directly in Keynote, here’s how to do it:

• Open Keynote and open your presentation file
• Select Record Slideshow from the Play menu at the top of the screen

With your Keynote presentation recorded, you can then save it to your Dropbox cloud storage and share it simply by copying the link.

Again, your control over what you record and how the final edit turns out will be limited when recording directly within the Keynote app. To give yourself complete control over how your video presentation turns out, a purpose-built screen recording app like Dropbox Capture will be more suitable.

Elevate your video presentations with Dropbox Capture

It’s never been so simple to create an engaging and memorable video presentation, with Dropbox.

With Dropbox Capture , it’s never been easier to get your message across with video recordings of your presentations. So you can clearly say what you mean and nail the delivery, every single time.

Capture your audience’s attention.

Try Dropbox Capture

Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, how to lengthen a presentation.

Striking that perfect duration for your presentation can be tricky. You may feel as though you prepared a presentation that will last the appropriate length and then find out as you are speaking that you grossly miscalculated. Presentations can go by very quickly, especially when you are nervous and speeding through the material. For instance, you may have planned for a 60-minute presentation but soon realize that it will be over in just 30 minutes. When this happens, what can you do to cover the remaining time? Here we will take a look at a few tips and tricks for making your presentation longer. 

Over-Prepare Ahead of Time

If you have been asked to present for 30 minutes, make sure you have at least 35 minutes of material. You should always be prepared to speak for at least 25% longer than you were asked. Therefore, prepare extra content that can be used if you end up needing more time, but can also be easily discarded if things are going well. It’s always better to over-prepare with additional material than wind up looking unprepared with a short presentation. 

Speak Slowly and Deliberately

You don’t need to speak as though you have been turned on slo-mo, but you should pay attention to the speed at which you are speaking. When we get nervous, it is normal for people to talk faster. That’s why you need to be conscious of your pace and take control of your voice and slow down. You should also include short pauses when making important points. Not only will this buy you a little more time, but it will also make your points more dramatic. By slowing down your speech, you both effectively lengthen your speech and make your message clear. 

Add in a Reserved Story

If you did your preparation and overprepared, you should have a story or anecdote in your reserve, ready to pull out if needed. If you notice that you are ahead of your schedule, this is the time to include that extra story in your presentation. However, be sure that whatever story you are telling is still relevant to the topic. You don’t want to add a story simply for the sake of time. It should only be added if it serves a purpose.

Include a Relevant Video Clip

Adding videos to your presentation can be a great way to add a little extra time. It can also help give you a break and ease your nerves. Keep in mind that like the story, the video must be relevant to your topic and support your message. You also want to keep the video short and sweet. Anything longer than 3 minutes can actually detract from the presentation. 

Audience Participation

Finally, audience participation is a great strategy to use when you need to extend your presentation. Not only will this lengthen your presentation, but it will also engage your audience. There are several ways to do this such as having a question and answer session, conducting a live poll, breaking into small groups, or simply asking for a show of hands. This can help you lengthen your presentation while still giving the audience a speech that is interesting and dynamic.

How to Make a Video Longer

Video content can play a wide variety of roles in an overall marketing strategy. To better appreciate the importance of video marketing in the digital age, consider the following pieces of data, courtesy of the  Digital Marketing Institute :

• 97% of surveyed marketers believe video content helps consumers better understand how their products work
• As of 2021, approximately 80% of search engine traffic consisted of video content
• 81% of surveyed businesses create video content for marketing purposes
• 90% of consumers indicate video content may influence their decision to purchase a product

That said, it’s important to remember that video content can take many forms. For example, when you upload a video clip to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or another social media platform, your goal should typically be to ensure it’s  not longer than one minute  in length. This is because social media users are easily distracted by other pieces of content.

That doesn’t mean shorter is always better. There are instances in which a longer piece of content is more effective than a brief video clip.

Examples of situations in which you might aim for a longer video length include (but aren’t limited to) the following:

• Sharing an in-depth YouTube or LinkedIn video in which you introduce your brand, answer customer questions in greater detail, or demonstrate how to use a complicated product or app
• Using video during a pitch to investors
• Onboarding  new employees at your company with video content
• Training employees  through video
• Sharing a mini-documentary about your company

Again, those are just a few examples. The point is, while a common goal when editing a video is to shorten it, sometimes, you may be wondering how to make a video longer without adding too much fluff. These tips will help:

Use Slow Motion and Freeze Frames

Review your video with the goal of identifying moments when it might make sense to slow the video down or even stop it entirely with a freeze frame. Using slow-motion and freeze frames can help you naturally make a video longer.

To return to a previous example, maybe you’re sharing a video tutorial that teaches your customers how to use a complex product. If so, there may be moments when it’s smart to slow the video down or freeze the image so that viewers can more clearly follow the process.

Slow-motion can also be effective if your goal is to trigger an emotional reaction in your audience. Combining slow motion with the right music can yield an emotional reaction while also serving the practical purpose of making a video longer.

Add Intros and Outros

When you create a video, to some degree, you should adopt the same mindset that you would have when writing an essay or blog post. Every strong piece of informative written content includes an introduction to provide context for the reader and a conclusion to summarize the main points of the article.

The same principle applies to video content. Rather than padding the length of a video, introductions, and conclusions can strengthen a piece of content by ensuring the main points are properly emphasized.

Make it Interactive

This may be an easy but effective way to lengthen a video in some settings. Technically, it might not even involve lengthening the content of the video itself. It may instead help you extend the length of an overall presentation in which video content plays a role.

Perhaps you’re sharing a training video with your employees. To be confident your employees are retaining the information the video is sharing with them, at various points, you might freeze-frame the video and ask your audience members to answer questions about what they just watched.

Making video content interactive may become easier as video becomes more versatile and innovative. Perhaps you could add polls and quizzes to your branded videos, allowing viewers to directly engage with the content, while also adding to the content’s runtime.

( Tip:  Similarly, you can boost the length of a live video by conducting an interview while filming.)

Add Additional Footage

When asking yourself how to make a video longer, don’t overlook the obvious. True, you don’t want to add extra footage if doing so is a clear attempt to artificially extend video length. Viewers may lose interest if extra footage doesn’t add anything to the quality of the content.

However, if you believe a video is too short in the first place, you should ask yourself why you feel this way. There’s a good chance your intuition tells you a video isn’t long enough because the video is incomplete in some capacity. Again, a short video isn’t always an effective one.

There are also many budget-friendly ways to add footage that don’t necessarily require shooting more footage yourself. They include:

• Using animation instead of live-action footage
• Using stock videos
• Inserting a  slideshow  into a video

Use Simple Tricks

Another point to keep in mind if you’re not sure how to make a video longer: some very simple tricks can boost a video’s length without detracting from its quality. They include:

• Playing audio files over a black screen at moments when you want to highlight a piece of narration, dialogue, etc.
• Using a loop to emphasize a certain clip
• Adding transitions, title screens, credits, and other such graphics

How to Make a Video Longer: Use the Right Video Maker

You may know one or more of your videos would be more effective if they were longer. However, you might be reluctant to begin lengthening it because you feel you don’t have the time or budget to justify doing so.

This is understandable. Luckily, by using the right video maker, you can generate and improve videos easily and affordably. 

Powtoon is designed to simplify the process of video creation and video editing. It’s the perfect tool to make a video longer, even when your video production experience and budget are limited.  Sign up today to learn more!

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What is the best way to make a presentation longer?

• February 11, 2023

Whether addressing a large audience or discussing a complex topic, making a presentation longer without compromising its quality is a common challenge. In this article, we’ll talk about how to extend the duration of your presentation while still preserving its effectiveness, and you will learn how to make a presentation longer what to add, how to manage presentation time, and what you should avoid. With a longer presentation, you can delve more deeply into your Presentation design services , engage the audience, and provide insightful information.

Table of Contents

 How to extend presentation time

Giving a presentation that is too short can be detrimental to conveying your message to the audience, so learning how to make your presentation longer can help you ensure that you stay on point and capture the attention of the attendees.

Fortunately, there are several strategies for making a presentation longer which involve using more visuals, increasing your speaking time, and considering other elements such as storytelling. With these simple steps and recommendations, you can extend your presentation in order to make sure that it does not come across as rushed or incomplete.

Keeping an audience engaged in a presentation can be a challenging task as you have to keep them engaged for longer than a few minutes. This is why it’s important to make your successful presentation last longer. There are several tips and tricks that you can use to make your presentation last longer without compromising on the quality of the overall experience.

