Green, amber, red: timing signals for speakers
Three colors are enough for a speaker to know where they stand without breaking a sentence. But you have to decide what each color means, and when it appears.
Why colors work
A speaker in the middle of a sentence cannot stop to read a clock carefully. A color can be taken in from the corner of the eye, in a fraction of a second, without losing the thread. That is why most timing systems, from speech clubs to large conferences, use some version of green, amber and red.
Two ways to use the same three colors
The countdown: how much time is left
At conferences, every speaker has a fixed slot. The screen shows green while there is time, turns amber in the last few minutes, and turns red when the time is up. The question it answers is "how long do I have left?". This is the system WrapClock uses.
The range: may I finish now
Toastmasters clubs time speeches against a range rather than a single limit. In the speech contest rules of Toastmasters International, a speech of five to seven minutes gets a green signal at 5:00, when the speaker has reached the minimum, yellow at 6:00, and red at 7:00, the maximum. A contestant who finishes under 4:30 or over 7:30 is disqualified. Shorter formats work the same way: for a one to two minute impromptu speech, green comes at 1:00, yellow at 1:30 and red at 2:00.
Here green means "you may finish", not "you have plenty of time". It is a good system for speech training, where hitting the range is the goal.
Which one to choose
If each speaker has a fixed slot in a schedule, use a countdown. It tells them how much time is left, which is what they need to pace a talk. If speakers are practicing to land inside a range, use the range system. Whichever you use, tell the speakers in advance, because the same green light means something different in each.
When should the warning appear?
The amber warning should come early enough for the speaker to move to their conclusion calmly, but not so early that they start rushing with half the talk still to go. As a starting point:
| Length of the slot | Turn amber when this much is left |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 minutes | 1 minute |
| 10 to 15 minutes | 2 minutes |
| 20 to 30 minutes | 3 minutes |
| 45 minutes or more | 5 minutes |
In WrapClock the warning is set for each event, and it is two minutes by default. If one event mixes short and long talks, choose the value that suits most of the slots. You can change it during the event, and the speaker screen updates straight away.
What red should mean
Agree on this with the chair and the speakers before the event. In most conferences red means "finish the sentence you are on and close", not "stop talking now". A speaker who is cut off mid sentence leaves the audience with nothing.
It also helps if the timer keeps counting after zero. WrapClock shows the overrun, for example +1:20, so the chair knows whether to step in, and the organizer knows how much time the day has lost.
More than colors
Sometimes a color is not enough. A speaker deep in their talk may miss the change, and some people find amber and red hard to tell apart. Two things help:
- Words as well as colors. The WrapClock speaker screen also writes "Wrap up" and "Time's up" in the corner, next to the countdown itself.
- A short message. A line on the speaker's screen, such as "Please wrap up" or "Time for questions", is silent, and only the speaker sees it, as long as the screen faces them and not the audience.