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What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

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A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

5 Static and dynamic content editing

6 static and dynamic content editing.

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any pa ge and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

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How long should a presentation be? That is a popular question for which many presenters seek a magical answer. However, most of them leave one critical point out – it is not the length of the presentation that matters, but the number of informative and engaging slides.

You've read it right. The number of slides can predetermine the success or ultimate failure of your project. Very often, presentations packed with too many slides distract and overwhelm the audience, affecting their attention negatively. At the same time, too few slides leave the viewers wondering whether they've grasped the presented matter fully. Moreover, sometimes, there are gaps that the audience can't fill in on their own.

Today, we'll share our professional view on presentation time counted in slides. Do you wonder how many slides in a 5-minute presentation would suffice the purpose or how many slides for a 45-minute presentation you require to keep the audience interested and alert? We've got more than that to offer!

The Rule of Thumb for Slide Count

Many professional presentation design services outline the Rule of a Thumb strategy as a starting point that can help you figure out the precise number of slides you need. The Rule relies on the 1:1 ratio, aka one slide per minute. While this universal standard comes of use in some situations, it is not the solid pillar on which to base your presentation every time.

The ideal slide count depends on various factors, such as presentation style or complexity of the subject. This means that some more technical topics would require additional information for the audience to grasp the message fully. At the same time, a more conversational presentation usually requires fewer slides since it depends on the spoken narrative.

Concept of audience attention span

The number of slides in a presentation can be dictated by the concept of the audience's attention span. There isn't a single attention span period to base on. Still, you should remember that people react to different factors, such as the topic, context, and environment, not to mention personal preferences. When planning a presentation, you should spice it up with visuals, interactive elements, storytelling, and critical data. Such an approach will help you keep the audience alert and engaged throughout the presentation.

5-Minute Presentations

An expert pitch deck design company knows that a 5-minute presentation is a lot more challenging to create than it seems. It takes a fair share of dedication and professionalism to make a shorter presentation both informative, impactful, and engaging.

How many slides should a 5-minute presentation be? Whitepage experts advise it to stick within 5-7 slides, and here's why: fewer slides will give the audience a very vague idea of what is going on, and too many slides will distract them from the speaker and the presentation in general.

Now, when you know how many slides for a 5-minute presentation you need, it takes time and effort to make the most of those 5-7 slides. Use these practical content formation tips to succeed with the task:

• Main message . With as many as 45 minutes per slide at your disposal, you should figure out a main idea for each slide and center the viewer's attention on it. Make sure that you are not using too much information or too complex concepts that will leave the audience wondering. You should do your best to make every critical point digestible and easy to grasp so that they leave a desired impression.
• Textual component . Even the most helpful text can become an undesirable distraction when you are presenting a 5-minute pitch. That is why you should cut the textual component to a bare minimum. To succeed with the task, you must be fully aware of what a presentation outline is . It will take some time to point out the most critical text, but in the end, the result will be worth the effort.
• Visuals. Well-picked visuals will suffice the primary goal of your presentation. People are known to perceive visual information better. Besides, such types of visuals as charts, diagrams, and graphics will enhance the viewer's understanding of the topic. Lastly, you can use various images to support and reinforce your message so that it becomes twice as memorable.
• Practice . To ensure that you don't exceed the 5-minute limit, you must practice the timing. If you rehearse the presentation beforehand, you will be able to introduce necessary improvements, attune your presentation, and eliminate potential weak spots.

10-Minute Presentations

The answer to the question of how many slides a 10-minute presentation should be lies within 10-12 slides. In some instances, 20 slides are used, but discussing 2 slides within a minute may create unnecessary pressure on both the speaker and the audience. A 10-minute presentation with 10 to 12 slides grants the opportunity to submerge the viewers deeper into the topic. At the same time, you will be able to keep them attentive and alert. The trick is not to focus on how many slides in a 10-minute presentation you should include but how to make the most of the given time.

Content tips:

• Clear structure . With 10 minutes at hand, you can divide the presentation into three clear sections: intro, main body, and conclusion. Such an approach will ensure a memorable structure and logical information flow that will keep the audience engaged.
• Supportive elements . Use the slides to support the main arguments. Spice them up with compelling visuals and relevant data to reinforce the goal.
• Interactive elements. The simplest way to keep the audience alert and engaged is to include them in the presentation flow. You can use rhetorical questions, personal anecdotes, polls, and quick quizzes to achieve the desired results.

15-Minute Presentations 

15 minutes is a perfect time to deliver a well-balanced and impactful presentation. How many slides should a 15-minute presentation be? The Whitepage team agrees that 15-20 slides are more than enough. A 20-slide presentation allows it to introduce the main points along with the supporting facts that usually make it twice as memorable.

There are a few content tips to pay attention to when working on a 15-minute project:

• Mix and match different content types. You can use text, images, and charts to help the audience understand and memorize the presented topic.
• Use a storytelling approach to connect with the audience . Emotional bonds help to deliver a more impactful presentation that resonates with the audience.
• Use strategic pauses. While you may not be able to afford to pause during a 10-minute presentation, let alone a 5-min one, 15 minutes grant you enough time to stop and emphasize critical points, let the audience reflect for a moment, and boost further interest and engagement. Strategic pauses spread the aura of suspense, which in turn makes the audience twice as motivated and curious about the matter.

Guidelines for Other Popular Presentation Lengths

5-minute, 10-minute, and 15-minute presentations aren't the only options available. There are many other presentation lengths you can use. We'll cover the most popular of them below.

20-Minute Presentations

In case you wonder how many slides for a 20-minute presentation you should use, Whitepage professionals say – 20-25 slides. As you may have already guessed, such a format allows you to dive deeper into intricate and captivating storytelling. Moreover, you'll have enough room for detailed explanations so that you can introduce more complex concepts and ideas.

Now that you know how many slides in a 20-minute presentation you can count on, we'll share a few practical tips on how to make the most of the presentation:

• Spice the slideshow with real-life examples, case studies, and related stories that make the content twice as memorable.
• Explain complex data through professional visuals to enhance viewer comprehension.
• Balance the ratio of text and captivating visuals to maintain proper viewer involvement.

30-Minute Presentations

As we proceed to the question of how many slides in a 30-minute presentation should there be, the number of slides keeps growing. Through years of dedicated research in the industry, Whitepage experts point out that 25-30 slides will suffice for any presentation purpose.

With as many as 30 slides, you can go wild and tune your project to perfection. On top of all the primary aspects of the presentation, it is time to think about useful handout ideas for presentations to promote interactive discussions and launch a progressive Q&A session.

• Use the given opportunity to present relevant insights to support the main point and improve the audience's understanding.
• Use interaction with the audience to boost a more dynamic environment.
• Don't use too much information that could confuse or overwhelm the audience.

Quick Tips for Longer Presentations (45-60 minutes)

An hour-long presentation isn't something out of the ordinary, but it requires a fair share of practice to rock it. When you think about how to make a presentation longer , you should realize that presenting as many slides as possible isn't a great solution. There are many other tricks and techniques that will help you succeed with the task without losing the interest of the audience.

• Pace . A steady pace is critical when it comes to a lengthier presentation. Rushing forward or stalling may impact the audience negatively. At the same time, a well-maintained presentation manner will help the viewers keep up with the flow, even when you transition from one complex point to another.
• Interaction . Various polls, surveys, and other interactive sessions will keep the audience active and alert. Moreover, two-sided cooperation will assist in better comprehension and information retention.
• Breaks . It is vital to give your viewers time to recharge. That is why strategic breaks are critical during longer presentations.
• Flexibility . You may need to adapt to real-time shifts in the audience. Whether the viewers require a more detailed explanation of a notion or have a few pressing questions – you should be flexible and willing to respond to these needs.

Popular Techniques for Counting the Number of Slides

A slideshow calculator would be a handy tool to refer to, but there are time-proven techniques that serve the same purpose.

The 10-20-30 Rule (Guy Kawasaki)

Guy Kawasaki is a marketing specialist, author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He has come up with one of the most used presentation rules used for pitches and investor presentations.

Kawasaki's 10-20-30 Rule for slideshows relies on three principles

• Number of slides
• Font size for presentation

Let's decode this seemingly complex Rule. According to Guy Kawasaki, you have to present 10 slides within 20 minutes, and the minimum font size is 30 points. Such an approach ensures that you center your attention on the main points and skip all the unnecessary data and details. The mentioned 20-minute timeframe grants you enough time to share your ideas without taking up much of the viewers' time. Finally, the chosen font size ensures that your text is readable. Plus, the font eliminates the issue of a crammed slide.

The 5/5/5 Rule

Another helpful rule to consider when working on a well-optimized and informative presentation is 5/5/5. There are three main components as well:

• Number of words
• Number of lines

According to the 5/5/5 guidelines, you should only use 5 words per line. If you do so, you will present the main message clearly and concisely through informative phrases or keywords.

There should be no more than 5 lines of text on a slide. The approach eliminates overcrowding and suffices the overall clarity of the slide. Finally, there should be no more than 5 text-heavy slides before a visual slide. The rule helps with better information retention and gives the audience some time to digest previous slides before you introduce another complex notion.

The PechaKucha Method

The PechaKucha method was invented by chance and wasn't aimed at the professional presentation field, but it's proven to be quite useful. If you are working on an engaging presentation, the "chit-chat" method may serve you well. The core of this presenting technique lies in using 20 slides total, with as many as 20 seconds dedicated to each.

The PechaKucha presentation is exceptionally dynamic and relies heavily on the art of storytelling. The speaker has around 6 minutes and 40 seconds to deliver the presentation. Moreover, the automated slide change keeps the speaker focused and clear-minded.

The Ignite Format

Similar to PechaKucha but with 15 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds, resulting in a quick, 5-minute presentation. Highlight its usefulness for igniting conversations and sharing passions or ideas quickly.

Some may refer to the Ignite format as an even more dynamic spin-off of the PechaKucha method. The Rule relies on the same structure: the speaker has 15 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds to deliver the whole presentation. All in all, you have 5 minutes to inspire action and discussion in the audience.

The primary advantage of the Ignite format is that it suffices for a passion-driven presentation. The fast pace of the presentation allows you to share your ideas so that they project the urgency of the matter and your enthusiasm.

Additional Tips for Effective Presentations

No matter the length of the presentation, a bunch of effective tips from experienced specialists will ensure the future success of your venture.

Understanding Your Audience

No matter how eloquent the speech , its effect will be lost if you don't value the needs and interests of the audience. Before you even start the presentation preparation, you should do your research to figure out their level of familiarity with the subject. Consider the audience's demographics, interests, and expectations to deliver a presentation that resonates and leaves a lasting impression.

The better you understand the audience, the easier it will be to find the best content, tone, and style of the presentation. Don't forget about various interactive elements to boost your connection with the audience and enhance their active engagement.

The Importance of Design

The visual aspect of the presentation can be either inviting and compelling or distracting and tiresome. Whether it is the first, the middle, or the final slide in a presentation , they should coincide in color palette, style, and font size. Uncluttered and visually appealing slides improve information retention and keep the audience engaged. You should try to find a perfect balance between text and graphics to deliver the main message effectively. Don't forget about the logical flow of presented data and visual hierarchy to draw viewers' attention to critical points and make them memorable.

Rehearsal Is Key

Rehearsal is one of the most understated stages of effective presentation delivery. A fair share of practicing will help you find the best pace, smooth out existing transitions, and perfect your body language in public speaking . You can rehearse in front of the mirror or invite a few colleagues to simulate the actual meeting. Self-recording comes of great use as well. It will give you a clear idea of what can be improved in the presentation and your behavior during the presentation.

Don't forget that time is of the essence, especially if you are working on a time-limited presentation such as PechaKucha. As you practice, you can time the delivery to ensure that it remains within your outlined timeframe. Not to mention the fact that the more you practice, the better you will know your topic so that no questions from the audience will catch you off-guard.

Each presentation format differs from one another in terms of slide count, delivery time, and the amount of information you can pack it with. However, every presentation requires a deep understanding of the audience, its needs, and preferences to be as impactful and meaningful as possible.

