if its just a plain steak, put a tiny bit of oil on the hotplate (i like olive oil) or use canola spray
have a very hot hotplate before u chuck the meat on so it seals in the flavour firstly
if you're adding flavour, give it 30 minutes before you cook if using a dry rub, or 2-3 hours if using a marinade (marinades are best left overnight in the fridge but a couple hours will do it at a pinch)...
check how thick the steak is. thin ones take only 2-5 minutes, a big thick one can take up to 20 minutes, sometimes longer.... use a spoon/fork to push down upon the steak.. once it stops being springy (like raw meat) then its technically cooked, tho if you dont like the steak rare you'd be wanting to leave it in there until it gets even harder - or a charcoal coating
i cooked a kangaroo steak on the bbq yesterday... came out really good >
-D