Event-defined timing · private rehearsal
Match the event’s total slot, reserve time only when questions count inside it, rehearse through exact overtime, and compare runs without uploading your topic or slides.
Presets start as talk-only slots. Add a Q&A reserve only when the organizer says questions count inside the total allocation.
Total time remaining
Ready — the full selected slot is available for the talk
Keyboard: Space start/pause · N save run · R reset · F fullscreen
A scalable rehearsal aid, not a rule published by the conferences cited below.
Talk budget 5:00
Name the one question, surprise, or problem worth the room’s attention.
Show the example, demonstration, lesson, or result that carries the talk.
Make the useful implication easy to repeat after the session.
Finish the thought and hand the stage to the next speaker.
Only durations and the Q&A reserve stay in this tab; no topic, code, claim, or slide is collected.
Complete or pause a rehearsal, then choose “Save run & reset” to compare another attempt.
Current published formats
A lightning talk is short by design, but its exact duration, question period, and slide policy belong to the event. Current conference instructions range from a one-minute option to five-minute talks and ten-minute slots that include audience discussion. That variation changes both the amount you can say and the moment when you must hand the room back.
Start with the latest speaker guide or acceptance email. Confirm whether the published number is speaking time or the entire stage slot, whether questions are inside it, and whether the organizer changes slides for you. Then configure the same conditions here and rehearse through the final second.
Examples, not defaults
These 2026 organizer pages demonstrate why a configurable timer is more accurate than a fixed five-minute countdown. Each row links to the event’s own published instruction. Your current invitation can still override an older or general event page.
| Published example | Clock | Operational detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyCon US 2026 | Up to 5 minutes | The event also accepts a one-minute talk. Slides are encouraged, not required. | Organizer page ↗ |
| EuroPython 2026 | 5 minutes | The conference FAQ defines its lightning talks as five-minute presentations. | Organizer page ↗ |
| Akademy 2026 | 5 minutes | No Q&A is allocated, and the call recommends no more than three slides. | Organizer page ↗ |
| IPA Christchurch 2026 | 10 minutes total | Questions and discussion are inside the slot; the presenter guide suggests about eight minutes of talk plus two minutes of Q&A. | Organizer page ↗ |
Clock arithmetic
If an event gives ten minutes including two minutes of questions, the talk budget is eight minutes. The timer first counts down that speaking budget, changes to the reserved Q&A clock at the handoff, reaches 0:00 at the end of the full ten minutes, and then shows overtime. If questions happen after the slot, leave the reserve at zero.
Leave a small real-world margin for applause, a moderator transition, or one slow slide change. A rehearsal that touches the limit under ideal conditions is not yet schedule-safe.
10:00
Organizer’s total stage slot
− 2:00
Questions inside that allocation
= 8:00
Maximum talk budget before handoff
Editorial constraint
A short slot does not reward a normal talk played faster. Choose one audience-level problem, insight, demonstration, or story. The opening should make the question legible; the middle should provide the strongest example or evidence; the ending should state what the audience can now understand, try, or remember.
The optional four-beat map in the timer allocates 15% to the spark, 40% to the core idea, 30% to the takeaway, and 15% to the handoff. Those proportions are an editing aid, not a conference rule. Ignore them whenever the subject or event format needs a different shape.
Give the room a reason to care now.
Use the clearest proof, example, or demo.
State the useful implication plainly.
End the thought and return the stage.
Visual discipline
PyCon US explicitly says slides are encouraged but not required. Akademy recommends no more than three. Neither fact creates a rule for another event; together they show that a lightning talk can work with a few purposeful visuals or none at all.
A slide should shorten the explanation: show the diagram, result, image, code fragment, or contrast that would take longer to describe. Delete title cards, agendas, dense bullet lists, and repeated conclusions when they consume more seconds than they save.
Draft sizing
At 120–150 spoken words per minute, the rough ranges below describe uninterrupted speech. They do not account for audience response, a live demonstration, slide transitions, breathing, or questions. The timer recalculates the range from the talk budget after any Q&A reserve is removed.
120–150 words
One crisp point
360–450 words
One point plus evidence
600–750 words
Room for a focused example
960–1,200 words
With two minutes reserved for Q&A
Three-pass practice
One successful stopwatch run is weak evidence. Change one thing at a time, save each result, and compare whether the talk reliably finishes with enough room for the event’s transition.
Explain the central idea without slides. Ask a listener to repeat the takeaway in one sentence; revise the premise if they remember only the setup.
Use the real deck, demo, microphone posture, transitions, and any organizer-defined Q&A reserve. Keep going when a phrase or click is imperfect.
Start from the actual introduction cue, finish the final sentence, and hand control back before the total slot ends. Save the run and repeat until the margin is dependable.
Conference-ready ending
Write a final sentence that makes sense even if no question follows. Do not introduce a new subject in the last seconds. When Q&A is inside the slot, stop the talk at the handoff signal and invite a question without spending the reserve on a second conclusion.
Watch the stage manager’s signals and respect a hard stop. The next speaker, captioner, technician, and audience schedule all depend on the same clock. A clean early finish is stronger than an important sentence delivered after the allocation has expired.
Lightning-talk FAQ
The organizer decides. Current published examples include one minute, five minutes, five to ten minutes, and a ten-minute total slot that includes questions. Read the current event instructions instead of assuming that every lightning talk is five minutes.
Sometimes. Akademy 2026 specifies no Q&A, while IPA Christchurch 2026 includes questions and discussion inside its ten-minute allocation. Set a reserve only when the organizer says that Q&A consumes the published total slot.
There is no universal slide count. PyCon US says slides are encouraged but not required, while Akademy recommends no more than three. Follow the event rule and use only the visuals that make the single idea faster to understand.
A continuous delivery at 120–150 words per minute is about 600–750 words. Treat that as an upper planning range, not a script target. Slides, laughter, demonstrations, pauses, and the handoff all reduce usable speaking time.
Cut extra background, a second example, dense slide narration, repeated conclusions, and optional demo steps before increasing speaking speed. Protect the premise, strongest evidence or demonstration, useful takeaway, and clean handoff.
No. Spark, core idea, takeaway, and handoff are an optional SpeechTimer rehearsal aid that scales to the available talk budget. The published event brief remains authoritative.
No. The tool does not request a title, topic, speaker name, script, slide deck, or recording. The optional rehearsal log keeps only timing results and the Q&A reserve in the current browser tab.
Continue rehearsing
Practice the fixed 20-slide, 15-seconds-per-slide format.
Practice the fixed 20-image, 20-seconds-per-image format.
Mark slide changes during an event-defined startup pitch.
Rehearse a longer talk against an exact organizer-approved slot.
Configure general green, yellow, and red timing signals.
Estimate a draft before testing it aloud at full pace.
Format statements on this page were checked against the linked 2026 organizer pages for PyCon US, EuroPython, Akademy, and IPA Christchurch. They are examples of published variation, not universal standards or promises about a future edition. SpeechTimer is an independent rehearsal utility and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official timer for those organizations or events.