Today, we've shared a few practical strategies, methods, and techniques to help you create a successful presentation. Yet, you should always remember that adaptability and flexibility are critical, no matter the topic of the presentation. Moreover, sometimes professional assistance is the best way to deal with a challenging task.

Whitepage's team consists of devout experts who have perfected their skills over the years in the industry. Whether you are working on an investor pitch, marketing presentation, educational project, or any other complex presentation, our professionals are ready to offer a helping hand. All it takes is to book a discovery call, and we'll rush to the rescue!

Find more valuable information in our articles on what is a slide deck and how to master color blind friendly presentations .

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How to Choose the Right Number of Slides for a Powerpoint Presentation

Last Updated: July 12, 2023 References

Choosing the Right Number of Slides Based on Design Choices

Using time to determine the right number of slides, moving beyond formulaic answers to finding the right number of slides.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 221,528 times. Learn more...

• Keep the presentation about you, not the slideshow. [2] X Research source The slides are there to support what you have to say. They should be just one part of your presentation, not the whole thing.

• Go through your entire presentation and ask yourself if you really need a given slide. If the answer is no, or if you find you can deliver the info verbally instead, eliminate it.

• If your presentation ended well before the time limit you’ve been given, try to extend the amount of time you spend on each slide, or add extra slides to expand on the info introduced in the presentation.
• Solicit advice from family and friends during your practice presentation. If they feel there are too many or too few slides, or if they feel certain sections of the presentation felt rushed or slow, adjust your presentation to correct these deficiencies.

• One well-known formulation for PowerPoint presentations is the 10/20/30 rule. This rule dictates that you should use about ten slides for a twenty minute presentation, and each slide should utilize thirty point font. In other words, each slide should be about two minutes in length. [8] X Research source Perhaps the 10/20/30 rule works for you. If it does not, don’t feel as if you’re using the wrong number of slides.
• Others argue that an average slide should be onscreen for no more than two minutes, and can be onscreen for as little as 15 seconds. [9] X Research source

• If, on the other hand, you’re in a more intimate environment and can control the lighting, you might be inclined to utilize a greater number of slides. As always, however, don’t feel obligated to use many slides just because you can.

Community Q&A

• If your slide has embedded video, or you aren’t using one slide for each point of your presentation, you can spend longer on each slide. [11] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Treat each slide on its own merits. If one slide needs to be onscreen for two minutes, so be it. If it needs to be onscreen for ten seconds, that’s fine too. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you have a slide with no pictures but several bullet points, each of which you intend to talk about for fifteen to twenty seconds, you might spend well over a minute on that slide. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• When you take all of these factors (detail, technicality, audience size and awareness, etc.) into consideration, you can see that the only short answer to "how many slides should I use" is: "it depends." Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ http://www.virtualsalt.com/powerpoint.htm
• ↑ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-06-01/how-to-powerpoint-like-a-pro
• ↑ http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/7-design-tips-for-effective-beautiful-powerpoint-presentations
• ↑ http://www.mrmediatraining.com/2011/03/10/the-five-most-common-powerpoint-mistakes/
• ↑ http://www.free-power-point-templates.com/articles/how-many-slides-for-a-30-minute-presentation/
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/ppt/20071016041310_686.ppt

About This Article

1. Break complex slides into several simple slides. 2. Include audio and video support only as needed. 3. Time your presentation. 4. Match the number of slides to the subject matter. 5. Tailor to your audience. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How many slides for a 15 minute presentation?

When the time allotted for a business presentation varies, so must the slide’s content to fit the minute quota. Yet, it can be hard to know how to achieve the right amount of slides for the time frame that you’ve got. Therefore, we’ve considered how many slides for a 10-minute presentation an entrepreneur would ideally need, as well as how many slides for a 15-minute presentation, and how many slides for a 5-minute presentation. And, we’ve also included a note to the number of slides for a 3-minute pitch. 

Without more introduction, we’ll get right to the heart of it. 

How many slides for a 15-minute presentation 

With as many as a slide per minute, you could still range at a 15 slide average. However, some will say you could even do three slides per minute, depending on your content, so these could go up to even 45 slides according to that rule. 

In general, the answer to how many slides for a 15-minute presentation lies in about 25 slides. Yet, think anywhere between 20-30 as the broadest use of those. 

And if you genuinely wish to stick to the standard, remember any pitch deck should be able to withstand a 10-20 slide average. Therefore, you might be better off sticking to your 15 slide quota on this one. If you can afford it with 15 with all your must-haves, we say you do so. 

How many slides for a 10-minute presentation 

Twenty slides are the usual for a 10 min business pitch. Yet, you usually create anywhere from 10 to 20. 

If the number 20 on a 10-minute slot is making you think of 2 slides per minute, please take the load off your shoulders on that obligation before you start. It’s the best you could do. If you make yourself present two slides per minute, you might find you’ll be rushing through what you have to say, looking to cover a lot and find time to be a killer for the way you conceive your pitch.

On the contrary, think of what you need to include in your pitch. What’s better yet is to look up a business presentation template to give you an idea of the required content and its order so you can take it from there. We’ve even created a list full of pitch deck examples from successful startups (such as Airbnb, Uber, Facebook , and many others.) You’ll probably find much use relying on those, so take a look and start from there if it helps. 

On this one, it’s also helpful if you rely on images to keep a visual flow. Also, in considering how many slides for a 10-minute presentation, make sure your font is at the perfect size to be visible and not disturbing. As long as we’re at it, don’t overdo it with the bullet points and declutter your slides to make them look perfect!

How many slides for a 5-minute presentation 

Now let’s get to how many slides for a 5-minute presentation. A 5-minute presentation could already count as a prolonged elevator pitch . If those are new to you, we recommend you read up on How to Create an Elevator Pitch with Tips and Examples . 

In theory, a 5-minute presentation could be done with 5-6 slides at most, cutting your presentation time to about 45 seconds per slide. For this (and with any business presentation, really, but here especially), cut your text down to very basics. If people are lost reading your pitch deck, the chances of them listening to you for those 5 minutes decrease. 

Instead, create a presentation that keeps your audience engaged with what you’re saying. And remember, we still use story-telling even if the time is short, which will demand of your pitch planning a more concise and cohesive content. 

To get there, work on your script. As every word counts, you’ll find drafting a text and then polishing it will make for a precious exercise as you cut down on unnecessary wording to get to your point in the most succinct manner. 

You get this time to make an impression and leave something by which the audience can remember you. So be memorable. 

If you’re looking for less: the 3-minute pitch

Just in case, if you’re going for 3 minutes, we also have a 3 Minute Pitch Deck Template that can help you out. It works perfectly for Demo Day and going on-stage.

The deck includes a nice-looking cover followed by a critical question slide, your problem, and solution, along with chart slides for your financial slides, video inserts for your product demo, even room for a full quote, and much more! Feel free to check it out!

Regardless of the allotted time: Rehearse!

Whether you’ve got 5, 10, or 15 minutes on your business presentation clock, always prepare with much rehearsal. You need to practice your pitch, especially if time variations will be a demand from you. 

There needs to be a clear understanding of your absolute essentials if 3-5 minutes is all you’ve got to draw an investor. While this scenario might sound very wild, trust us that they exist for a very valid reason based on actual need and use in the startup industry. 

Also, by tailoring these pitch variations in regards to time differences, you’ll find a much more polished rendition of your business pitch. And that will significantly help give shape to the best version of your business presentation you could find. 

Please don’t take this for granted. Rehearse all you can as practice does make perfect. Record yourself on video or tape, listen and watch yourself so you can improve and get advice from others. Peer feedback helps, but even your family and friends can give you tips on presenting that can make your pitch go a long way. If not, we’ve drafted the Best 5 Tips on Presenting and Public Speaking to help out, as well.

And remember: whatever you do, don’t rush! A rushed presenter is a business pitch’s fall. Make the best use of your time without rushing, so people can listen to you and pay attention other than to your hurried stance. 

Are you out of ideas?

Before we let you move on to your pitch creation, are you fresh out of ideas on how to build a pitch deck? Just in case that’s you, our CDO and co-founder, Vini, has created a guide to an outstanding presentation deck with presentation deck ideas .

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A pitch deck is the standard document used by startups to present their case to investors; it’s a brief deck of about 10 to 20 slides. See examples here.

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How Many PowerPoint Slides Should You Use in a Presentation?

Instead, you want to figure out what you want to say first . Then, after you have designed a great presentation, go back and figure out what visual aids you will need to better make your key points. The main rule of thumb is to provide only the number of slides that you absolutely need and absolutely no more than that.

So in this session, I’m going to cover a few examples for the right number of slides needed in short presentations, the long presentation, the best way to give corporate presentations.

The Max Number of Slides for a 15-Minute Presentation (or Less.)

Instead, especially for short talks, the first thing you want to do is make a list of the most important items that need to be covered in your presentation. Then, rank these items based on their list of importance. As you go down the list, you should notice that the level of importance for each item drops exponentially as you go down the list. So, instead of covering all of the items, just cover the three (or five) most important items in your presentation.

On your first slide, give an overview of all of the points. Just list them out for the audience so they can see what you will be covering. Then, create a separate slide for each of the three (or five) main points. Finally, on your last slide, just copy the content from your first slide and your introduction now becomes a nice conclusion as well.

By the way, for most business presentations, if you can deliver the important things in a 10-minute speech, you will be loved. If you require a 30-minute presentation time, the audience will like you about three times less.

For more details about how to design presentations or to use our helpful online presentation generator click here.

What If You Have an Hour-Long Talk? How Many Slides Do You Need?

Start with an introduction slide with an overview of all five bullet points. On your internal slides, just cover the single main idea for each bullet. You will have five internal slides. Then, end with your summary slide with the main concepts one more time. This repetition of the main concepts will increase the audience’s retention of the material. For the more seasoned presenter, you can use just three main bullet points but add an extra relevant story to each point. The more that you use this technique the easier you will find it to fit your content into the correct presentation length.

For instance, if you find yourself rushing at the end without enough time to finish, you can give fewer details in your stories. If you finish early, you can add more details into your examples and stories.

For a 60-minute presentation, use five bullet points and seven slides . This time insert a couple of different stories as evidence of each bullet point. I like to use the “bad example/good example” technique. On each of the internal slides, give your audience an example of yourself or someone else who did the opposite of the point. Then, follow up with a good example.

The “Bad Example/Good Example” Technique.

If I were to use the technique to prove the point that you need seven slides for an hour presentation, I could use the following…

Bad Example : A few years ago, I went to a three-day seminar where the presenter taught about how to market to universities. On the first morning, his team gave each of us a three-ring binder with hundreds of pages. I was actually pretty excited as I scanned the binder. It was full of a ton of great information. During the first hour, the speaker gave us over 50 great tips and techniques. In the next hour, he covered another 50. He did this over and over for two and a half days. Because I am a public speaking

However, a better example is…

Good Example : A few weeks ago, a long-time client asked me to design a custom workshop for his team. He had a team who were working on a project that had been discontinued. So, he wanted to help the team members have an easier time getting rehired elsewhere in the company. We created a short class for them on how to do well in a job interview. I started by making a list of the most important items they would likely want to know. Art the top of the list was how to reduce nervousness. I spent the first few minutes covering details on how to do this. Second, I gave them a simple process to help them answer questions with credibility. Finally, I gave them a list of questions they would likely be asked. I could have covered hundreds of other tips. However, these were the things that would give them the most bang-for-their-buck.

How Many Slides for a Longer Presentation

Basically, if you design a 120-minute PowerPoint presentation, start by creating two 60-minute presentations. Then, just insert a short break in between each session. When I created the two-day Fearless Presentations ® class, I didn’t start with two days of content. On the contrary, I started with an outline of the “most important” items just like what I suggested you do in your 15-minute presentation.

Here is the list that I started with:

• How to Reduce Public Speaking Fear.
• Designing Short Impromptu Speeches.
• How to Create a Presentation that Is Easier to Deliver.
• Adding Energy and Enthusiasm to Boring Topics.
• Ways to Add Impact and Interactivity to a Presentation.