From using visual aids such as slides, videos, and infographics to adding interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and simulations, there are many ways to help make the presentation more engaging and interesting. With these tips, you can easily make your presentation keep the audience captivated for longer periods of time.

What to add to make your Presentation Longer?

Here are some factors about what to add to a presentation to make it longer:

• In-Depth Examples : Incorporate detailed case studies, real-life examples, or anecdotes related to your topic. These stories provide context and help illustrate your key points vividly.
• Additional Research and Data : Include more comprehensive research findings, statistics, and data to support your arguments. This strengthens your credibility and allows you to discuss findings in greater detail.
• Extended Explanations : Take the time to elaborate on complex concepts, theories, or processes. Break down intricate information into easily understandable segments, making it more accessible to your audience.
• Comparative Analysis : If relevant, compare and contrast different approaches, products, or solutions. This provides a comprehensive view and stimulates thoughtful discussions.
• Audience Interaction : Incorporate interactive elements, such as polls, surveys, or audience questions. This engagement not only extends the presentation but also enhances audience participation.

Reasons why you might require a longer presentation?

Don’t look unprepared..

A presentation that is too brief may make it appear that you don’t know enough about the topic or that you didn’t put in enough effort to create the presentation. Even if you’ve delivered your message clearly and said all you need to, this can happen. A well-structured presentation will show your knowledge and ability to present the topic. Talking for the sake of others is not a good idea. If that happens, it is wise to tell your audience upfront and cut the presentation. In other cases, however, it is not necessary to cut the presentation.

Engage your audience.

Military training has shown that there’s a balance to strike when you deliver a message. This will ensure your audience feels connected with you and fully understands your key points. A presentation that is too short often doesn’t give enough information or time to the audience and will not allow them to fully grasp the topic.

Your presentation time was modified at the last moment.

If you are presenting to a panel, it is important to know that you can adjust the length of your presentation to fit any changes in your schedule. You will need to extend the presentation if you are asked to do so.

How long is the best length for a presentation? It depends. It will depend on what presentation you are making. These cases may call for a presentation that is between 10 and 20 minutes in length. In some cases, however, you might want to extend the time for your presentations.

How to make the presentation longer?

1-layout an outline of your presentation.

You can plan your speech by planning how long each section will take. This includes your introduction, key points and closing remarks. This will allow you to estimate the length of your presentation and can also help you decide which parts of your speech to shorten or added. This requires planning and defining the presentation structure in advance.

2-Slowly but deliberately

Public speaking can be stressful if you are nervous. You can take control of your voice by speaking slowly and allowing for a few pauses between points. Slowly speaking but deliberately will help you lengthen your speech and make it more memorable. It will also make your message easier to understand by helping your audience better grasp your message.

3-Create your PowerPoint presentation with the purpose

A PowerPoint presentation is an essential tool in any professional setting. You can use it to enhance your presentation and make it more meaningful. You can give yourself a break from the monotony of constant talking by adding a graph to your slides.

4-Add your logo and company information

The logo should be displayed at the beginning and throughout the presentation.

If applicable, show a company logo and contact information on a slide prior to or after each section in your presentation. If applicable, show a company’s mission statement on one or more slides prior to or after each section in your presentation.

If possible, share some background information about the origins of your business. If applicable, share some values that will guide your decision-making in your company

5-Repeat your important points

One of the key paths to making a presentation longer and keeping your audience interested is emphasizing your key points. When giving a presentation, repetition is okay. There are important points to make, so it’s okay to repeat, summarize, or recap them. Try reciting the sentence with a different tone of emphasis if you feel that something you have said is particularly important.

• While repetition is great, it’s best to not repeat the same thing twice. This could cause your audience to tire.
• It is a great idea to use key ideas and themes as words and phrases throughout the recap.

6-Reiterate key concepts

Don’t be afraid to repeat the key points throughout your presentation when you present. Repeating key concepts throughout the presentation will help you to make sure your audience retains them. Another tip for making a presentation that is brain-friendly is to stress the main points.

7-Tell a Story

Stories can help you convey a point to your audience and keep them engaged for longer. Telling stories is another way to use stories. Although it may seem obvious, storytelling is a great way to keep people interested in presentations. They are more entertaining than facts alone and are much more engaging than just facts. Share anything that is interesting, funny or relevant about you or someone else. Your audience will enjoy every minute of your story.

8-Enhance your presentations with videos

You can make your slides longer by adding videos to them or embedding video in your slides. This technique should be used in conjunction with others. When embedding a video into your PowerPoint presentations, ensure that it is relevant to the topic and speech. Also, keep in mind the attention span. If the video is too long, it can make your presentation boring. This technique should be used with caution. Also, remember that videos can have a different number of slides than expected. Each video is usually presented on a slide. For example, if you have a 10-minute presentation and need to use a certain number of slides, videos will require fewer slides.

9-Be an expert!

To make a more engaging PowerPoint presentation, you can also draw on your personal experience and knowledge. Confidence is key to what you say. Use stories to illustrate your points. You should be passionate about your message. This will keep your audience interested and engaged in the subject. If possible, you can add tips from experts to your presentation. This will increase credibility and help with credibility.

How to Extend Presentation Time Effectively

• Expand on Subtopics : Divide your content into subtopics and allocate more time. This enables you to provide comprehensive coverage of each aspect without rushing through them.
• Q&A Sessions : Reserve time for a thorough question-and-answer session at the end. This allows you to address audience queries, clarify doubts, and add valuable content.
• Engaging Visuals : Integrate more visuals like diagrams, charts, and images. These aid comprehension and allow you to elaborate on each visual’s significance.
• Case Studies and Examples : Go into depth with case studies or examples by discussing the background, challenges, solutions, and outcomes. This provides a more complete understanding of the topic.
• Analogies and Analogous Stories : Use analogies to explain complex ideas and expand on these analogies with stories or scenarios that resonate with your audience.

Shouldn’t about how to make a presentation longer

• Filling with Filler : Avoid padding your presentation with irrelevant information or excessive filler content. Audience’s value concise and relevant information.
• Reading Slides Aloud : Reading each slide word-for-word can be monotonous. Instead, elaborate on the key points, providing context and insights beyond what’s on the slide.
• Repetition : While a certain level of repetition can reinforce key concepts, avoid being redundant. Repeating the same information excessively can disengage your audience.
• Rushing : Don’t speed through the presentation to fit a specific time frame. Rushing compromises, the quality of your delivery and hinders audience comprehension.
• Lack of Engagement : Pay attention to your audience’s engagement level. Monitor their reactions and adjust your pace accordingly.

Extending the length of a presentation while maintaining its quality requires thoughtful planning and strategic execution. Incorporate additional content, engage your audience effectively, and explore topics in greater detail. However, remember that quality should always take precedence over quantity. You can create a longer presentation that captures your audience’s attention and delivers meaningful insights by striking the right balance.

How do you lengthen a presentation time?

Things you need to consider:

•       Prioritize speaking slowly and clearly, and state your key points multiple times throughout your speech.
•       Add length by including stories, examples, facts, and quotes in your speech to back up your main points.
•       Use a visual aid like a PowerPoint or a handout to add time and audience engagement.

How do you make a 20-minute presentation long?

If your presentation is too short, you can apply the 10/20/30 rule for presentations, in which there should be at most 10 slides, the presentation should last at most 20 minutes, and there should be no text smaller than 30 points. This way, you can extend your presentation to a 20-minute length.

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• Public Speaking

How to Add Length to a Speech

Last Updated: January 26, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham and by wikiHow staff writer, Aly Rusciano . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 15,910 times.

When you’re giving a speech, it often feels like it happened in a flash—so what do you do if you need to slow things down? Adding length to a speech is something many speakers and presenters have to do, and, thankfully, they’ve provided quite a few tips. In this article, we’ll share with you the best tricks to make any presentation longer.

Things You Should Know

• Prioritize speaking slowly and clearly, and state your key points multiple times throughout your speech.
• Add length by including stories, examples, facts, and quotes in your speech to back up your main points.
• Use a visual aid like a powerpoint or a handout to add time and audience engagement.

Speak slowly and clearly.

• Try not to sacrifice enthusiasm for speed. [1] X Trustworthy Source American Psychological Association Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists Go to source You can still be ecstatic and passionate while speaking clearly.

Repeat your important points.

