Sometimes what’s called for is White Rabbit Mode.
The white rabbit in Alice In Wonderland constantly shouts “I’m late!” as he bustles and hurries through the story.
In plenty of rehearsals, there’s a little time for digression, for stories, for flights of fancy and following musical ideas and experiments. Other times, there’s a job and not quite enough time.
(Which is half of what Leonard Bernstein said was needed to achieve great things: “A plan and not quite enough time.”)
It’s a different gear, and for me it takes a certain amount of anticipation and preparation to get there.
Talk a little faster. Talk a lot less. Barely leave time to breathe before the next instruction. Repeat, repeat, move on.
Most of all, convey the urgency of the situation; that we need to move with the speed of Alice’s White Rabbit.