If I wanted to, I could deliver the entire content of this speech in an hour-long keynote. I’d just need to insert a few examples for each point. That is pretty easy. However, if I want to turn the list into a 2-day seminar, that is pretty easy as well. I’d start with the first point, “How to Reduce Public Speaking Fear.” This becomes the topic of a new one-hour presentation. I use the same technique. “What is the most important thing I can teach the audience about reducing nervousness? What is the second most important thing? And the third thing?”

Basically, the entire two-day class is just a collection of five shorter presentations. In my entire slide deck, I use about 30 different slides in two full days.

The Guy Kawasaki 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint

Guy Kawasaki created an interesting PowerPoint rule for entrepreneurs coming to him for venture capital. He calls it his 10/20/30 PowerPoint Rule . This general rule is what he requires presenters to use when they come to him for help. Basically, he noticed that presenters spend too much time blathering about unimportant things. So, he gave them a guide and set time limits for each presenter.

• 10 PowerPoint Slides
• 20-Minute Presentation
• 30 Point Font

Obviously, he created these criteria for a certain type of presentation. However, his logic is sound. In fact, the only thing I might argue with him about is the 10 slides rule. Kawasaki says, “Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting.”

Let me reiterate that. A normal human being cannot comprehend. He doesn’t say retain. The average person can comprehend more information than he or she can retain. For instance, if I read an entire book on accounting, I might comprehend all of the content. However, because the book covers so many concepts, I’m likely to retain only a few. Knowing this, reduce your number of slides and you will increase retention of your important points.

Podcasts , presentation skills

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How Many Slides to Use in a Presentation? 5 Tips

There’s nothing worse than a presentation that goes over time or poorly-designed slides that cram too much information onto the screen at once.

While there are a lot of things that can dictate how many slides to use in a presentation, key factors include how long you have to speak, what content you are presenting, and the visual nature of the content. (Some speakers don’t need slides at all to keep audiences engaged!)

Here, we’re breaking down common presentation times with a guide for how not to overload slides, and use them well—no matter what type of talk you are giving.

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How Many Slides for a 5 Minute Presentation?

When it comes to short presentations, you probably want to keep the number of slides to a minimum. Think about the venue here in particular. How many people are you presenting for?

Often short presentations might be for a small group or on a small screen. That’s a major consideration when it comes to how many slides you need for a 5-minute presentation.

For most speakers that comes down to 5 to 10 slides, up to 2 per minute of speaking time .

• Design for screen size. If you’ll be presenting on a desktop or laptop screen, ensure that text is large enough to read for people standing or sitting a few feet away.
• Practice your timing. Five minutes might seem like a long time until you start talking.
• Put one point on each slide. (That’s probably all you’ll have time for.)
• Include a call to action at the end for the audience. This might include anything from an email address to answer a question or provide feedback to taking a survey or visiting a website.
• Don’t include a questions slide unless you will actually have time to take questions at the end of a short presentation.

How Many Slides for a 10 Minute Presentation?

With a 10-minute you have a little more flexibility in terms of slide count.

With more time, you can vary pacing and might have time to take questions at the end of the talk. (Your slide count will be less if you cut time from your presentation to answer questions.)

For a 10-minute presentation, you’ll probably end up creating 10 to 20 slides, but don’t feel like you have to move through two slides per minute. It really depends on the complexity of the information you are talking about.

Record your presentation as you run through it. Did you finish on time? And were you able to see each slide long enough to understand it during the natural flow of the presentation before moving on to the next one?

• Include plenty of white space for an organized, easy to read design.
• Use a mix of images and text to keep the visual flow moving.
• Use legible fonts that are consistent from slide to slide.
• If a slide looks cluttered, break the content into multiple slides.
• Don’t go crazy with bullets. The goal of each slide is to present an idea, not serve as notes for you.

How Many Slides for a 15 Minute Presentation?

There’s a fairly logical relationship between the time you have to present information and how complicated the content is. The number of slides you need for a 15-minute presentation might not be that much different than at 10 minutes.

That’s because what’s on each slide might need to sit with the audience a little longer. You need to leave a chart on the screen long enough for the audience to understand it. A photo, on the other hand, can flash up and go away quickly and still be understood.

Carefully consider your presentation topic and then use this recommendation as needed: Allow for 20-30 slides for a 15-minute presentation .

• Pick a theme for each slide: Image or text? Don’t expect the audience to “read” both on every slide.
• Use image based slides to connect a short text point (or no text at all) to an idea the audience can see.
• Use text-based slides without images for more complex information or to show bullet points, charts or numbers.
• You don’t have to have a new photo and image for each slide. Use the same image and change the text if you need to. Or don’t use an image at all. Nice typography is pretty awesome.
• Include more detailed information in the notes area for you as you are giving the presentation or to the audience to download and print later.

How Many Slides for a 30 Minute Presentation?

Once you get into the territory of longer presentations, you might want to use slides of varying types – some that are super quick and others that stay visible longer – to get different points across and fit the conversational flow.

This varying approach can be interesting for the audience but might require a little math and planning on your part to determine the exact right number of slides.

Start with this formula for a 30-minute presentation :

• 4 minutes: Amount of time for opening and closing (1 slide each)
• 2 minutes: Time for each point in your presentation (1 slide per point)
• 1 minute: Time for each sub-point in your presentation (1 slide per sub-point)
• 3 minutes: Deep dive for one or two key takeways (1-2 slides)
• Flash slide (quick on and off the screen): For transitions between large topic areas or polling the audience to keep them engaged

Now you can look at your content and do a few quick calculations to get a rough idea of how many slides you might need. For a 30-minute presentation with 5 points with two subpoints each and a takeaway, that’s in the neighborhood of 20 slides.

How Many Slides for a 45 Minute Presentation?

For longer presentations, pace and energy are key. Some presenters can go through an exceptional number of slides because of the way they speak.

Seasoned speakers, often giving a presentation that they’ve done a lot of times, can average 5 slides per minute. These are fast-paced quick hit images that really keep the audience thinking and engaged. It’s a fun style but can be difficult to pull off.

A more moderate estimate is 1 to 2 slides per minute at a varying pace. That’s what you commonly see in corporate presentations and talks. (The content is often complex as well.)

• Consider location with longer presentations. Will the slides be projected on a large screen? Design for that environment.
• Include mixed media clips if appropriate in longer presentations. Varying formats can keep the audience interested.
• Use a design theme for a consistent look and feel for the entire presentation.
• Don’t let slides sit on the screen for too long. Mix it up with a new photo even if the content theme hasn’t changed much. Once you set an expectation for the audience with visuals, you don’t want them to check out.
• Make the most of the top half of the slides. If you are in a big room, sometimes the lower portion is obscured for some audience members. Even if you need to use more slides to keep content toward the top, do it.

May 7, 2024

How many slides do I need for my presentation?

How many slides for a 10 minute presentation and the 3-2-1 rule for presentations

The 3-2-1 rule for presentations

Co-founder, CEO

Preparing for a presentation can be a daunting task for anyone. If you are presenting to an important client, a large audience, or a group of classmates, it can feel like it's impossible to figure out where to start.

However, with some planning and preparation (and help from wonderful blog posts like this one!), you can go into your presentation with confidence and deliver your message effectively. So don't worry, we've got you covered!

Here are some tips to help you determine how many slides you need for your presentation, based on the length of time you have to speak.

How many minutes per slide for a presentation?

A general guideline is to allocate approximately 2 minutes per slide. This means that for a 10-minute presentation, you should aim for around 5 slides, plus or minus 1 to 2 slides. Try the calculator below or read the 3-2-1 Rule for presentations for a more in-depth guide on how to budget the number of slides for your next presentation.

How many slides for a presentation? (Calculator)

Here is a calculator that can help you budget how many slides you will need for your presentation depending on the time you need to present for. Just type in how long your presentation needs to be in minutes, and it will give you a suggestion for the number of slides.

While this is a simple calculation, the number of slides in your presentation can vary widely depending on the complexity of the content, the type of presentation, and the goal of the presentation.

For example, a slide deck for an 18 minute TED talk might only have a few slides with very little text, while the slide deck for a ~18 minute research presentation might have 30 slides (although many of them could be backup slides in an appendix).

Here are some additional rules for thinking about the number of slides in a presentation: 

• When using this calculator, enter the amount of "presentation" that you will be actively presenting. Don't worry about time that will be spent in discussion or Q&A
• If you are presenting data, try to reduce the complexity of the presentation itself and put most of the charts and data in an appendix.
• If you are creating a presentation as a 'leave-behind' that can stand by itself, you should aim for the higher end of these recommended ranges. If you are creating a presentation that is a visual aid for you to tell a story, you should aim for the lower end of these ranges.

Follow the "3-2-1 Rule" for presentations

While every presentation is different, and everyone's presentation style is different, the 3-2-1 rule is a good rule of thumb to plan the overall structure of a presentation. This applies whether you are a management consultant advising Fortune 500 CEOs or if you're a student making a high school presentation.

Here are the three components of the 3-2-1 Rule:

• THREE takeaways for your audience
• TWO minutes to present a slide
• ONE idea per slide

As you create the outline for a new presentation or revise an existing presentation, you should ask yourself:

• What are the 3 things that I want my audience to remember from my presentation when I am done talking (or they are done reading)?
• How many slides will I have to make these points? Divide the time of your presentation by 2 to get a general idea for how many slides you will need in your presentation
• What is the main idea for each slide? A common refrain among professional consultants is that you should be able to understand the story of a slide deck just by reading the slide titles

Regardless of the length of the presentation, you should always start the planning or revision process by thinking about the key points that you want your audience to take away (that's the whole point of a presentation, really!).

Then, if you are making a 10 minute presentation, you probably need 5 slides plus or minus 1 to 2 slides depending on the style of presentation or depth of content. If these are slides to start a conversation, you probably need fewer. If these are slides to present your takeaways from a research project, you may need more (and maybe some backup slides in an appendix, too).

From there, write out the key idea for each slide. One great way to do this is to make the key idea of the slide the slide title itself. Then, you should be able to read all of the slide titles one after another and make sure that they deliver a cohesive story.

If you need a quick way to get started, try using an AI presentation maker to generate the first draft of your presentation.

How many slides do I need for a 5 minute presentation?

If you are making a 5 minute presentation, your goal should be for your audience to only remember one or two key ideas, so you should have 2 or 3 slides max.

• For work: Try to create 1 slide with your main idea, along with 1 or 2 backup slides that can present supporting data like a data visualization, customer quotes, or an execution plan.
• For sales: Try to create 1 slide to focus your discussion, along with 1 or 2 backup slides that can help answer customer questions.
• For school: Try to create 1 slide for each key point in a story or research idea and make sure the key points can tie themselves together in a conclusion.
• For storytelling: Try to create one slide with a poignant story, quote, or data point to help your audience remember the key message from your presentation. Then, you may also want to have 1 or 2 slides to build up to the idea or present conclusions from that idea.

How many slides do I need for a 10 minute presentation?

In a 10 minute presentation, you should aim for 5 slides, plus or minus 1 to 2 slides. Here are some suggestions based on the type of presentation:

• For work: Create 2 or 3 primary slides to present your key points (e.g., a framework slide, a key data visualization, or a plan of action), and 2 to 3 additional slides with supporting data or examples.
• For sales: Create 3 main slides that highlight the benefits of your product or service (e.g., problem statement, customer story, value proposition), and 2 additional slides for testimonials or data to help support the conversation if your customer wants to dive deeper on a specific topic.
• For school: Create 2 or 3 main slides for your key arguments or findings, and 2 to 4 additional slides for evidence or further explanation. A book report, for example, could have a slide with a plot summary and another slide with the key themes in the story.
• For storytelling: Create 3 main slides that build a narrative arc (introduction, rising action, conclusion), and 2 additional slides for impactful quotes or visuals. The key slides for a TED talk might be an image to tell a captivating story, a slide to present a shocking statistic, and end with a story about a hopeful new project to solve a key problem.

How many slides do I need for a 15 minute presentation?