• Although repetition is good, try to avoid repeating things back to back. This could tire out your audience.
• Key ideas and themes are great words and phrases to recap throughout.
• An excellent example of repetition is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream , where he reiterates the famous lines, “ I have a dream that my four little children will… I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia… I have a dream today!”

Pause for dramatic effect.

• Think of your speech as a performance. If it were a play or movie, where would you see a dramatic pause?
• Count out your pause in your head or tap your finger at your side.
• Emphasize your pause by saying something like, “Now, think about that.”
• Mark in your speech where you’d like to pause dramatically. This will help you while practicing and can be a physical reminder during your speech if you're using cue cards.

Add an extra story or example to your speech.

• Write your story out on paper outside of your speech to flesh it out. [4] X Research source
• The story or example doesn’t have to be personal. It could be a metaphor, allegory, or even a reiteration of a well-known tale.
• Make your story extra dynamic by tapping into the feelings and senses of the moment. What was the weather like? Was there air blowing into the open window? Make your story as descriptive as you can so it sounds rich and interesting.

Use facts and quotes in your speech.

• If you’re directly quoting someone else, say “quote” before stating the quote and “unquote” after the quote’s final word.

Connect with the audience during your speech.

• Ask members of the audience to raise their hands if they’ve done X, Y, or Z.
• Toss in an energizing stretch break or audience-participation activity during the middle of your speech (this is great for a younger audience).
• Practice audience connection techniques in front of friends or family to test what works best for your speech.

Sync a slide presentation to your speech.

• Make sure to practice with your slideshow before presenting your speech, noting when you need to click over to another slide.
• Try to avoid reading directly from the slides. Your speech should already explain what’s on the screen. [7] X Research source

Play a video during your speech.

• Pick a video that has something to do with your speech. You want the video to add to your speech, not take away from it.
• Place your video at a point in your presentation where it’s natural. For example, don’t stop in the middle of a story to show the video version of what you’re describing. Play the video before or after you’ve said something important.

Walk around while giving your speech.

Time your speech while you practice and present.

• Practice your speech using different rhythms and pauses, and note what helps you stretch the time without awkward pauses.

Give the audience a handout during your speech.

• Try to walk and talk while you do this, so there isn’t an awkward silence drawing out the time.
• Hand out your resource during a lull in your speech or towards the end before a Q&A.

Take questions from the audience.

• Aim for leaving about 15 minutes at the end of your presentation for questions.
• Try bringing up your key points again if no one has any questions right away.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-speaking
• ↑ https://mannerofspeaking.org/2019/11/12/pauses-in-a-speech-why-when-and-how/
• ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/316145
• ↑ https://www.fau.edu/honors/undergraduate-research/documents/general-guidelines.pdf
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2013/06/how-to-give-a-killer-presentation
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/07/26/12-public-speaking-tips-to-make-your-speech-more-impactful/

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• Speech Crafting →

How to Add Length to a Speech (Make Presentation Longer)

Looking for a way to make your speech longer? Whether you’re a lawyer trying to fill out closing arguments, a history professor trying to fit more detail into your lesson, or presenting a persuasive argument, there are many reasons to know how to add length to a speech. But knowing where to start isn’t always easy.

That’s why this blog post has been assembled: To offer you tips for extending your speech and giving it the length it needs to make an impact.

From adding examples to providing visuals, we’ll cover everything you need to know about adding length to a speech. So whether you’re looking for crafty ways to increase your speaking stamina – or how best to synthesize reams of information into an interesting oration – read on for our top tips for making your speech longer.

Quick Summary of Key Points

You can add length to a speech by providing more detail and examples in the main points, introducing new points or arguments, or simply expanding upon any existing points. Additionally, including multimedia elements like images, audio, and video will help you increase the length of your speech.

Making Effective Use of Time

Making effective use of time is a great way to add length to your speech while also making the topic more engaging. While quickly transitioning from one point to another can help you cover a lot of ground, it doesn’t always make for an interesting performance.

To give your audience time to reflect on the information shared and enjoy some well-timed pauses, use a few different strategies for controlling the pace of your speech.

Debaters often make use of rhetorical devices such as similes and metaphors – you could likewise employ these kinds of figures of speech in a more subtle manner in order to provide breathing room between points.

Another trick is to deliberately draw out an unusually long pause after making an important remark; doing this can emphasize its significance and help ensure that the message sticks with your listeners.

Providing details when making claims or explaining concepts is also beneficial, as it gives you more opportunities to clarify the material and speak about it at length.

By taking the time needed for digressions and reflections, you can both fully explain complex topics without rushing through them and keep your audience paying attention for extended periods.

However, there can be too much of a good thing; don’t overuse pauses or try to stretch out each segment indefinitely – know where to draw the line to make your presentation exciting rather than boring.

Using effective strategies for controlling the pace will make your longer speech much more enjoyable; let’s move on now to the next section which looks at how they can be used more deliberately by varying your technique during pauses.

Control the Pace with Pauses

Pacing your speech is one of the easiest and most effective ways of extending the length of a presentation. Pauses in between thoughts can greatly increase the time it takes to deliver a speech, while still maintaining interest with the audience.

For example, pausing as a way to signal that an important point is being made, or to catch breaths in between ideas. Pausing also gives the audience members time to react and process the information that has been shared.

Adding appropriate pauses throughout your talk can emphasize critical story points, draw attention to actionable takeaways, or give your audience a chance reflect on what you have said.

An effective way to ensure pauses in your speech is to be mindful of how quickly you’re speaking and using your breath effectively by taking natural, measured pauses between sections or points. By doing this, you can extend your attention span without running out of air and losing grip of your audience’s attention.

On the other hand, too much pausing or relying heavily on it can create a disjointed flow in your address and slow down the tempo considerably; halting any momentum that has been generated from your talk.

It is important for speakers to remember not all pauses are created equal – careful consideration should be given to their placement within a talk and make sure that they feel authentic and purposeful.

In conclusion, there is value in controlling the pace of a speech through natural pauses – appropriately used, they will add length while maintaining interest. The next section will provide further tips on how including stories into your speech can hold an audiences’ focus while conveying key messages more effectively.

Including Helpful Stories

Stories can be a powerful tool to add length to a speech and connect with your audience , especially when used appropriately. Incorporating stories into a speech can create engagement and evoke emotion.

By using real life or relevant stories, you can highlight the message of your speech and make it more meaningful.

However, if overused, stories can be distracting to the audience. Make sure that any story you include is pertinent to the point you are trying to make. If an anecdote is not adding substance, leave it out of the speech. Additionally, make sure your stories are brief; delve into no more than one or two key points.

By including helpful stories in your speech, you can provide extra details about your topic that could make the material more vivid for your audience.

To ensure the story is effective and entertaining , remember to keep it brief and relevant to the point you are making. Having accomplished this goal, it’s time to turn to another way of comprehending how to add length to a speech: Connecting with your audience.

Connect with Your Audience

Connecting with your audience is one of the most important elements of creating a successful speech. When an audience can connect with a speaker, their natural interest will tend to keep them engaged.

To achieve this connection, consider using stories, humor , and conversations to engage your audience and make it more memorable.

On the other hand, connecting with your audience can be challenging without practice. Even if you have great stories or jokes prepared in advance, they won’t do any good if you don’t know how to recognize your audience’s responses and adjust accordingly.

The tone and energy level during your presentation is also important; too quiet and you may lose the audience’s attention, too loud and you may come off as desperate.

It is possible to add length to a speech by connecting with your audience, but it is also something that should be approached with caution and thoughtfulness. Finding ways to engage an audience can make a speech longer, but it should always feel natural and relevant to the content being presented.

By understanding how to connect with an audience effectively, you can create a longer, more engaging speech that is sure to leave a lasting impression. Next we’ll discuss how important it is to explain key points in depth when creating a longer speech.

Explaining Key Points

When trying to add length to a speech, make sure to take the time to explain any key points. Explaining the essential elements of your talk with clarity and detail can quickly add up the minutes! It’s also beneficial to make sure to provide examples and analogies which help listeners understand your points more clearly as they are easier to remember.

Be sure to clearly answer questions from your audience, as this is another way to extend the length of a talk. Don’t be afraid to ask your listeners for their perspectives on the topic – this can be a great opportunity for dialogue that both adds length to a speech, and engages the audience in something interactive.

On the other hand, one must be cautious not to get carried away with adding too much detail or redundancies that will bore and risk losing audiences by providing too much information, which ultimately defeats the main goal of giving an effective presentation . Too much detail can lead attendees to lose focus or even distract them entirely away from the main points of your speech.

