The first four-session general conference looked and sounded like the five previous decades of conferences with five sessions, centered on Jesus Christ and counsel for listeners.
It was fair to be curious how Church leaders would accomplish that with fewer speakers. The solution was to increase the number of speakers.
Somehow, there were more talks—34—in a four-session conference than the 33 there were in October for the final five-session conference.
Church leaders managed the feat in two ways.
First, they used more of the two hours allotted for each session. In recent years, some sessions had been ending as many as 10 or 20 minutes or even 30 minutes early.
Second, the talks were shorter.
That allowed the schedule to increase from six or seven speakers per session to eight or nine speakers per session. (Eight spoke in each session on Saturday, with nine in each of Sunday’s sessions.)
Visit the Deseret News to see the exact length of each Apostle’s conference talk.
More articles for you:
▶ The hope that carries us: What Stage 4 cancer taught a 21-year-old about Christ
▶ What her son’s postponed mission taught this mom about the Savior’s Atonement
▶ Expecting the IRS but meeting the missionaries: A convert’s surprising path to the gospel