For a 15 minute presentation, aim for 7 slides, plus or minus 1 to 2 slides. Here are some suggestions based on the type of presentation:

• For work: Create 3 primary slides to present your key points (e.g., a framework slide, a key data visualization, or a plan of action), and 4 to 5 additional slides with supporting data or examples.
• For sales: Create 3 main slides that highlight the benefits of your product or service (e.g., problem statement, customer story, value proposition), and 3 to 4 additional slides for testimonials or data to help support the conversation if your customer wants to dive deeper on a specific topic.
• For school: Create 3 main slides for your key arguments or findings, and 3 to 4 additional slides for evidence or further explanation. A book report, for example, could have a slide with a plot summary, a slide with the key themes in the story, and a final slide with how those themes apply to your life.
• For storytelling: Create 4 main slides that build a narrative arc (introduction, rising action, climax, conclusion), and 3 to 4 additional slides for impactful quotes or visuals. The key slides for a TED talk might be an image to introduce a captivating story, a slide to present a memorable statistic, a slide to with a story about a hopeful new project, and a slide with the results to-date.

How many slides do I need for a 20 minute presentation?

For a 20 minute presentation, aim for 10 slides, plus or minus 1 to 2 slides. Here are some suggestions based on the type of presentation:

• For work: Create 3 primary slides to present your key points (e.g., a framework slide, a key data visualization, or a plan of action), and 6 to 7 additional slides with supporting data or examples.
• For sales: Create 4 main slides that highlight the benefits of your product or service (e.g., problem statement, customer story, value proposition, evidence), and 5 to 6 additional slides for testimonials or data to help support the conversation if your customer wants to dive deeper on a specific topic.
• For school: Create 4 main slides for your key arguments or findings, and 5 to 6 additional slides for evidence or further explanation. A book report, for example, could have a slide with a plot summary, a slide about a key moment/decision in the story, a slide with the key themes in the story, and a final slide with how those themes apply to your life.
• For storytelling: Create 4 main slides that build a narrative arc (introduction, rising action, climax, conclusion), and 4 to 5 additional slides for impactful quotes or visuals. The key slides for a TED talk might be an image to introduce a captivating story, a slide to present a memorable statistic, a slide to with a story about a hopeful new project, and a slide with the results to-date. One thing to note here is that the length of a storytelling slide deck does not need to get much longer for 15, 20, or 30 minute presentations.

How many slides do I need for a 30 minute presentation?

At 30 minutes and above, it becomes increasingly likely that you won't be expected to present for 30 minutes straight, and the "presentation" itself becomes more of a conversation aid that can support a back-and-forth discussion about a topic.

For these types of presentations, you should calculate how much time is going to be used in a "single-sided" presentation and how much time will be used in discussion. If you expect 10 minutes of your 30 minute presentation (or more) to be a discussion, you should refer to the section on "How many slides do I need for a 20 minute presentation?"

If you think you will need to present for a full 30 minutes, here is our recommendation for the number of slides you need, based on the type of presentation.

For a general 30-minute presentation, aim for 15 slides, plus or minus 2 to 3 slides.

How many slides do I need for a 45 minute presentation?

45 minutes is a long time for a one-sided presentation, so it's more likely your presentation will be used to facilitate a back and forth conversation (which may use slides as support to make a strategic decision), or present an in-depth look at research data and conclusion (which may use slides with in-depth data analysis).

For these types of presentations, you should calculate how much time is going to be used in a "single-sided" presentation and how much time will be used in discussion. If you expect half of the time to be a discussion, you should refer to the section on "How many slides do I need for a 20 minute presentation?"

If you think you will need to present for 45 minutes, here is our recommendation for the number of slides you need, based on the type of presentation.

For a general 45-minute presentation, aim for 20 slides, plus or minus 3 to 5 slides.

How many slides do I need for a 60 minute presentation?

60 minutes - one hour - is a very long time for a one-sided presentation. For these types of presentations, you should calculate how much time you expect to give a "single-sided" presentation and how much time will be used in discussion or Q&A. 

If you expect half of the time to be a discussion, you should refer to the section on "How many slides do I need for a 30 minute presentation?"

If you think you will need to present for 60 minutes, here is our recommendation for the number of slides you need, based on the type of presentation.

For a 60-minute presentation, aim for 25 slides, plus or minus 3 to 8 slides.

How should I create slides for my presentation?

Staring at a blank page when you need to create a dozen slides for your presentation can be a nerve-wracking experience. One of the best ways to get a quick start on your next slide deck is to use AI to speed up your workflow.

To get started, install the Plus AI add-on. Enter a prompt or an existing text block (e.g., an article, a blog post, a document), and then ask Plus AI to generate a first draft of your presentation.

From there, you can use Plus AI's editing, rewriting, remixing, and design features to apply the perfect finishing touches on your deck to make it yours!

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How Many Slides For Presentations (10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 Minutes)

You should limit your presentations to one slide per minute at a maximum. Try to include the least amount of slides while trying to get your message across in a concise while still complete manner.

An alternative rule is the “10/20/30 Rule,” which suggests that a good presentation will limit itself to 10 slides, last 20 minutes in length, and include a font size no smaller than 30 points.

PowerPoint presentations can be overwhelming to the point that they put off people from learning new material and discourage them from taking in the presented information.

The purpose of this article is to help people make their presentations more exciting and easier to follow and discover how many slides are generally needed so you can time your presentations accordingly.

Of course, all of the below points are just suggestions and the number of slides that you will use for your own presentation will of course depend on the content as well your target audience.

How many slides for a 10-minute presentation?

How many slides for a 15-minute presentation, how many slides for a 20-minute presentation, how many slides for a 30-minute presentation, how many slides for a 40-minute presentation, how many slides for a 50-minute presentation, how many slides for a 60-minute presentation.

A 10-minute presentation would require no more than 10 slides. It’s much better to start with too few than too many, so users will likely appreciate the shorter list of bullet points. Your goal is to provide the right amount of information for your audience to understand the topic without overwhelming them.

If you are just giving an overview of something that you want the audience to remember in 10 minutes or less, then this is probably enough. Keep your slides simple and keep them limited to two-three bullet points per slide.

A 15-minute presention should have a maximum of 15 slides. This is the right amount of information for audiences to grasp without feeling overwhelmed or bored. If you can give this type of presentation in 10 minutes or less, it’s even better.

During a 15 minute presentation. These slides should be able to cover the basics of your topic, but if you try to make it too complicated, your audience will lose interest, and you will end up wasting their time.

A 20-minute presentation should require no more than 20 slides. On average, you should only be using 5-7 bullet points on each slide. You can also include one or two images on each slide to help facilitate understanding.

If you are giving an overview of something that you want the audience to remember in 20 minutes or less, this might be the perfect time to follow the 10/20/30 rule. This concept should relate to the audience or is a key part of your speech or presentation.

A 30-minute presentation would require no more than 30 slides. You can use 5-7 bullet points per slide or 8-10 bullet points if the presentation is necessary to convey ideas in great detail. If you are including lots of images and charts to help illustrate your point, then reduce the amount of bullet points used.

It’s a good idea to follow this rule because too many slides can make it challenging to keep track of all the points you are trying to make, and your audience will be more likely to lose interest in what you’re saying or miss important ideas as they go by quickly. It’s also easier for people to focus on your presentation when it’s broken up into smaller sections.

On 30 minute presentations, it is a good idea to leave a few minutes for Q&A. This will allow your audience to ask questions about things they didn’t understand or missed in the part of the presentation. It also gives your audience a reason to get involved in the session.

For a 40 minute presentation, you should try to keep it to 40 slides maximum, you can dole out some information in detail and leave a bigger chunk of time for Q&A. People will stay attentive when the material is broken up into smaller segments.

You should keep in mind that different people respond to different mediums and will better understand an idea when it’s presented to them in a way they are accustomed to receiving information (i.e. some people benefit from text and others from images, some people need the material broken up into small pieces while others prefer a long, steady stream of information).

It will also depend on the type of presentation you are doing. If it’s a demonstration or special event, then more slides are better (and less time per slide is good). If you’re there to present statistics, research, comparison charts, etc., fewer slides with more information per slide would be best.

A 50-minute presentation should include no more than 50 slides. You can have more slides than this if you have a very engaging visual presentation with limited amounts of information per slide.

Similar to a 40-minute presentation, a 50-minute presentation can allow you to go into a lot of detail in some places and remain at a high level. You should also feel free to leave out certain information if it is not essential in a particular presentation’s overall scheme of things.

As a general rule of thumb, experienced public speakers or subject matter experts are the ones who feel the most comfortable holding longer presentations and sessions, which allows them to go into greater detail in certain areas.

If you’re new to this kind of work, it might be best to keep your presentations between 30 and 40 minutes and leave the rest of the time slot open for questions from the floor.

A 50-minute presentation would require no more than 20-25 slides, as the only purpose they serve here would be just as a reminder for the speaker to stay on point as he conveys the story to the audience.

A 60-minute presentation should include no more than 60 slides. If you have a very engaging visual presentation with limited amounts of information per slide, you can have more slides than this.

If the presentation is going to be more interactive, then it’s better to cut down on the number of slides and instead focus on how much each slide will contribute to the overall story you’re telling. You must also leave plenty of time for a Q&A session at the end. 

The number of slides for a presentation varies. While too many can bore your audience, not enough will leave them wondering what you’re talking about.

Your slides can serve as visual reminders of your talk and also help you maintain a narrative flow in your presentation. You must know what you want to accomplish with each slide, how long it will take to read the text and absorb information from a chart or graph and how much time you have for Q&A.

Remember that slides can and should be used as visual aids, not as the main point of the presentation. The speaker needs to convey that information, not just read it from their slides.

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How many slides should I have in my PowerPoint presentation?

When you’re planning out your next big presentation, it can be hard to know what the slide count sweet spot is. How many slides to put in a presentation, to keep your audience’s attention, is a much bigger question than it may seem.

We’d love to tell you there’s a simple answer, but if you really want to create a persuasive argument, there are a few variables to consider when planning the number of slides in your presentation. And despite what other articles spout, it has nothing to do with time.

We bet you’ve heard a few conflicting theories on this subject, so we thought it was about time we weighed in. You might’ve heard  Guy Kawasaki ’s 10/20/30 rule. This rule states that the “perfect” presentation has ten slides, lasts for 20 minutes, and uses a 30pt font. Or you might’ve read that every minute you speak equates to one slide on display behind you. You might even have uncovered some more formulaic and intricate theories than those, where x = the perfect number of slides. To reach x, you simply divide the number of people in the audience by how many seconds you have to speak, times that by how many steps between your house and the venue, to the power of your height in centimetres. If you’ve already worked your way through a series of varying opinions, you might currently be crying out “just tell me how many damn slides I need!”

Just tell me how many damn slides I need! You

While a lot of these theories are rooted in intelligent thinking and, sometimes, even science, we can’t get on board. They’re just too damn limiting. The people behind the theories were probably trying to over-simplify this complicated question, just to give you an answer. But do you want any answer? Or do you want the right answer?

The right answer is: you’re thinking about presentations wrong.

Do you think Jack Kerouac, Graham Greene, or Dan Brown ever sat down to write with the sole intention of landing on 432 pages? No, they had stories to tell, and it didn’t matter how many pages they took to tell them.

What makes you so different from  Kerouac ?

How many slides until there’s purpose?

You’re writing a presentation with a purpose. There’s a change you want to make, and your task is to convey your message persuasively, to inspire everyone that hears it to want the same change. Your purpose is not to fill exactly 20 minutes with exactly ten slides. It takes as many slides as it takes.

No, we’re not just going to leave you with that. We’re not trying to lose friends, clients and beloved readers.

We understand that presentations do often have a time limit, and that limit is one we have to consider when writing. But that limit needs to influence the number of ideas you try to convey, not dictate how many slides go into your presentation to convey these ideas. Because that’s what we’re really talking about here: ideas. For a shorter presentation, you’re going to need to be cut-throat with your editing. To trim the excess, until all that’s left is the most impactful, delicious centre piece. 

That doesn’t mean, if you have the freedom of time, you should use it to reel off every idea you’ve ever had. But you can allow yourself the luxury to layer linked ideas that all point towards one conclusion. To build a nest of ideas. And to support those ideas with facts, figures, previous successes, as well as other people’s ideas.