When done correctly however, explaining key points properly in a speech is essential for making it longer and creating quality content that resonates with an audience.

With some practice and experimentation, speakers will be able to find what methods are most effective when elaborating on certain topics. Moving forward, mastering these techniques can greatly aid in transitioning into the next section – practicing for perfection.

Practice for Perfection

A key part of stretching out your speech is to practice. It can be helpful to practice in front of a mirror or with an audience (starting small if needed) so that you can get feedback. As you practice, you will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your speech, as well as any areas where you could add more information. This will allow you to adjust it until it is near perfect.

Another benefit to practicing is that you will be able to time yourself as well. This is important for determining how much content you need to add for optimal timing. By timing yourself, you will know when and how much material needs to be added in order to make your speech longer without going over the allotted time limit.

Finally, when practicing your speech, try to focus on enunciating your words and projecting your voice to fill the entire room. If your audience can’t hear what you’re saying, then all of your hard work in adding material will be in vain. Investing time in properly delivering the material is key for ensuring that the message is conveyed well and resonates with your audience.

By practicing for perfection, you can ensure that all aspects of your speech are ready for delivery come presentation day. Now let’s move onto a key component: repeating ideas.

Repeating Ideas

Choosing to repeat key ideas throughout a presentation can be an effective way of adding length and impact. In fact, repetition often improves understanding, gives coherence of thought, and encourages better memorisation.

Furthermore, using repetition as a tool for amplifying the core messages of a speech encourages a deeper understanding for the audience.

Reiterating ideas also serves a useful purpose in simplifying complex topics for those listeners who may not be familiar with the field. By repeating certain terms and phrases, more focused emphasis is placed on those points during the delivery of the speech.

Repetition acts as a catalyst for unraveling difficult concepts in order to reach an understanding between speaker and listener.

However, it is important to be aware that too much repetition has the potential to work against progress by invoking boredom or confusion in an audience.

It’s important to ask- are specific phrases being used that are absolutely vital? Is there another way to say it? Too much repetition can have negative repercussions such as disengaging the attention of the crowd.

It’s crucial not just to focus on the sheer number of times one may mention a particular idea but rather foster a creative approach to reiteration or rephrasing of their core messages.

To maximize effect, consider using rhetorical strategies such as anaphoras , metaphors or chiasmus which are all capable of adding interest and gravity to your words without causing tediousness.

When used correctly and carefully, repeating key ideas throughout your speech can be an incredibly useful tool for increasing its length and impact. Just remember not to overdo it! With this in mind let’s move onto our next section about using effective transitions when adding length to a speech.

Using Effective Transitions

Using effective transitions can be a great way to add length to a speech. When transitioning between topics, figures of speech can be used to bridge the gap between thought processes, creating an interesting connection and adding valuable seconds to your total speech length.

A few examples are: metaphors, similes, analogies, puns, and proverbs. However, the use of transitions all boils down to effective rhetoric and the speaker’s personal style – not all stories will suit all speakers in every situation.

The key is finding which type of transition works best with their topic and audience. While it may be tempting to use transitions as time- fillers and crutches for when you’re out of ideas, it isn’t sustainable as a long-term solution or very effective in holding audience interest.

It’s important to remember that transitions should be used to connect related points together – not fill voids or whitewash awkward breaks in conversation flow.

By carefully selecting the right type of transition that works for their speech topic and audience, speakers can create an engaging transition instead of an abrupt switch between two topics. This provides a smooth transition, while also adding valuable seconds to the overall speech length.

Heading into the next section, let’s discuss the importance of structuring your speech correctly so you can efficiently extend its length without losing its value or impact on the audience.

Conclusion: Crafting an Engaging Speech

Every great public speaker knows that it takes much more than just lengthy words and phrases to make a speech stand out.

While finding ways to add length is useful, crafting an engaging and memorable speech that captivates can be far more important. To do this, speakers should focus their energy on the overall quality of their words and the content that they present.

For a powerful conclusion that sticks in the audience’s mind and ties everything together so you don’t leave your audience hanging, try offering recommendations or solutions in your closing remarks that are relevant to the core themes of your speech.

A call-to-action or energetic summary of what was discussed can also be effective for leaving a lasting impression with your listeners.

Speakers should also strive to have a good command of nonverbal communication when giving speeches . Your demeanor plays an important role in creating a link between yourself, your topic and your audience.

Through facial expressions and body language like hand gestures and movement, speakers can effectively use visuals to bring extra emphasis to their key points. This helps hold listener attention while providing a memorable experience they won’t soon forget.

Ultimately, it’s all about anchoring the different elements of your speech together to create something extraordinary. Whether you add length with intricate stories, vivid imagery or summaries of your points, the goal is to ensure that you remain organized yet creative, engaging yet concise.

With these steps in mind, any speaker can enjoy the satisfying feeling of delivering an outstanding speech!

Common Questions

What methods can i use to ensure my speech remains interesting.

When it comes to ensuring that your speech remains interesting, there are several methods you can use. 1. Use humor. Adding a few humorous one-liners during your speech can be a great way to grab the audience’s attention and keep them engaged. 2. Connect on an emotional level with your audience. When crafting your speech, try to find ways to resonate with the audience by drawing on personal stories or experiences that they may relate to or stories of people who have been in similar situations as them. 3. Showcase facts and figures. Statistics and data can help prove a point in a persuasive way and is often more interesting than just talking about abstract concepts. 4. Insert visuals. Visual aids help break up the monotony of a lengthy speech and helps keep the audience’s eyes engaged on something other than the speaker for a few seconds. 5. Engage with the audience through questions or activities. Asking thoughtful questions throughout the speech or offering interactive activities are excellent ways to get the audience involved and create a more dynamic atmosphere.

How can I add meaningful content to my speech?

Adding meaningful content to a speech is an important part of ensuring that it resonates with your audience. Here are some tips for doing just that: 1. Identify Your Audience: Knowing your audience’s needs and interests will help you tailor your speech to provide the information and value they seek. Consider including a brief introduction about who you are speaking to, then adjust the topics of your speech accordingly. 2. Determine Your Message: If you’re not sure what message you want to send, take some time to think about why you are delivering the speech in the first place. Define exactly what value you plan to communicate and be as specific as possible. 3. Research Your Subject: Conducting research before writing or delivering your speech can help ensure that your content is relevant and accurate. This can also give you useful facts and figures which can add tangible data points to support your argument. 4. Utilize Examples & Stories: People remember stories more than facts, so intersperse anecdotes throughout your speech that demonstrate how the concept applies in real life situations. This can make abstract information more accessible and engaging for audiences. 5. Request Participation: Ask questions throughout your presentation that require audience participation in order to fill gaps in their knowledge, keep them engaged, and create shared experiences amongst those present. Ultimately, adding meaningful content to a speech requires thoughtful consideration of who you are speaking to and what type of value they expect from the presentation. With these tips, you will be well on your way to delivering a memorable, impactful talk!

What strategies can I use to lengthen my speech?

1. Add sources and references to your speech: Don’t just cite the source in-text, but explain the relevance of the source to your arguments. This will not only help to flesh out your argument, but also increase the length of your speech. 2. Include stories or anecdotes: Adding stories or anecdotes can work to bring a personal element to your speech, which can further bolster your arguments and increase its length. 3. Incorporate examples and visuals: If possible, back up your argument point with facts and figures that the audience can relate to. This will allow them to have a better understanding of what you are saying, as well as add more time to the total duration of your speech. 4. Speak in complete sentences: Not only does this make it easier for listeners to follow what you are saying, but it can also significantly increase the overall length of your speech. Be aware of run-on sentences, however – these can quickly make your speech confusing and/or too long to be effective. 5.Elaborate on ideas: Spend more time going into detail about certain points raised during the speech. This gives you an opportunity to explain why a particular subject is important, while also adding more words and extending total duration of the speech. 6. Insert pauses: Pausing after making a key point allows the audience time to consider and understand what was said before moving on, which then gives you more speaking time in turn if done correctly. 7. Introduce new topics: If time permits, introducing an entirely new topic late in the game can provide an excellent way to create an interesting endnote for your speech and extend its duration further still. 8. Use humor: A lighthearted joke here and there during a speech adds an unexpected element that will engage the audience and add an additional few seconds on top of whatever length you initially intended for your speech. 9. Reiterate: Reiterating important points throughout a speech is another great option for lengthening it without taking away from the original message being conveyed. It also helps remind audience members of key messages they might have forgotten in between other points being made during your presentation or talk

How to Make a Video Longer

How to make your video longer using Kapwing, a free online video editor

Snaps, memes, live photos, GIFs: our camera rolls are flooded with 1-2 second video clips. But to post a video on Instagram, YouTube, or other websites, you might need to make your video longer to meet a platform’s minimum length requirement. On Instagram, for example, videos must be at least 3 seconds long , so very short clips don’t cut it.

