diff --git a/cli.js b/cli.js
index 52bd254..2a30731 100644
--- a/cli.js
+++ b/cli.js
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ start(minimist(process.argv.slice(2), {
     help: 'h',
     brokers: 'b',
     defaultTopic: 'd',
-    echo: 'e'
+    settings: 's',
+    echo: 'e',
+    timeout: 't'
   },
   default: {
     kafka: {
@@ -72,6 +74,8 @@ start(minimist(process.argv.slice(2), {
       'message.send.max.retries': 10000000,
       'acks': 'all'
     },
+    echo: true,
+    timeout: 10000,
     brokers: '10.6.25.11:9092, 10.6.25.12:9092',
     defaultTopic: 'blackbox'
   }
diff --git a/help.txt b/help.txt
index d785b47..f8b7523 100644
--- a/help.txt
+++ b/help.txt
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@
   -b  | --brokers           broker list for kafka producer. comma seperated
   -d  | --defaultTopic      default topic name for kafka.
   -s  | --settings          read settings from a JSON file (switches take precedence)
-  -r  | --reconnect         enable reconnecting to kafka broker. Default: off
-  -t  | --reconnectTries    set number of reconnect attempts before giving up. Default: infinite
+  -t  | --timeout           timeout for initial broker connection in milliseconds. Default 10000
   -e  | --echo              echoing received messages to stdout. Default: enabled
   --kafka.${config}         additional kafka options. Example usage:
                                 --kafka.compression.codec='gzip' --kafka.acks='all'