Only once you’ve written your detailed narrative structure, or your full script , if that’s how you feel most comfortable, should you even start to think about PowerPoint slides.

Give your ideas room to breathe

Each of your ideas deserves its time to shine. A dramatic pause works to let an impactful sentence sink in, giving the audience a moment to consider the gravity of the spoken word. Uncluttered slides have the same effect. If you try to include too many ideas on one slide, none of them are going to be understood, or remembered. 

If you’re just starting out in the world of persuasive communications, a good rule to follow is:  one idea, one slide . This will allow each idea to have its moment, without competing with any of the other ideas. This will also mean, visually, you’ll have more opportunity to enhance your message. With more slide real estate to play with, you can create presentation designs that hammer your ideas home, rather than confuse the situation further.

The journey of an idea:

• introduce it
• let it sink in

and signal the introduction of the next idea with a brand-new slide.

This is a great guide, for those lacking confidence, to use as a starting point. It is not a rule.

What counts as an idea?

Now, this is a much more complicated question, and one that will change for every presentation. In our role as guides in this scenario, we want to give you a tangible answer to your query, not simply introduce more questions, and more confusion, into the mix. After all, if your presentation is tomorrow and your search was the result of extreme desperation and maybe a little too much wine, well, you’re probably not reading this anymore because you’ve already poured said wine over your laptop in frustration. But if you are still with us, you’re probably really keen to get an answer right about now.

Frustration and confusion are not our goals. We just respect you too much to lie to you. We trust that you’ve caught on to the general theme that there are many considerations that go into the slide count of any presentation that comes through the Hype Presentations studio doors. Now that we’ve addressed that, we can give you a template to help you along your way.

If you’ve read any of our other  storytelling blogs , you already know that every story – this includes your presentation – needs a beginning, middle and end . Let’s break down a very basic structure, and accompanying slide count, for these three key sections.

This is where you set the scene, pique the audience’s interest, give them a clue as to what’s in it for them, and establish common ground. It might look something like this:

• Title slide : give your audience something exciting to look at, as they’re waiting for the presentation to begin. One slide.
• Agenda: lay out the journey they’re about to go on, and why it will be worth their while. One slide.
• Current situation : describe the landscape as it currently stands, making sure everyone is on the same page before you set off. No man left behind. One slide.

This is where we get into the real juicy bit of storytelling. And it’s also where all hope you had of squeezing a definitive slide count out of us will come tumbling down. 

A persuasive argument needs to acknowledge your audience’s challenges, and propose a solution to each one of them. Your audience might have one challenge, they might have 50, which is where the ambiguity kicks back in. Each challenge needs its own slide, and each solution does too. 

If your audience does have 50 challenges, try to find common themes between them, so you can address them as a cohesive group, all under one idea umbrella. Human beings find patterns comforting, so they’ll appreciate the bundling, as well as the reduced slide count.

Appealing to emotion, by showing you have the answer to your audience’s problems, is just one part of landing a persuasive argument. You also need to apply to logic and establish credibility. Again, this could take one slide, or it could take nine, but here is some general guidance:

• Case studies: one case study per slide.
• How it works: if the technology, service, or process you’re proposing is simple, showing your audience how it works may only take one slide. However, if it’s complicated, you’ll need to break it into component parts and tell this story across multiple slides. Remember, it’s about clarity and comprehension. It takes as many slides as it takes for the information to be processed.
• About you: audiences don’t care that much about how you were formed, or where your CEO worked before he came to be with you. Edit your company information down to what actually matters to them, and what will establish credibility in their eyes. If you’ve won awards that prove your innovations are the best in your field, show them the accolades. If the technology partner you work with is exclusive to you, let them know. The most effective ‘About us’ sections are one or two slides at the most. Avoid the company timeline, at all costs.

To close, you’re going to want to sum your key points up in one slide. Just a gentle reminder of the immense benefits they will receive by working with you.

And finally, your end slide should be, as the name suggests, one slide with a powerful call to action. To find out more about how to leave a lasting impression on every audience you encounter,  take a look at this article .

Even if you’re still pulling your hair out, desperately grasping for a simple number, hopefully these guidelines have given you some food for thought.

And now we’re going to complicate the already-fuzzy rules we’ve put in place. 

At Hype Presentations, we never look at the number of slides.

Give a shit, that’s what we say. Slide count doesn’t mean a damn thing. Sometimes we spread one message across five slides, because that’s how you get the animation to work seamlessly. Complicated navigation often requires duplicating slides, so that you don’t confuse PowerPoint as to where action came from. In contrast, we can present really complicated messaging on just one slide by using animation builds to break up the story, instead of a series of slides. There are so many variables. All we’re trying to say is, stop worrying yourself about slide count. 

However, some things, to do with slide count, you should worry yourself about:

Bad advice  

This is a call back to some of those other articles you likely stumbled across in your search. If you’re basing your presentation on hitting exactly one minute per slide, you’ve already lost your audience and you’re not even stood in front of them.

If you’re basing your presentation on hitting exactly one minute per slide, you’ve already lost your audience and you’re not even stood in front of them.

Are all ideas created equal? No. Does your audience care about everything you have to say in equal measure? No. Even if you’ve taken the “so what?” test, and all your messages have passed and are providing value to them, they’re not going to appreciate you skipping over important parts of the solution because the clock is ticking. 

Take time to explain the ideas with the greatest impact, and appreciate your audience’s intelligence enough to assume they’ll understand what an award means, without you describing it for a minute, just because the rule says so.

Do you need slides at all? 

Pick your jaw up off the floor. Just because we create next-level presentations day in, day out, and we absolutely bloody love PowerPoint, doesn’t mean we’re going to lead you astray. Sometimes, you just don’t need the support that slides bring. 

Slides are not there to remind you, as presenter, what your key talking points are. If you’re one of the – terrifyingly few – people who practice adequately ahead of a big presentation, you won’t need your memory jogged anyway. 

Slides are not there to tell the whole story for you. The slideshow is not the presentation. The words coming out of your mouth are what the audience came to hear. You are the star of your own presentation.

Before you start closing your laptop down in celebration, let’s take a step back and talk about why you (probably) do need slides.

What are slides for, anyway?

When  designed  and animated correctly, slides enhance your spoken message so that it’s easier to understand, easier to remember, and more persuasive. You and your slides are a team. There are some things that a visual can just do better than you can. Take, for example, a chart. You could spend half an hour painting a word picture of a chart you saw once. Or you could whack an impactful piece of data vis up on the screen and move on.

So, back to the original question you never even asked:

When might you not need slides?

If you only have five minutes to influence that desired change in the minds, hearts, and actions of your audience, an emotional and well-told story, spoken directly from your heart, without the dilution of technology or the fumbling of a slide clicker, could be the best way to get your message across. No distractions, no gimmicks, just authenticity. 

In this instance, it wouldn’t matter how many slides are in your presentation, they’re never going to be more impactful than your honesty and vulnerability.

In this short amount of time, your audience is unlikely to suffer from information overload and forget any of your messages, so you don’t need the slides for their ability to enhance memory. They’re unlikely to lose the train of your narrative, so you don’t need the slides as visual guidance. And if your story is told right, speaking to their challenges, and wrapped up in a situation that’s personal to them, you won’t need the persuasive powers of PowerPoint either.

But, nine times out of ten, a PowerPoint can only better your spoken messaging. Fact.

Nine times out of ten, a PowerPoint can only better your spoken messaging.

Extra time means extra slides 

And not just because of the extra ideas. If you’ve been asked to speak for a long time, firstly ask yourself if it’s really necessary. Can your audience concentrate for that long? Could the session be split into smaller chunks? Is it even going to be valuable for them? Do you have that many relevant ideas?

If it turns out to be necessary, there are some extra slides you’re going to want to add to your deck. Consider adding regular breaks (one slide per break), recaps (one slide per recap), even quizzes (one slide per question-answer combo) to keep your audience engaged, check understanding, and give them a chance to stretch their legs.

And, with the freedom of time, comes the opportunity to use other people’s voices to enhance your own. Consider adding relevant quotes, audio clips, or videos from recognisable people who support your message. Of course, you could animate these elements onto your slide with a click, but if you’re not that confident using PowerPoint, creating a new slide for each is an easier option.

When we’re deciding what the most impactful way to tell a client’s story is, we bring brilliant minds from each department together to throw ideas around, consider workarounds for each limitation, and push ourselves to deliver the best solution for each client. And not once do we say “But is that the right number of slides?”

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How many slides for a 10-15 minute presentation?

**Spoiler alert** 

A 10-minute presentation should have between 10-14 slides and a 15-minute presentation 15-20 slides. 

Present each slide for 45-60 seconds.

The 'Goldilocks-mindset' - a tough audience

Goldilocks And The Three Bears helps us understand why and how to structure your message and slides.

Goldilocks is a tough audience. Things need to be ‘just right’; otherwise, she rejects them and moves on taking her attention with her. 

Is the porridge too hot, too cold or just right?

Is the chair way too big, still too big or just right?

Is the bed too hard, too soft or just right?

Goldilocks is only interested in what is the right fit for her. This is perfect as neither the presenter nor the audience wants to waste their time in a presentation with no value; the message needs to be ‘just right’.

The following blog post is for delivering a live  stage presentation  either in-person or online.

The starting point, your audience and your goals - discovery questions

Starting with the ‘Goldilocks-mindset’, ask yourself two discovery questions to define a ‘just right’ message. 

#1 – Who is my audience?

#2 – What is my goal for giving this presentation?

Each presentation is different based on your relationship with your audience. 

Is the audience people you know or people you are getting to know? 

What expectations do they have for the presentation? 

Are they the decision-makers who can take direct action?

Ask yourself, what is in it for you, and what is in it for your audience?

What are the desired outcomes from having people’s attention and sharing your message?

Is your presentation goal to inspire, inform, educate, persuade or something else?

Click here for a PDF checklist of 20 discovery questions you can use to define your audience and goals. 

Target number of slides - be intentional

So,  How many slides for a 10 minute presentation?  A 10-minute presentation should have 10-14 slides.

How many slides for a 15 minute presentation?  A 15-minute presentation should have 15-20 slides.

Aiming for one slide per 45-60 seconds in your presentation allows you to be informative and professional without sharing too little or too much. The goal is to keep Goldilocks attention, focus on your message and the shared outcomes.

An additional idea which supports 45-60 seconds per slide is to present one idea per slide. 

One idea per slide allows you to focus on the essential information, establish your domain expertise and transfer awareness and understanding to your audience.

However, the guideline of one slide every 45-60 seconds is not set in stone. Some slides might be fast and some slow. 

A third discovery question to ask yourself is what flow and rhythm do you want to create for the audience? 

Think of your favourite songs; they have loud and quiet parts, fast and slow, they take you on an emotional journey. A presentation needs to do the same. 

Be intentional with your performance. Engage and inspire your audience with slides that move. If you feel confident and your message works with less or more slides, that is great. It all comes down to the most effective performance for the audience and the goals of the presentation.

Time is a non-refundable asset - start a conversation

Remember Goldilocks wastes no time with things that are right for her. 

Your audience is exchanging non-refundable time to learn something they cannot get from a brochure, video or website. 

This places you as the focus of attention. Do not mistake focus for importance. Your audience and their non-refundable time are the most important people in the room during your presentation. 

The one idea per slide approach also stops the slides becoming too dense. When slides have too much text, images or graphics, the audience’s attention is torn between listening to you and reading the slide. The focus becomes the slide, and the speaker drifts into the background. This is not the result you want. Your presentation should be a conversation between you and your audience focused on your shared goals.

Avoiding over-pitching - no content pile-ups

Over-pitching a slide. This is when you do not advance through your slides on cue, and you end up presenting the content of the next slide on the current slide. This creates a ‘content pile-up’. 

Over-pitching a slide puts pressure on the current slide to communicate a message, it was not designed for. It also tips the balance and flow of the overall presentation.