In this article, I’ll describe four techniques for extending the length of your video. You can loop the video, slow it down, add a scene before or after, or boomerang the video. I recommend using Kapwing - a free online video editor – to help with these tasks.

Replay the video multiple times in a row to multiply the length. For example, a 2 second clip looped 4x creates an 8 second video. You replay the action of the clip rather than altering it.

To loop: This video looper lets you loop your clip for free. Just upload the video and choose the number of times that you want to loop it to download the longer video.

Slow down video speed

Slowing down a video clip makes every second last longer, literally. For example, you can transform a 3 second video into a 6 second video with a 50% slomo effect.

To slow down : Use this free video speed changer to slow down the video to half or .75 speed.

Add an intro or outro

Add a scene before or after the video. This intro can be something relevant to the video clip, like a fast photo slideshow , or just a black frame. You can upload the intro/outro scenes and the video clip to merge them together online.

To append an intro or outro: Use a free video maker like Kapwing to add a scene before or after the original video clip.

Boomerang the video

Instagram built the Boomerang app to play short clips forwards then in reverse. You can use the Boomerang app to add the memorable effect or you can manually append your clip to a reversed version of itself to make a boomerang from an existing clip .

To Boomerang : Use this free stop motion effect tool and make sure to check the "Play in Reverse" box before clicking "Create"

Thanks for reading! I hope this article helps you make the length of your video longer to make it funnier and more compatible with popular destinations.

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The Students’ Guide on How to Make a Presentation Longer

Are you having problems extending your presentation to the required length? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many students encounter this issue, but we have a solution for you in this blog post.

When aiming to make your presentation longer, focus on quality rather than quantity. Ensure your content is well-researched, organized, and supported by relevant information. Utilize examples, visuals, and engaging storytelling to captivate your audience. Additionally, consider exploring in-depth explanations of key points to add substance to your presentation.

By following the tips provided in this blog post, you can enhance the depth and breadth of your presentation, something you would get by hiring a professional paper writing service to do it for you. 

Table of Contents

10 Woking Tips on How to Make a Presentation Longer

These are 10 top tips from professional paper writers for students needing help with making a last minute presentation longer. 

Tip 1: Thorough Research

Conduct in-depth research on your topic. Gather additional facts, statistics, and examples to support your points. For instance, if your presentation is about renewable energy, delve into specific case studies or the latest advancements in solar technology.

Tip 2: Detailed Explanations

Extend the length of your presentation by providing detailed explanations for key concepts. Instead of briefly mentioning a point, delve into why it’s important or how it relates to your overall message. For example, if discussing market trends, elaborate on the factors influencing those trends. 

Tip 3: Visual Enhancements

Utilize visuals such as charts, graphs, and infographics. Expanding on visual content not only adds substance but also makes your presentation more engaging. For instance, if you’re presenting sales data, create visual representations to illustrate the trends and patterns.

Tip 4: Examples and Case Studies

Incorporate real-world examples and case studies to illustrate your points. This not only adds depth to your presentation but also makes it more relatable. If your topic is leadership skills, share anecdotes or case studies of successful leaders who exemplify those skills.

Tip 5: Engaging Storytelling

Tell compelling stories that tie back to your main message. Narratives can be an effective way to convey information and keep your audience captivated. If discussing teamwork, share a personal or relevant story that highlights the importance of collaboration.

Tip 6: Expansion on Subtopics

Identify subtopics within your main theme and expand on them. This not only elongates your presentation but also provides a more comprehensive understanding. If your presentation is about climate change, dedicate sections to specific aspects like carbon footprint reduction and sustainable practices. You can also play with different types of sentences to expand on the main idea. 

Tip 7: Interactive Elements

Incorporate interactive elements like polls, questions, or discussions. This not only extends the duration but also engages your audience actively. For instance, pause to ask the audience about their preferences or experiences with emerging technologies in a presentation about technology trends.

Tip 8: Q&A Session

Include a Q&A session at the end of your presentation. This allows you to address additional points or elaborate on certain aspects based on audience queries. If discussing a new product launch, anticipate questions about features or market positioning.

Tip 9: In-Depth Analysis

Offer a detailed analysis of relevant topics. Break down complex ideas into understandable components, providing a thorough examination of each. If your presentation involves economic trends, conduct a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing the market.

Tip 10: Relevance to Audience

Ensure your content remains relevant to your audience. Tailor examples and explanations to their interests and needs. If presenting on time management, relate the concepts to the specific challenges your audience may face in their professional or academic lives.

Why Extending a Presentation can be challenging for students?

Extending a presentation can pose several challenges for students:

Insufficient Content

Students may struggle to generate enough substantive content to fill the allotted time. This challenge often arises when the topic is narrow or lacks extensive research material.

Maintaining Relevance

Lengthening a presentation while keeping the content relevant can be tricky. Students might be tempted to include irrelevant details or filler material, risking a loss of audience interest.

Quality vs. Quantity Dilemma

Balancing the need for a longer presentation with maintaining high-quality content can be challenging. Students may face the temptation to sacrifice depth for the sake of meeting time requirements.

Limited Research Skills

Some students might lack the research skills needed to find additional information or examples to expand their presentation effectively. This can hinder their ability to provide a comprehensive overview.

Time Management

Students may find it challenging to manage their time efficiently during the presentation, leading to either a rushed delivery or the need to fill time with less valuable content.

An Example to Understand How to Make a Presentation Longer 

Let’s consider a presentation topic: “The Impact of Social Media on Modern Society.” Initially, a student may have a concise outline covering key points such as the rise of social media platforms, the influence on communication, and potential societal challenges. To make the presentation longer, the student can implement the following:

Good Research

Original Version: Briefly mention the growth of social media.

Extended Version: Include statistics on the exponential increase in users, demographic trends, and the evolution of platforms over time.

Explanations

Original Version: Discuss the impact on communication briefly.

Extended Version: Delve into how social media has transformed interpersonal communication, exploring concepts like online etiquette, the rise of influencers, and the emergence of new forms of digital expression.

Utilize Visual Aids

Original Version: Display a simple graph on social media usage trends.

Extended Version: Create a more detailed presentation with visual representations of data, charts illustrating the growth of specific platforms, and screenshots of relevant social media posts.

Examples and Case Studies

Original Version: Mention a generic case study on social media impact.

Extended Version: Provide in-depth case studies, perhaps examining the role of social media in specific events or movements, like the Arab Spring or #BlackLivesMatter, showcasing the profound influence on societal dynamics.

Engage in Interactive Elements

Original Version: No interactive elements.

Extended Version: Include a segment where the audience can participate in a brief poll or share their experiences with social media, fostering engagement and extending the overall presentation time.

Expand on Subtopics

Original Version: Touch on various aspects without deep exploration.

Extended Version: Dedicate sections to subtopics such as the psychological effects of social media, the role in political discourse, and the impact on traditional media, thoroughly examining each aspect.

Effective Time Management

Original Version: Deliver the content in a concise manner.

Extended Version: Practice pacing to ensure a balanced delivery, allowing time for elaboration and audience engagement without rushing through key points.

What We Have Learned?  

In this blog post, we’ve adopted a strategic approach to guide students in expanding their presentations effectively. Recognizing that lengthening a presentation should not compromise its quality, we emphasize techniques that enhance content, engagement, and overall impact. The goal is not merely to add filler but to provide valuable insights on thoughtful expansion, ensuring that each slide or segment contributes meaningfully to the presentation’s depth and substance.

This guide gives you a step-by-step process to make your presentations longer without getting boring. It tells you to do some research, go into more detail on important points, and use examples, visuals, and interactive stuff to keep your audience interested. By understanding your topic and being creative, you can make a long presentation that grabs people’s attention and teaches them something.For those seeking additional support in crafting extensive and impactful presentations, our essay writing service offers a valuable resource. Our experienced writers understand the nuances of presentation development, providing personalized assistance in expanding content, refining structure, and incorporating compelling elements.

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Tips on How to Make a Presentation Longer

The presentation should be in a perfect duration as given. This session is quite tricky because you can deliver too fast or too slow. It should be exciting for the audience to get their attention. So, you have to know how to make a presentation longer effective.

