Tell me about yourself- answer too long?

I'm a big believer in the Career Tools Interviewing Series of podcasts.  Invaluable, and the guidance has been really effective.  I've found that following Mark & Mike's guidance has directly led to better results for me as a candidate, also making me better at hiring b/c i know what to listen for.  

With all this said, I'm wondering about whether any of you have any suggestions of how I can deal with some of the push-back I get when I relay to others the "tell me about yourself" 3-4 minute guidance shared in the Interviewing Series.  People's initial reactions is that 3-4 mins is too long, and I've seen guidance out there encouraging much shorter answers, around 1-2 mins.  As a hiring manager, 3-4 mins feels about right to me, especially since I've witnessed candidates go on much longer than this during interviews, rarely shorter. 

I actually prefer the Career Tools model, targeting 3-4 mins, highlighting key goals, accomplishments, and transition rationale--not necessarily going through every bullet on the CV, but chronologically progressing through one's history, giving a few of the highlights along the way, which tends to take 3-4 mins, not <1 min.  However, I'm looking for ways to help diffuse the push-back and be more convincing to bring people onto the 3-4 min model.  

Thanks!

-Joe