• The ‘Goldilocks-mindset’ – a tough audience
• The starting point, your audience, and your goals – discovery questions
• The target number of slides – be intentional 
• Time is a non-refundable asset – start a conversation
• Avoiding over-pitching – no content pile-ups
• Present like Baby Bear – just right

Present like Baby Bear - just right

In Goldilocks and the three bears, Goldilocks is the audience, and the bears are presenting. In the end, Baby bear had the most relevant content for his audience. Daddy bear and Mummy bear ‘presentations’ were not the right fit. Consider your audience and their goldilocks-mindset when creating your slides.

The two principles of speaking for 45-60 seconds per side. And one idea per slide are practical guidelines that position you to deliver the right content on the right amount of slides avoiding content pile-ups. 

Remember, success always comes down to your audience and presenting to them. Present like Baby Bear.

Martin Barnes is a pitch coach who has worked with 100’s of founders and entrepreneurs, inspiring them to pitch their business stories and pitch for attention because attention is the bridge from your business to creating value.

Check out our presentation resources section for a detailed workflow to structure your message and start designing your slides.

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How Many Slides Do You Need For A Whatever-Minute Presentation?

Yousef "yoyo" abu ghaidah.

• May 9, 2018
• One Comment

“How many slides do I need for a 10 minutes presentation?”

“I have 30 minutes. Do I need 30 slides?”

“I have a 60-minute presentation coming up and I don’t want to bore my audience to death with slide-overload. What do I do?”

If I had a dollar for every time I get a question like these, I’d be a millionaire.

It’s time to put the age-old PowerPoint question to rest. How many slides do you  really need for your next presentation, regardless of the time set?

Here’s your answer: As many as you need, but within reason .

I know, I know. You’re looking for a quick and simple solution that you can use right now. But trust me, you’ll get what I mean after reading this post.

Rules Don’t Apply … Sort Of

There are so many rules out there that you’ve probably heard of.

“Only use five slides.”

“Keep it to one slide for every three minutes.”

Even presentation pros like Guy Kawasaki will advocate for the 10/20/30 rule (10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 point font).

These rules aren’t necessarily wrong, but I do feel they overlook one of the most important factors in your presentation: Your message.

When you apply a general rule-of-thumb to the content you want to present, you’re going to end up limiting yourself. That sort of practice can be bad for you, and even worse for your audience.

Look at it this way: Do you think J. K. Rowling was thinking about how many pages she would need to get Harry Potter out to the world?

Of course not. Her priorities were centered down to the plot, how the characters express themselves, the intricacies between the hero and the villain, and so on.

Rowling’s only true goal was to write a fictional novel so epic that it would appeal to the masses.

Do I need to tell you how hugely successful she was a result of that approach?

Take the same principle and develop as many slides as you need to capture every meaningful component of your message.

Remember, slides are empty canvases for your information. You can put a single word and a picture to demonstrate your point or 500 words and a chart to do the exact same thing.

But practice this approach with caution. Don’t just cram in slides for the sake of doing so.

Only bring the slides that express the value of your content. Nothing more, nothing less.

Time Allocation is Crucial

Time is the most precious thing we have in this world , and it is certainly the one thing you  NEED  to respect when it comes to your audience.

That said, there is a misconception about time limits in presentations that you need to be aware of.

Avoid going for the minute(s)-per-slide approach. Many presenters feel that sustaining this number is crucial for delivery. For example, if someone was preparing 10 slides for a 10-minute presentation, then that same person may feel dedicating 1 minute per slide is the way to go.

Don’t do this, because  how you allocate your time should be completely up to you.

I’ve witnessed presenters spend 10 seconds on one slide only to spend five minutes on another, and they were extremely effective in their delivery.

The slide that took five minutes to present was also the slide that needed five minutes of my time to understand. This highlighted that the slide in question was meaningful, insightful, and followed a pace that I was comfortable with.

That’s the key take away. Dedicate more of the time given to you to the content that matters most.  This approach should allow you to gauge just how many slides you need to bring in.

So, How Many Slides Do You Really Need?

All you have to do is answer two simple questions:

• “How many slides do I need to get my message across?”
• “What pace would my audience feel comfortable with?”

With the ‘right’ answers, you’re almost certain to get the perfect number of slides for your presentation, every single time.

You’re The Special Ingredient

Whatever number you go for, remember that your slides should only be seen as the tools you need to get your message across.

Sure, designing beautiful slides will help, but they won’t do the work for you.

Rely on yourself to get your message out there. Your tone, body-language, and passion are what truly can make or break your presentation.

Dang…I needed this LOL. Thank you for decreasing my stress.

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How to Create a Great Presentation in Just 15 Minutes

Did you know that the highest paid profession in America is professional speaking? Speakers can earn between $5,000 and $10,000 for a 20 minute keynote presentation.

It’s the reason why great entrepreneurs know how to get up and share their message .  They indirectly get “paid” by moving employees, partners and communities to engage with their business in a way that goes far beyond the financial upside.

Some of the best, like Mark Zuckerberg  (Founder/CEO of Facebook), go even further and learn other languages , so they can share in a more authentic way.

If you can master – or at least be mediocre – at speaking, it will open up the world to you. I’ve been paid to fly around the world sharing stories of lessons learned with amazing entrepreneurial communities.

What I’ve covered below is my approach to creating a great presentation in 15 minutes. Yes, that sounds ridiculous – but it’s true. I can sit down with a piece of paper, write out the structure outlined below and insert the missing elements to be able to get up and speak for 20-60 minutes without skipping a beat and feeling confident in delivering the value to my audience.

It’s taken me years of practice and training to get mediocre at best, but I felt my approach was something worth sharing as I often get asked to help others with their presentations. I would love nothing more than to see more entrepreneurs share their story and lessons learned with a global audience.

Overview of sections below:

Highlevel Outline: How I create my presentations following a system I’ve created and adapted over the years. It’s a simple way to ensure you don’t forget anything major and provides a framework to quickly create your next presentation.

Slide Creation: My approach to creating slides. I borrow a lot of the design sensibility from an old friend, Daniel Burka. 5 years ago, I watched him give a talk and I was so impressed with how visually stunning his slides were, but also in their simplicity.

Highlevel Outline

Here’s a quick overview of the framework I use, inspired by T. Harv Eker , to give a talk:

• Title of Talk
• Teaching(s)

1. Title of Talk

Creating a catchy title can feel overwhelming, but there’s a simple trick based on decades of research and it’s super scientific. Just use magazine covers. Search online for a magazine in your industry and put the words, “Magazine Cover” after it. (ex: Forbes Magazine Cover ). You’ll see 100’s of examples of article headlines designed to capture someones attention. Use them for inspiration and tweak for your own needs.

The best way to open is to state your name and the title of the talk. It’s simple and gets things rolling. If you want to be fancy, you can do a bunch of other things here, it’s your call.

Tell a Story: This is one of my favourite ways to open. If you have a funny story about the city, venue or organizers, tell it. Keep it short – but funny – and if possible, relevant to the topic.

Ask a Question: You’ve probably seen people do this. They ask, “How are you doing?” or “How many of you …?” – either approach is fine and it gets the audience interacting early in your talk to set the mood and to gain audience participation.

One of the perfect way to engage the audience is to thank them. Doing this will leave them feeling a sense of respect for you because you appreciated them. There are 2 groups you’ll want to thank, and in this order:

Attendees: Thank them for coming, for their time and participation over the allotted time.

Organizers: Get the name of the organizers and a few major sponsors. Thank them and then ask everyone to give em’ a big round of applause.

4. What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)

No one goes to an event for the speaker, they go for themselves. Tell them what they’ll get out of your talk. This is referred to as “WIIFM,” or “What’s In It For Me?”, asked from the attendees point of view. If you don’t tell them, you may lose them.

5. Earn The Right (ETR)

Why are you on stage? Why should anyone listen to you? Be sure to share those reasons at the beginning of your talk or the audience will be sitting there wondering what makes you qualified to even be there. I NEVER assume anyone knows who I am, what I’ve accomplished or the reason I was asked to speak. Tell them.

Tell Your Own Bio: It’s the reason I don’t like having someone else read my bio before I get up.

Share Your Accomplishments: Inline with the topic of your talk, what have you accomplished? Brag a bit. Tell them.

Share Your “Why”: Why are you on stage? What’s your purpose in life? How is that coming along?

6. Teaching(s)

This is the meat of your talk. It can be as simple as a story, or a series of lessons learned. Regardless of how long you have to talk, each learning is a story and usually lasts about 10 minutes.

The optimum way to fill an hour talk is to break things up into 10 minute stories or 10 minute teachings. It makes approaching a big presentation so much more doable. If you follow the structure below with the opening, story and ending – then you can just toss out all the topic teachings (ie. topics) you want to cover up front.

For each teaching: decide on the best way to frame it, the story you feel demonstrates the lesson the best and how you want to end.

Here’s the format I use to accomplish this:

This is usually the point you want to talk about – the  lesson learned, trend or belief that you would like to teach. If you have any powerful statistics or examples to reinforce this, then lead with that. One of my favorite openings I’ve heard recently came from an HR startup at a pitch competition:

“People don’t quit their companies. They quit their boss.”

An excellent way to teach something is by telling a story. I personally like to share stories about my experiences that help reinforce the topic.

There’s been a lot written on the format of stories, but the key in my mind is this: The more vulnerable the story, the more universal the appeal.

Regardless of the topic, everyone likes a good story, so don’t bore your audience with facts & figures, instead, weave that information into a relevant story. Remember, “Facts tell… Stories sell.”

This is where many speakers mess up a great story. They don’t bring the story to a resolution, or explain how the lesson they learned helped them achieve or avoid a similar fate in the future.

I used to be horrible at this. I would always forget to “end” my story. You quickly learn this by the types of questions you’re asked after your talk. If you get the “What happened with the company afterwards?”, or “Did you ever figure out a way to avoid that…”, etc.. Then you’ll know you didn’t end or resolve the story properly. It only takes a few seconds, but it will help the audience stay engaged.

At the end of my talks, I always like to quickly go over the topics I covered, then end with either a “Call to Action” or a “Call to Purpose.”

Call To Action: This is some type of action I would like the audience to take. Most of the time I give them a URL to download links so I can collect their email and build a relationship. It’s also a great way to judge how well you did based on the % of the audience that were motivated to do so. The better your talk, the higher the conversion to email.

Call to Purpose:  If the purpose of my talk was more inspirational than teaching, I’ll end with a call to purpose. This is more of an “ask” to the audience to live their life with purpose. I’ve sometimes asked, “Will you make me a commitment to have no small plans?”, or borrowed from my friend Clay, “I have no doubt you’ll all be successful, but will you matter?”

Both questions are designed to summarize the essence of the talk and leave the audience with a question that will connect them through emotion to the topics covered. It’s like planting a trigger to help connect with the audience.

TIP: The First 7 Minutes: The best way to reduce the stress you might be having for an upcoming talk is to practice and perfect the first 7 minutes. That’s all you need.

If you’ve practiced the opening, all the other elements written above, and maybe the first topic, you’ll be fine. Remember, you’re human, you already know how to tell a story so the key is to remember how you begin and end. The middle will fill itself in.

Creating Your Slides

The best slides are no slides. If you’re an amazing story teller then you should be able to get away with no slides. I’m not there, yet. So in lieu of that, I continuously reduce the amount of information on a slide as well as the total number of slides in my presentation.

Currently, I have the following slides for my talks:

• Earn The Right
• Teaching #1

Title slide:  This is the first slide which has a strong image with the title of my talk, my Twitter handle and the hashtag for the talk or event.

Earn The Right (Your Story) : This is a slide with a picture that represents who I am and allows me to cover the Earn The Right (ETR) part of my talk.

Teaching(s): This slide has the topic I want to cover, relevant image and that’s it. I repeat this format for every 10 minute story I plan to share.

In the past, I would do 4 slides per teaching: teaching title, opener, story and closing. The format didn’t change though, typically a big image with or without a word.

Closing: Last slide is my thank you slide + some kind of call to action, or call to purpose. It usually includes my Twitter handle, the hashtag for the event and maybe a URL if I want them to visit a website and take action. It’s the slide I leave up when I’m doing Q&A with the audience.

When you get on stage and you teach from the heart everyone will notice – and then it has nothing to do with structure – because at a human level, we all just want to connect.