1. Create an over-prepare presentation

The event will get you to know how long the duration of the presentation is. For example, if you have 15 minutes to present the topic, you can prepare a presentation for 20 minutes. During the presentation later, you can cut some topics if necessary.

2. Create a schedule

It is important to create a schedule for your presentation. The schedule is in the form of a layout where you prepare a portion of key points or topics you will deliver. For example, the introduction might only need two minutes, the full topic is 10 minutes, the conclusion is a minute and the rest is a Q & A session.

Time estimation is essential because you can measure how long to deliver each point you will talk about during the presentation. Some points might be more important than others, so it takes longer than the other parts. Create a layout of the more important key points to emphasize.

3. Designing the slides

Visualization on the slide is part of how to make a short presentation longer. A good slide design doesn’t have many words, but a visualization of the topic. You can insert some graphics and diagrams. It gets more engagement from the audience and you can prepare a few minutes to explain one image.

4. Give some facts and quotes

Before the presentation session, you can use these tips on how to make a presentation longer. Giving quotes and facts that are relevant to the topic will give the audience a better idea and visualization. Put it in your introduction slide either in words or images.

Why are some quotes and facts important? Your audience will engage with your presentation and you kick it off smoothly. They also motivate the audience such as reasoning them to keep up with your presentation. Don’t forget to bring famous and relevant characters for this part.

5. Speak slowly

Speaking slowly doesn’t mean you are slowing the pace of the presentation. This is the right way to show that you are not in a panic. Speaking too rushed will only form the idea that you are not comfortable in front of the audience. It’s effective to lengthen your presentation and improve your performance.

6. Emphasize the concept

Concepts in the presentation should be emphasized, so the audience will get the main idea of the topic you deliver. Repeat the concepts or key points to make the audience remember and take some notes. However, avoid doing it too often because the audience will be bored with your presentation.

7. Engage with the audience

Your audience is the main part of the presentation session. You are transferring knowledge to them and trying to be a bridge by presenting the topic. So, engaging with the audience should be in your mind during the presentation. It lengthens the time because you have the interaction in Q&A or mid-presentation.

8. Add some videos

Videos in a presentation is an additional material to create a longer presentation. You can play the video in the middle of the presentation or as the opening to engage with the audience. However, you have to make sure that the contents of the video are relevant to the topic.

Before delivering a presentation, you have to ensure how much time you have to present the topic. The tips on how to make a presentation longer will not work if you have too many points to present in a brief time. A good presentation isn’t wordy with the right and specific time to finish.

Turn your presentation into a video

When you make a recording of a presentation, all its elements (narration, animation, pointer movements, timings, and so on) are saved in the presentation itself. In essence, the presentation becomes a video that your audience can watch in PowerPoint.

So you have two options for turning your presentation into a video that's ready to view:

Save/export your presentation to a video file format (.mp4 or .wmv).

Save your presentation as a PowerPoint Show (.ppsx) file. (A PowerPoint Show appears full-screen in Slide Show, ready to view immediately.)

Save as a video file

After you've created your slides and recorded any timing and narrations and laser pointer gestures that you want to include, you're ready to create a video file.

On the File menu, select Save to ensure all your recent work has been saved in PowerPoint presentation format (.pptx).

Click File > Export > Create a Video . (Or, on the Recording tab of the ribbon, click Export to Video .)

In the first drop-down box under the Create a Video heading, select the video quality you want, which pertains to the resolution of the finished video. The higher the video quality, the larger the file size. (You may want to test them to determine which one meets your needs.)

* The Ultra HD (4K) option is only available if you're using Windows 10 or later.

The second drop-down box under the Create a Video heading tells whether your presentation includes narration and timings. (You may switch this setting if you like.)

If you haven't recorded timed narration, by default the value is Don't Use Recorded Timings and Narrations .

The default time spent on each slide is 5 seconds. You can change that timing in the Seconds to spend on each slide box. To the right of the box, click the up arrow to increase the duration, or click the down arrow to decrease the duration.

If you have recorded a timed narration, by default the value is Use Recorded Timings and Narrations .

Click Create Video .

In the File name box, enter a file name for the video, browse for the folder that will contain this file, and then click Save .

In the Save as type box, choose either MPEG-4 Video or Windows Media Video .

You can track the progress of the video creation by looking at the status bar at the bottom of your screen. The video creation process can take up to several hours depending on the length of the video and the complexity of the presentation.

Tip:    For a long video, you can set it up to be created overnight. That way, it’ll be ready for you the following morning.

To play your newly-created video, go to the designated folder location, and then double-click the file.

Save as a PowerPoint Show

When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

On the File menu, select Save As .

Choose the folder location where you want to store your PowerPoint Show file.

In the Save as type box, choose PowerPoint Show (*.ppsx) .

Select Save .

Why turn your presentation into a video?

When you want to give a high-fidelity version of your presentation to colleagues or customers (either as an e-mail attachment, published to the web, on a CD or DVD), save it and let it play as a video.

You can save your presentation as either an MPEG-4 video file (.mp4) or a .wmv file. Both formats are widely supported and can be streamed over the internet.

Some tips to remember when recording your presentation as a video:

You can record and time voice narration and laser pointer movements in your video.

You can control the size of the multimedia file and the quality of your video.

You can include animations and transitions in your movie.

Viewers do not need to have PowerPoint installed on their computers to watch it.

If your presentation contains an embedded video, the video will play correctly without your needing to control it.

Depending on the content of your presentation, creating a video may take some time. Lengthy presentations and presentations with animations, transitions, and media content will likely take longer to create. Fortunately, you can continue to use PowerPoint while the video is being created

What parts of a presentation won't be included in a video?

The following items won't be included in a video that you create using PowerPoint:

Media inserted in previous versions of PowerPoint. To include these, you can convert or upgrade the media object.

For example, if you inserted the media using PowerPoint 2007, it will be linked and it will play in the presentation.  However, when you export the file as a video, the linked media will be dropped.  You can convert the file to the new file format (click the File tab, and under Info , click Convert ), or you can right-click the media object and then click to upgrade; it will embed the file and export it correctly.

QuickTime media (unless you have a third-party QuickTime codec named ffdShow installed and you have optimized for compatibility)

OLE/ActiveX controls

What to do with your video after creating it

After you create a video, you can share it with others by using the following methods:

Email your presentation to others

Save to a file share or other location

Upload it to your organization's Microsoft Stream video-sharing site , as described in the next section, "Save to a video-sharing site."

Save to the Microsoft video-sharing site

After you've created the video file, you can upload it to a video-sharing site. Microsoft Stream is an enterprise video service where people in an organization can upload, view, and share videos. Microsoft 365 business or education subscribers have access to this service from within PowerPoint for Microsoft 365. 

Select File > Export , and then select Publish to Microsoft Stream .

Type a title and a description for the video.

Set other options, including whether you want others in your organization to have permission to see the video:

Select the Publish button.

The upload process can take several minutes, depending on the length of the video. A status bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window tracks the progress, and PowerPoint shows a message when the upload is finished:

Click the message to go directly to the video playback page on Microsoft Stream.

For more information about this service, begin reading with What is Microsoft Stream? It includes information about Office 365 Video vs. Microsoft Stream.

1 The Ultra HD (4K) option is only available if you're using Windows 10 or later. 2 In PowerPoint 2016, the Ultra HD (4K) option isn't available in the Volume License edition.

When someone opens a PowerPoint Show file, it appears full-screen in Slide Show, rather than in edit mode. The viewer begins watching the presentation immediately.

Burn your presentation to a disc

Click File > Export > Create a Video .

PowerPoint 2013 and newer versions can save your presentation as either an MPEG-4 video file (.mp4) or a .wmv file. Both formats are widely supported and can be streamed over the internet.

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What is Good Friday? What the holy day means for Christians around the world

Christians around the world observe Good Friday two days before Easter, but what is it, and why do they commemorate the holy day?

The holiday is part of Holy Week, which leads up to Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday kicks off the series of Christian holy days that commemorate the Crucifixion and celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection.

"Good Friday has been, for centuries now, the heart of the Christian message because it is through the death of Jesus Christ that Christians believe that we have been forgiven of our sins," Daniel Alvarez, an associate teaching professor of religious studies at Florida International University, told USA TODAY.

What is Holy Saturday? What the day before Easter means for Christians around the world

When is Good Friday?

