The other day I had booked in to attend a seminar and, as is my normal approach, I arrived well before the scheduled starting time.

When the presenter suggested we start on time, I loudly applauded because giving late comers time to be late is insulting to those that do turn up on time (and it does shorten the expected seminar duration too).

Often, too, a presenter allows grace time and nobody else turns up anyway!

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If it’s meant to start at a certain time, start then if you’re the presenter or ask them to start if you’re in the audience… no waiting! No ifs, no buts!

Something else that amazed me were the number of people who arrived so late they may as well not have come at all. And I was pleased the presenter didn’t make a fuss of those people or try and give them a quick overview of what they had missed.

So, the rule is simple for both presenters and audiences… start and finish on time every time!