Share your stories. Share your passions. Teach others what you’ve learned. You’ll always get way more out of it than you put into it.

Have you ever been scared to give a talk? How did you overcome it? Was it as bad as you thought it would be? Leave a comment below as I’d love to learn more!

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The 15-Minute, 6-Step Solution for Delivering the Best Presentations

Some people are born with a natural stage presence..

Most aren’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn the skills necessary to be an awesome presenter .

Once you have these tools in your kit, you’ll be able to confidently speak to any group – no matter the size.

You’ll discover that each presentation you give should have a defined purpose , as well as the importance of effective beginnings and action-based endings.

Knowing how to breathe properly and the right way to practice are also vital skills for you to possess.

As you learn to read your audience and speak with confidence, you’ll be ready to tackle any presentation.

This guide to giving stellar speaking presentations will equip you with the tools you need. So let’s get started!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  Purposeful presentations

Know your audience

Prompt action, create a targeted goal.

2.  Keep your focus while presenting

Using your breath

Building confidence, practicing your presentation.

3.  Great presenters read the audience

4.  Be a presenter who speaks with confidence

Understanding action vs. information

Learning the power of bookends.

5.  Awesome presenters provide the optimal environment

How to control your presentation’s physical environment

6.  You’re ready to rock your presentations

1. Purposeful presentations

You never want to give a presentation without a purpose.

Even if your presentation is extremely entertaining, if you don’t have a purpose, the audience will walk away without applying the information.

And that’s really the key to a good presentation .

Figuring out who your audience is and why they’re in attendance are crucial elements upon which to base your actions and purpose.

• Who? Are you speaking to schoolchildren, executives, or senior citizens?
• Why? Is this audience there because they’re required to be or was attendance optional and they’re just excited to learn?

Understanding the audience mindset can help you achieve your purpose.

What do you want your audience to DO as a result of your presentation?

Think of your purpose as the “so what?” for the audience . Build your goals around this.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• What would you like to have happen?
• What change will happen as a result of you taking the time to talk to people?
• How will the actions of your audience be different when they walk out the door after your presentation?

Focus on driving them to take action.

Maybe you want to:

• Persuade a committee to raise your budget by 15% for the following quarter.
• Encourage a group of college students to exercise their opportunity to vote.
• Convince a client to start doing business with you as opposed to their current vendor.

Did you notice how specific and targeted each of these goals is?

When the purpose is tied to an outcome, it directs the content and flow of your presentation.

With purpose, you can be so convincing that your audience is moved to:

• Sign off on hiring more people for your project.
• Take on a new exercise regimen.
• Give you a raise.
• Stop littering and start recycling.

Whatever the goal (or purpose), you owe it to your audience to have a “so what?” moment.

How do you do that?

Just keep it simple.

Everything you talk about and all of your visuals should point to one clear purpose.

What you want them to DO .

If you can accomplish that goal, and remove the fluff that distracts, you’ll be a successful presenter.

2. Keep your focus while presenting

Now that we’ve discussed purpose, let’s cover three more important factors – breathing, having confidence, and practicing – that will help you focus on the goal.

You’ve probably heard at least one person brag about not getting nervous before giving  a presentation.

They’re either lying, or they’re a “presenting unicorn.”

Nearly everyone gets nervous about presenting, so stop thinking you shouldn’t be stressed out and focus on what to do about it.

One of the best weapons for dealing with nerves is….your breath.

Breath is an important tool for anyone speaking in front of a group. Actually, it’s the source of your power – if you know how to harness it.

This is how actors, dancers and athletes power through challenging performances, and you can use these techniques to drive yours.

Think about it: When you’re nervous, the first thing to go is your oxygen level. Your breath becomes rapid and shallow. You involuntarily hold your breath, and in some cases, maybe even pass out!

We’ve even seen a CEO faint under the pressure!

Breathing deeply is a great way to calm these physical reactions.

Breathing technique example

Here’s a technique you can use before presentations to harness the power of your breath (based on Dr. Andrew Weil’s breathing exercise called “4-7-8”).

After trying this exercise, people reported feeling focused, calm, and clear-headed.

Be sure to sit down the first time you try this:

• Breathe in through your nose while  counting to four.
• Hold that breath for a count of seven.
• Let the breath out slowly, releasing it through your mouth for a count of eight.
• Repeat four times.

Now, you can step onto the stage with poise.

The best presentations are not just about the information you want to relay.

Sure, your presentation should be hefty on relevant ideas or concepts, but if your delivery is missing one key component, confidence, it’ll detract from the value of your presentation .

Use body language to your advantage

There’s a way to instantly boost your confidence level. All you have to do is make  your body look confident .

This concept is similar to the “power pose.” Just by changing the power and confidence conveyed in your body language , you can change the way you feel inside.

And, amazingly enough, you change the perception of the audience. Even if you are shaking inside, if your body language exudes confidence, they will believe it.

Essentially, if you send a message to your body, it’ll eventually find its way to your brain

Try these poses on for size.

Strike a power pose.

• Stand up and take on a confident posture:  Push your chest out, put your hands on your hips or up in the air, and make sure your spine is erect.
• How do you feel?

Now, try a non-power pose.

• This time, take on a diminishing pose, maybe sitting with your arms and legs crossed and  your head down. Basically, this position is a protective one.

Before you take the stage or get up in front of a group of people, practice confidence-building:

• Take up space.
• Stand up straight.
• Look people in the eye.
• Keep your chin up.

Breathe deeply and let that breath relax your shoulders.

Notice a difference in your confidence?

As a matter of fact, these rules apply even for a sit-down meeting. Plant your feet on the ground,  sit up straight, and make eye contact around the table.

Keep rehearsing these body movements and incorporate them into your next presentation.

You’ve been duped.

The longstanding advice to rehearse your presentation in front of a mirror is the worst  advice we’ve ever heard!

Here’s our best piece of advice: Ditch the mirror .

Think about it: You stand in front of a mirror (your pretend audience), about a foot away, and practice watching yourself. You can’t speak to the audience member at the back of the room or off to the side this way.

Get in front of an audience after rehearsing in front of the mirror, and you’ll be ill-prepared to deliver a presentation that wows. You’ll be wondering how you look and will be thrown off by watching others.

No wonder so many presentations fall flat.

And toss the perfection aside, too, when you ditch that mirror. Audiences prefer real over perfect.

A better rehearsal strategy

Here’s how to start:

• Find a larger room to rehearse, like a conference room or your hotel room.
• Stand in the space and look around. Take your eyes to the back of the room and the sides, and then the front.
• Project your voice and energy to all of these spaces.
• If one is available, gather an audience of friends, family or colleagues, and watch their reactions. Make eye contact. Be energetic. Interact.

Practice. Practice. Practice. And you’ll improve! There’s no getting around it — only on-your-feet practice really makes you better.

Even low-key practice improves your skills

If you have your eye on presenting to larger audiences and moving on from small in-house  presentations, look for a low-risk opportunity .

When there’s not so much at stake, you can take chances.

You don’t even have to present in a professional setting to improve. Look for local groups where you can deliver a speech or a group that shares your common interest or hobby.

After practicing in these kinds of situations, you’ll have a better skillset to deliver bigger-impact presentations to a work committee or at an organizational meeting.

3. Great presenters read the audience

Once you’ve got a handle on who your audience is, why they’ve come to hear you speak, and your purpose is firm in your mind, you need to assess how the audience is responding to you.

Not sure what an engaged listener looks like?

Here are some hints:

• Are they maintaining eye contact with you?
• Are they nodding in agreement?
• Are they leaning forward?

These are signs that your audience is hooked!

But . And this is a pretty big but …

What if you look at your audience and see yawns, a lot of fidgeting and glazed-over expressions?

You have to change course. Improvise.

Remember – the needs of your audience come first.

Keeping your audience absorbed

If they’re not engaged, it’s up to you to shift your behavior in order to reconnect with your listeners.

If you find yourself in a tough situation, here are some things you can do to draw your audience back in.

Make them actively participate by asking them to raise their hands in answer to some questions.

For example:

• “How many of you are familiar with this particular research?”
• “We’ve just covered an important technique. Can someone from HR show us an example of the method in action?”
• “I have two more techniques to cover. Which would you like to hear about first?”

It really is that quick and easy to recreate a connection with your audience.

4. Be a presenter who speaks with confidence

Presentations aren’t just about the words you say and the interesting slides you show, but rather they’re all about what your body is communicating to the audience.

Your audience may not even be doing it consciously, but they’re watching what you do with your body and they’re picking up subtle clues that you’re giving off.

Here’s what you can do to become a confident speaker  –  aside from using your body.

If your main purpose is simply to relay information, you’re better off writing an email.

However, you have a bigger fish to fry when you’re in front of an audience.

Leverage that power to make your audience do something – such as considering a new idea or even getting angry!

The point is that you want to make an emotional connection with the audience that will cause them to follow through on your purpose for them.

Save the information transfer for the internet and use your presentation to motivate your audience to take action .

Maybe you haven’t given it much thought before, but the way you begin and end your presentations has significant implications for the strength of your presentation.

You can  think of your beginnings and endings as bookends .

Starting out with bang

It’s crucial that you grab your audience’s attention right away – as soon as you take the stage.

You have a short window of opportunity with which to pull them in and after that, you risk losing them.

Here are some ideas for getting your audience in the palm of your hand right away.

• Start with a startling tidbit of information in the form of a rhetorical question. For example, “Did you know Ben and Jerry learned how to make ice cream from a $5 Penn State correspondence course? I’m Cindy and I’m here to talk about entrepreneurship.”
• Engage your audience.  “Raise your hand  if you took a multivitamin today. My name is Marc, and I’m here to talk to you about the reasons you should be taking vitamins.”
• Take them by surprise.  If  you come into the room for the first time, singing at the top of your lungs, do you think your audience will remember it? Do you have another talent that you could share as you make your entrance?

Starting your presentation in an exciting way lets your audience know that they’re in for more than the same kind of boring talk they’ve experienced over and over again.

Ending on the right note

You always want to send your audience out with something that they can think about  long after they’ve left. And most importantly, take action upon!

Take a look at some ideas for ending your presentation well.

• Quickly summarize the information you went over. Repetition is key for getting information to stick!
• Conclude with a call to action.  It can be powerful to end your speech with a directive for your audience. Inspire them to take action.

When you begin and end your presentation the right way, you can be sure that your audience will walk away with real value.

5. Awesome presenters provide the optimal environment

As you’re honing your speaking techniques, don’t forget to give some serious thought to the location in which you’re delivering the speech.

You’ve probably been in a situation yourself in which you were too warm so you were nearly nodding off.

Or maybe you found it hard to pay attention because the acoustics in the room were off and you could only catch snippets of what was being said.

An uncomfortable audience is a distracted audience – the exact opposite of what you want!

It’s up to you to make sure the venue is up to your high standards and that your audience is going to have an excellent experience. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to ensure that the environment will enhance  –  not detract from  –  the presentation.

Is the room big enough for the amount of people you’re expecting?

If your audience is too cramped, they won’t be able to pay attention.

Feel free to ask to be moved to a new room if you’re not comfortable with the space-to-people ratio.

How is the temperature of the space?

When you get there, gauge the temperature of the space, keeping in mind that a room full of people will be much warmer than one that’s empty.

It’s a good idea to ask if you’ll be able to adjust it if needed.

What’s the seating arrangement?

You should be able to see the faces of the audience members and they definitely need to be able to see you.

One’s mind can easily wander if they’re stuck staring at the back of someone else’s head!

Where should you stand?

After you’re happy with the arrangement for your audience, think about where you’ll be standing.

That doesn’t mean you aren’t free to move around, of course, but you should have a sort of “home base” as you’re speaking.

Take the time to walk around on the stage and check out how it feels before people arrive.

Where are the cords located?

It may seem trivial, but tripping over cords is NOT what you want the audience to remember.

Ask that the cords be taped down to ensure safety.

What’s the noise situation?

The last thing you want to do while you’re giving an awesome presentation is compete with outside noise that will draw attention away from your message.

When you’re giving the space the once-over before your audience arrives, pay attention to any distracting noises that may be coming from outside the room.