Good Friday is always the Friday before Easter. It's the second-to-last day of Holy Week.

In 2024, Good Friday will fall on March 29.

What is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day Christ was sacrificed on the cross. According to Britannica , it is a day for "sorrow, penance, and fasting."

"Good Friday is part of something else," Gabriel Radle, an assistant professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, previously told USA TODAY. "It's its own thing, but it's also part of something bigger."

Are Good Friday and Passover related?

Alvarez says that Good Friday is directly related to the Jewish holiday, Passover.

Passover , or Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

"The whole Christian idea of atoning for sin, that Jesus is our atonement, is strictly derived from the Jewish Passover tradition," said Alvarez.

How is that possible?

According to the professor, Passover celebrates the day the "Angel of Death" passed over the homes of Israelites who were enslaved by the Egyptians. He said that the Bible states when the exodus happened, families were told to paint their doors with lamb's blood so that God would spare the lives of their firstborn sons.

Alvarez says this is why Christians call Jesus the "lamb of God." He adds that the symbolism of the "blood of the lamb" ties the two stories together and is why Christians believe God sacrificed his firstborn son. Because, through his blood, humanity is protected from the "wrath of a righteous God that cannot tolerate sin."

He adds that the stories of the exodus and the Crucifixion not only further tie the stories together but also emphasize just how powerful the sacrifice of the firstborn and the shedding of blood are in religion.

"Jesus is the firstborn, so the whole idea of the death of the firstborn is crucial," said Alvarez.

He adds that the sacrifice of the firstborn, specifically a firstborn son, comes from an ancient and "primitive" idea that the sacrifice unleashes "tremendous power that is able to fend off any kind of force, including the wrath of God."

Why Is Good Friday so somber?

Alavarez says people might think this holiday is more depressing or sad than others because of how Catholics commemorate the Crucifixion.

"I think [it's] to a level that some people might think is morbid," said Alvarez.

He said Catholics not only meditate on Jesus' death, but primarily focus on the suffering he faced in the events that led up to his Crucifixion. That's what makes it such a mournful day for people.

But, the professor says that Jesus' suffering in crucial to Christianity as a whole.

"The suffering of Christ is central to the four Gospels," said Alvarez. "Everything else is incidental."

According to the professor, statues that use blood to emphasize the way Jesus and Catholic saints suffered is very common in Spanish and Hispanic Countries, but not as prevalent in American churches.

Do you fast on Good Friday?

Father Dustin Dought, the executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, previously told USA TODAY that Good Friday and Ash Wednesday are the two days in the year that Roman Catholics are obliged to fast.

"This practice is a way of emptying ourselves so that we can be filled with God," said Dought.

What do you eat on Good Friday?

Many Catholics do not eat meat on any Friday during Lent. Anything with flesh is off-limits. Dought says this practice is to honor the way Jesus sacrificed his flesh on Good Friday.

Meat that is off limits includes:

Instead, many Catholics will eat fish. According to the Marine Stewardship Council , this is allowed because fish is considered to be a different type of flesh.

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza ; USA TODAY

Baltimore bridge collapse: a bridge engineer explains what happened, and what needs to change

Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Colin Caprani receives funding from the Department of Transport (Victoria) and the Level Crossing Removal Project. He is also Chair of the Confidential Reporting Scheme for Safer Structures - Australasia, Chair of the Australian Regional Group of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and Australian National Delegate for the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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When the container ship MV Dali, 300 metres long and massing around 100,000 tonnes, lost power and slammed into one of the support piers of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the bridge collapsed in moments . Six people are presumed dead, several others injured, and the city and region are expecting a months-long logistical nightmare in the absence of a crucial transport link.

It was a shocking event, not only for the public but for bridge engineers like me. We work very hard to ensure bridges are safe, and overall the probability of being injured or worse in a bridge collapse remains even lower than the chance of being struck by lightning.

However, the images from Baltimore are a reminder that safety can’t be taken for granted. We need to remain vigilant.

So why did this bridge collapse? And, just as importantly, how might we make other bridges more safe against such collapse?

A 20th century bridge meets a 21st century ship

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was built through the mid 1970s and opened in 1977. The main structure over the navigation channel is a “continuous truss bridge” in three sections or spans.

The bridge rests on four supports, two of which sit each side of the navigable waterway. It is these two piers that are critical to protect against ship impacts.

And indeed, there were two layers of protection: a so-called “dolphin” structure made from concrete, and a fender. The dolphins are in the water about 100 metres upstream and downstream of the piers. They are intended to be sacrificed in the event of a wayward ship, absorbing its energy and being deformed in the process but keeping the ship from hitting the bridge itself.

The fender is the last layer of protection. It is a structure made of timber and reinforced concrete placed around the main piers. Again, it is intended to absorb the energy of any impact.

Fenders are not intended to absorb impacts from very large vessels . And so when the MV Dali, weighing more than 100,000 tonnes, made it past the protective dolphins, it was simply far too massive for the fender to withstand.

Read more: I've captained ships into tight ports like Baltimore, and this is how captains like me work with harbor pilots to avoid deadly collisions

Video recordings show a cloud of dust appearing just before the bridge collapsed, which may well have been the fender disintegrating as it was crushed by the ship.

Once the massive ship had made it past both the dolphin and the fender, the pier – one of the bridge’s four main supports – was simply incapable of resisting the impact. Given the size of the vessel and its likely speed of around 8 knots (15 kilometres per hour), the impact force would have been around 20,000 tonnes .

Bridges are getting safer

This was not the first time a ship hit the Francis Scott Bridge. There was another collision in 1980 , damaging a fender badly enough that it had to be replaced.

Around the world, 35 major bridge collapses resulting in fatalities were caused by collisions between 1960 and 2015, according to a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure. Collisions between ships and bridges in the 1970s and early 1980s led to a significant improvement in the design rules for protecting bridges from impact.

Further impacts in the 1970s and early 1980s instigated significant improvements in the design rules for impact.

The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering’s Ship Collision with Bridges guide, published in 1993, and the American Association of State Highway and Transporation Officials’ Guide Specification and Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges (1991) changed how bridges were designed.

In Australia, the Australian Standard for Bridge Design (published in 2017) requires designers to think about the biggest vessel likely to come along in the next 100 years, and what would happen if it were heading for any bridge pier at full speed. Designers need to consider the result of both head-on collisions and side-on, glancing blows. As a result, many newer bridges protect their piers with entire human-made islands.

Of course, these improvements came too late to influence the design of the Francis Scott Key Bridge itself.

Lessons from disaster

So what are the lessons apparent at this early stage?

First, it’s clear the protection measures in place for this bridge were not enough to handle this ship impact. Today’s cargo ships are much bigger than those of the 1970s, and it seems likely the Francis Scott Key Bridge was not designed with a collision like this in mind.

So one lesson is that we need to consider how the vessels near our bridges are changing. This means we cannot just accept the structure as it was built, but ensure the protection measures around our bridges are evolving alongside the ships around them.

Second, and more generally, we must remain vigilant in managing our bridges. I’ve written previously about the current level of safety of Australian bridges, but also about how we can do better.

This tragic event only emphasises the need to spend more on maintaining our ageing infrastructure. This is the only way to ensure it remains safe and functional for the demands we put on it today.

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The Five Minutes That Brought Down the Francis Scott Key Bridge

When a massive cargo ship lost power in Baltimore, crews scrambled to control the ship and to evacuate the bridge lying ahead. But it was too late.

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By Annie Correal ,  Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs ,  Campbell Robertson ,  Michael Forsythe and Mike Baker

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Campbell Robertson reported from Baltimore, Annie Correal and Michael Forsythe from New York, and Mike Baker from Seattle.

Follow our live coverage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore .

“Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge.”

The terse command from an officer in Baltimore’s busy commercial shipping port was one of the first warnings of a disaster that experts now predict will transform shipping on the Eastern Seaboard and change how ships and bridges function around the world. But after the cargo ship Dali lost power early Tuesday, there were precious few minutes to act.

In those minutes, many people — from the ship’s crew, who sent out a mayday signal, to the transportation authority police officers, who stopped traffic heading onto the Francis Scott Key Bridge — did what they could to avert catastrophe, most likely saving many lives.

And yet — no matter what anyone did — several factors made catastrophe all but inevitable. When a ship of this size loses engine power, there is little to be done to correct its course, even dropping an anchor down. And the Key Bridge was particularly vulnerable. As long ago as 1980, engineers had warned that the bridge, because of its design, would never be able to survive a direct hit from a container ship.

