I’ll keep this section brief.

Don’t take more time than is necessary to get your point across.

I’ll give you two little ‘scenarios’ to illustrate this simple point.

When I took my nurses’ ‘teaching and assessing’ course I remember finishing work one afternoon and driving for 90 minutes to Carlisle to attend a class. I then sat for two hours while the lecturer explained (time and again) that there is no point wasting time telling people what they already know.

Two hours later I took my mounting sense of irony back home in time to go to sleep ready for the following day’s ‘early shift’ on the ward.

That was a complete waste of time.

Now another brief tale.

A man goes to the dentist complaining of toothache.

The dentist extracts the tooth in just a few minutes and then presents him with a bill for £100.

“£100!” Exclaimed the man. “But it only took you 5 minutes.”

Wryly the dentist replied..

“Next time I promise to make it last as long as you like.”

Don’t waste your time and your participants’ time repeating the same point over and over again. If you’ve said it (and they’ve understood it), you’ve said it.