The collision and subsequent collapse of the bridge swallowed up seven road workers and an inspector who could not be alerted and pulled off the bridge in time; two were pulled alive out of the water, but four others are still missing and presumed dead. Two bodies were retrieved on Wednesday, authorities said.

Also caught up in the disaster were the ship’s 21 crew members, all from India, who had prepared for a long journey to Sri Lanka on the Dali. While none of them were hurt, they would be held on board for more than a day as the ship sat in the harbor, the ruins of the bridge tangled around it, as authorities began their investigation.

The accident, the deadliest bridge collapse in the United States in more than a decade, will have a lasting impact on the Port of Baltimore, with its 8,000 workers, and industries that rely on the port, which is the leading American hub for auto and other wheeled equipment, said Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. transportation secretary, on Wednesday.

“It’s difficult to overstate the impact of this collision,” Mr. Buttigieg said.

He compared the Dali, roughly as long a city block, to the size of an American aircraft carrier.

“A hundred thousand tons, all going into this pier all at once,” he said of the impact on the bridge support structure.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the accident, boarded the Dali on Tuesday night to gather documentation. They obtained data from the voyage data recorder, the equivalent of an aircraft’s black box, hoping that it could help investigators determine what led to the accident.

Mr. Buttigieg said that any private party found liable in the accident “will be held responsible.”

The ship left the Port

of Baltimore around

1 a.m. on Tuesday.

Ship called for

tugboats to return

Francis Scott

Alarms sounded on ship

Traffic onto bridge was halted

The ship hit

at 1:28 a.m.

Alarms sounded

Traffic onto bridge

Sources: MarineTraffic, Google Earth

By Agnes Chang, Weiyi Cai, and Leanne Abraham

It was about half an hour past midnight on Tuesday when the Dali, loaded with cargo containers, departed its dock, guided by two tugboats, as is customary. On board was a local harbor pilot with more than 10 years of experience and deep familiarity with Baltimore’s port, as well as an apprentice pilot in training.

The sky above the Patapsco River was clear and still, lit by a full moon.

At 1:25 a.m., after the two tugboats detached and turned back, the Dali had accelerated to about 10 miles per hour as it approached the Key Bridge. But just then, according to a timeline released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday, “numerous audible alarms” started sounding on the ship.

For reasons still being investigated, the ship’s powerful propulsion system stopped. The lights flickered out.

The ship had a “complete blackout,” according to Clay Diamond, head of the American Pilots’ Association, who was briefed on the account of the pilot of the Dali. (The chair of the N.T.S.B., Jennifer Homendy, said officials were still trying to determine whether the power failure was complete.)

The harbor pilot noticed the ship starting to swing right, in the direction of one of the piers holding up the Key Bridge. At 1:26, he called for the tugs to return; he urged the captain to try to get the engine back up and directed the crew to steer hard left. As a last ditch measure, at 1:27, he ordered the crew to throw down the port anchor.

One of the tugboats, the Eric McAllister, turned around and raced back toward the ship.

But the failures onboard were cascading. The emergency generator had kicked on, sending a puff of thick smoke belching from the ship’s exhaust stack and briefly restoring the lights, radar and steering. It did not help. With no effective propulsion, the 95,000-ton ship had become an unstoppable object, drifting toward one of the most heavily traveled bridges in Baltimore.

On land, officers with the Maryland Transportation Authority moved swiftly into action. “I need one of you guys on the South side, one of you guys on the North side, hold all traffic on the Key Bridge,” someone is heard saying on the audio recording of emergency radio traffic that night. “There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering. So until they get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic.”

Vehicles were held on either side of the bridge as the ship continued its inexorable drift toward the 1.6-mile-long span.

A minute later, the officers turned their attention to several workers, some of them immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, who were still laboring on the bridge in the chilly darkness, taking advantage of the light traffic at night to fix potholes.

“There’s a crew up there,” one officer is heard saying on the audio recording of the radio exchange between officers. “You might want to notify whoever the foreman is, see if we could get them off the bridge temporarily.”

But even then, the ship was striking the bridge. Almost at once, the pier buckled and collapsed, twisting over the ship, with its cargo containers stacked high on the deck. Then the rest of the bridge went, breaking into sections as it plummeted and splashed into the dark river waters below.

“The size and weight of these ships make them really difficult, even with propulsion, to stop them,” said Stash Pelkowski, a professor at State University of New York Maritime College and a retired Coast Guard rear admiral. With no power, he said, “There was very little the pilot or the crew on the Dali could do.”

The collapse had happened in seconds. Except for the stumps of the piers, the central span of the bridge had plunged into the frigid river — where divers would spend the whole day searching amid twisted metal for survivors — by 1:29 a.m.

“Dispatch, the whole bridge just fell down!” an officer called out. “Whoever, everybody, the whole bridge just collapsed.”

Stray ships had long been seen as a risk to the Key Bridge. Just a few years after the Baltimore structure was constructed in 1977, a vessel crash knocked down the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Fla., killing 35 people.

Officials acknowledged that the Key Bridge would not be able to withstand that kind of direct hit from a heavy cargo vessel. “I would have to say if that ship hit the Bay Bridge or the Key Bridge — I’m talking about the main supports, a direct hit — it would knock it down,” John Snyder, the director of engineering for the state Toll Facilities Administration told the Baltimore Sun at the time.

But building a bridge that could withstand such an impact was simply not economically feasible, he said. When the bridge was built, cargo ships were not the size they are today. A much smaller freighter did hit the bridge in 1980 , but the bridge stood strong.

Minutes after the bridge collapsed on Tuesday, both tugboats that had accompanied the Dali arrived on scene, followed soon by the Coast Guard and the Baltimore City Fire Department.

Two of the workers who had been on the bridge were rescued from the water. The others could not be found.

Jack Murphy, who owns Brawner Builders, the company whose workers had been on the bridge, got a phone call about the collapse and raced to the area, about a 30-minute drive away. He stayed by the bridge all night, and eventually began making calls to the men’s families.

Two workers’ bodies were discovered in a red pickup truck found near the bridge debris, police said Wednesday. They were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, an immigrant from Mexico, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, a native of Guatemala.

About two miles from the bridge, Andrew Middleton had been lying awake when he heard the crash. He first thought it was thunder, maybe a low-flying jet.

It was only when he awoke a few hours later that he saw the news of the collapsed bridge. “I thought to myself, I was just with those guys yesterday,” he said.

Mr. Middleton, who runs Apostleship of the Sea, a program that ministers to sailors coming through the port, had driven the ship’s captain and a few crew members to Walmart on Monday to stock up on goods for the 28-day voyage ahead — toothpaste, snacks, clothes, Bluetooth speakers.

He recalled the captain telling him their next port was Sri Lanka, but that they were taking a longer route, down around South Africa, in order to avoid recent Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.

Mr. Middleton immediately messaged the crew on WhatsApp after hearing the news on Tuesday, he said, and “they responded within a few minutes saying that everyone was OK,” he said.

Around the site of the bridge collapse, firefighters and rescuers in diving gear were swarming around the shore, followed by news crews. John McAvoy, who owns a nearby restaurant, had driven over with hot meals — chicken, crab balls and pretzel bites — to hand out to the crews.

But by nightfall on Tuesday, officials had called off the rescue efforts and said they would switch to searching for bodies. “The water’s deep, visibility’s low, it’s cold as I-don’t-know-what,” said Kevin Cartwright, a spokesman for the Fire Department.

The signs of all that had changed were only starting to become clear on Wednesday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it was mobilizing more than 1,100 specialists to clear the wreckage of the bridge and unblock the Port of Baltimore’s shipping lane. In the meantime, Mr. Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, said the East Coast would have to rely more heavily on ports outside Baltimore.

Mr. McAvoy said the tragedy would ripple over the port for years.

Fishing crews always have found their way home following the Key Bridge, he said. “It’s going to change a lot of things for a lot of people.”

Reporting was contributed by Daniel Victor , Jacey Fortin , Zach Montague , Eduardo Medina , Miriam Jordan and Judson Jones . Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

Annie Correal reports from the U.S. and Latin America for The Times. More about Annie Correal

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York. More about Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

Campbell Robertson reports on Delaware, the District Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, for The Times. More about Campbell Robertson

Michael Forsythe a reporter on the investigations team at The Times, based in New York. He has written extensively about, and from, China. More about Michael Forsythe

Mike Baker is a national reporter for The Times, based in Seattle. More about Mike Baker