If you notice anything, ask for your event to be moved to a different room or if there’s a way for the sounds to be quieted while you’re speaking.

What about helpers?

Setting up chairs and moving things around are difficult for you to do when you’re preparing to present.

Find out if the venue has someone who does these types of tasks. If they don’t, ask if it’s possible for them to provide someone.

Make sure you’re courteous enough to make this request far enough in advance that you’re not putting a strain on anyone.

It’s up to you

Remember that it’s up to you to make sure the space in which you’re presenting is free of distractions and is an optimum environment in which your message will be received, loud and clear!

6. You’re ready to rock your presentations

Having the tools you need to confidently make a presentation can make all the difference in the world as you prepare to take the stage.

Ensure your presentation has a purpose, keep your focus, and read your audience. Don’t forget that being aware of your body language will help keep your confidence up and the audience engaged and interested in everything that’s coming out of your mouth.

You know how to breathe, how to practice (NOT in front of the mirror!) and how to put your audience first , and take steps to control the environment to your advantage.

With these tips in hand, you can confidently step out and do your thing!

Contact us to talk about how to drive your employee’s career skills.

This article is 100% written by a human named Karen Hough. She is the Founder & CEO of ImprovEdge, in the top 4% of women-owned businesses in the US, a 3-time Amazon bestselling author, Yale grad, wife and mom of three.

How many slides are too many for a presentation?

Hrideep barot.

• Presentation , Public Speaking

So, you are preparing a presentation for your next conference or event and can’t figure out how many slides are too many slides for a presentation?

Then you are at the right place!

According to the general rule of thumb, people prefer to use 1-2 slides per minute . This can help you figure out a broad range of slides that would be ideal for your presentation.

Here it is also important for you to understand that we cannot give you a specific number of slides that would be too many for a presentation. Determining whether or not a certain number of slides would be too many for a presentation would depend on tons of factors.

Factors that determine the Number of Slides in a Presentation

1. your topic.

Your topic would give you a brief idea about how many slides you would essentially require. So, for instance, if you were to present on a generic or popular topic like climate change, you might have way more information available to you that you can add to your presentation than if you were presenting on how to make vegan chocolate banana cake.

2. Duration of your presentation

At times, you might be given a very specific duration for the presentation like 10-15 minutes to present your research findings or 20 minutes for your TED talk.

3. Purpose of your presentation

What is the purpose behind presenting this particular idea to your audience? Is it because you want to inform them about something or because you want to sell your product?

In both cases as the content of the slides change, there would be a huge change in the ideal number of slides as well.

4. Your audience

Let’s say you are to present to an audience that has a majority of primary students. What is something that you would definitely include in your presentation?

You might as well include videos of cartoons or animated GIFs to keep the students entertained. This might add a couple of your slides to your presentation.

On the other hand, when it comes to corporate presentation, you might add diagrams and charts to explain a certain concept or view which would essentially bring down your slide count.

5. Content of your presentation

Content of your presentations concerns understanding whether your presentation is informative, descriptive, persuasive, or of any other form. In each case, the number of slides necessary for the presentation to be effective would differ.

6. Number of speakers

Another factor that plays a crucial role in the total number of slides that should be added to a presentation is the number of speakers. The reason behind this is that each speaker would have their own unique pace and style of presenting .

For instance, you might find it very easy to explain a concept based on a couple of bulleted points while your partner may find it much easier to explain the same concept through charts or diagrams.

7. Mode of presentation

Is the presentation being conducted in front of an audience or is it online? The answer to this question may sometimes also affect the number of slides added to a presentation.

There are no general rules for the ideal number of slides for your 3-minutes , 5-minutes , or even 30-minutes .

Because there are tons and tons of ways you can structure your presentation and add slides. At the end of the day, you can add any number of slides to your presentation as long as you are able to reach your audience and present your topic effectively .

But how many slides are too many slides for a presentation?

Some people have made presentations with more than 1000 slides as well, so if you think your presentation Is too long, ask yourself does your presentation beat them?

If yes, we suggest you must consider enrolling yourself in the Guinness World Records .

Don’t believe us? Check out this CEO who made 1284 slide presentations titled “Lessons from my 20s” during his 30th birthday here .

On the other hand, as discussed presentations don’t usually come with a set number of slides that need to be added. This means you can have as little as one to no slides for your presentation and still call it a successful presentation!

What is the maximum number of slides you can add to a PowerPoint presentation?

If you are making a presentation on PowerPoint, then you are free to add any number of slides as long as it doesn’t exceed 100MB of storage space .  

So now the question is, to what extent are you willing to experiment with your slides for your next presentation?

Problem with having too many slides in a presentation

While we know we have said it before that it is your call to decide the number of your slides, you also need to understand that it doesn’t mean you add slides just for the heck of it or just because it looks more aesthetically pleasing.

There is a major problem with having too many slides in a presentation. This issue is what we call the issue of rigidity in presenting.

What does rigidity in the delivery of a presentation mean?

Rigidity in presenting is when you have structured your presentation in such a way that it is difficult for you to go off the track planned by you . This especially poses a big challenge when you try to rote learn and aren’t able to recall your speech.

When you have too many slides in a presentation, it becomes difficult for you to tweak your speech. And tweaking your speech after assessing the mood of your audience or the room happens to be one of the crucial aspects of carrying out an effective presentation.

How to determine if there are too many slides for a presentation?

Have you already made a PowerPoint presentation but aren’t sure if you should continue with the same or you should cut down on the slides?

Two situations would help you determine if there are indeed too many slides in a presentation, they are:

1. when you aren’t able to complete the presentation on time.

This is something that you can assess while practicing your presentation. If you are given time duration of 10 minutes and asked to present on the topic, the first thing that you need to check is whether you are or aren’t able to complete the presentation well before time. If not, then those are too many slides for your presentation.

2. When you have to increase your pace to fit the content of slides

Another factor that you need to take a look into is whether you have to increase your pace while presenting or is your pace close to your usual pace?

The pace of presenting is the number of words spoken per minute . An average person usually speaks 250-300 words per minute .

If you have to increase your pace of presenting, then sadly there are too many slides for that presentation and you need to work on it!

Things to keep in mind while creating slides for a presentation

Here is where we talk about the Dos and Donts of making a presentation.

Golden rules of presentation

When we talk about golden rules, there 2 very basic and important things that you must not ignore while making a presentation. These are the most essential Dos for any presentation. And it stays the same for all types of presentations!

1. Keep it to the point

Copy pasting a couple of important paragraphs from your study or source or speech can seem exciting for you as a presenter for it will make the task of delivering the presentation more convenient. However, presentations are often less about the presenter and more about the audience.

Presentations with short bulleted points as opposed to paragraphs are more aesthetically pleasing plus it keeps the interest alive in the audience as these short points give out only limited information about your topic.

2. Add visuals

Visuals include pictures, GIFs, charts, or even tables and can easily enhance your presentation in no time. It gives the audience a chance to picture and relate to what you are talking about. It also helps them analyze and review the charts or tables for themselves.

Besides visuals help you compress your descriptive content on the slides.

An example of a slide for a presentation is given below:

Mistakes in making slides for a Presentation

1. text over image.

When making presentations, you might have come across the idea of adding an image in the background and adding text over it. The reason we suggest you not do that is that the texts at times aren’t visible or get merged with the image .

You can see an example of how text over the image can seem very unflattering from a viewer’s point of view.

2. Too much information

As we have discussed before, writing paragraphs or long lines in your slides is not only aesthetically unappealing but also gives the audience a clear bait to simply read the content in your presentation rather than listening to you. And no, you can’t blame your audience for not listening to you!

An example of how not to add content in your slides is given below:

3. No visuals

A presentation with no visuals is like an ice cream sandwich with no ice cream. It is less exciting to look at , and may even increase the number of slides in your presentation making the overall presentation lengthier .

4. Poor fonts

One of the biggest mistakes you can do in trying to beautify your presentation is selecting fonts that are challenging to read from. An example of the same is given below.

Try to add fonts that are easy to read and make your presentations look cleaner . If you cannot find one then stick to using the most popular font style, Times New Roman.

5. Background noises and transitions

If you plan on adding transitions or background noises to your presentations, ask yourself how necessary is it to add them.

In case of transitions, try to avoid very dramatic transitions that take to move from one slide to the other.

How do you find the right number of slides to add to your presentation?

Although as discussed, we would suggest you not have a very specific number of slides in your mind while making your presentation, there are still a couple of ways you can try to figure out just how many slides would be enough or too many slides for a presentation.

The idea of this blog is to not push you to follow any one or two such rules. Rather read through them and see for yourself what suits best for you and what doesn’t.

Slide Rules for Presentation

10/20/30 rule in presentation.

Formulated by Guy Kawasaki , the 10/20/30 rule is very popularly adopted by presenters worldwide.

The rule states three things.

First, your presentation should not be more than 10 slides long as people’s interests and attention span usually deteriorate after reaching the 10th slide.

Second, your presentation should not be longer than 20 minutes because again, it is challenging for people to be attentive after listening to someone speak for 20 minutes straight.

But what do you do if you are given a 30- or 45-minutes time to give your presentation?

• Try adding a question-and-answer session
• Try to add an activity to engage the audience
• Follow a different method of making presentations like the 2/4/8 or 5 by 5 .

The third thing that Kawasaki discourages through the rule is having a font size smaller than 30. Try to add fonts that are either 30 or bigger so that it is easily visible  

2/4/8 rule in PowerPoint

The 2/4/8 rule for presentation suggests that you should ideally change slides every 2 minutes , and have no more than 4 bulleted points per slide with each bullet point comprising of 8 words or less .

5 by 5 rule in PowerPoint

You would be using the 5 by 5 rule of presentation when all slides in your presentation comprise 5 lines or points each , with each point or line having only 5 words or less .

6 by 6 or 1-6-6 rule in presentation

6 by 6 rule for presentation which is also sometimes known as the 1-6-6 rule states that in one slide, you must have no more than six words per point/line/bullet or six bullets per image. So, what do the other 6 indicate? Any guesses?

Yes! It is the limit for the number of words you should add to each of your points or lines.

So, 6 bullet points per slide with each point comprising of 6 words or less is what the 6 by 6 rule for presentation talks about .

How many slides should you add to a presentation?

As discussed, when it comes to the number of slides that you should add to your presentation, it would depend on how you want to go about with your presentation.

The numbers given by us would be most beneficial or accurate for you if in your presentation you are planning to

• Add one idea per slide
• Add one slide per minute
• Add one slide per 2 minutes

The table below will help you glance through the number of slides that you can add to your presentation.

How many slides are needed for a 2-minute presentation?

For a 2-minute presentation, you can add 1-4 slides excluding the basic descriptive and thank you slide. You can also choose to give the presentation with no slides !

An example of a 2-minute Presentation or pitch is given below.

Do check it out to see how beautifully the speaker makes use of humor and rhetoric while presenting in such a short time.

How many slides for a 3-minute presentation?

For a 3-minute presentation, 2-3 slides should be sufficient provided you are able to convey your idea effectively .

You can also choose to be very minimalistic by having less than 3 slides for your 3-minute presentations.

Check out the example below wherein the speaker makes use of merely 1 slide for her 3-minute presentation.

How many slides for a 4-minute presentation?

Having 2-4 slides informative slides can prove to be very effective in delivering on-point 4-minute presentations.

How many slides for a 5-minute Presentation ?

You can present your topic in 5 minutes with either no or 1 slide or you can make use of 2-5 slides for your 5-minute presentations .

An example of a scientific research study presentation is given below. We recommend you to watch it and check the great use of diagrams by the presenter to explain his topic.

How many slides for a 7-minute presentation?

You can add 4-7 slides for your 7-minute presentations.

How many slides for a 10-Minute presentation ?

5-10 slides are generally used for 10-minute presentations.

The TED presentation by Ayana is a good example of a 10-minute presentation. She makes use of well-structured slides, using the Venn diagram to explain her ideas and also sharing with the audience stories of how others found their joy in climate action after using her Venn diagram method.

How many slides for a 15-Minute Presentation ?

For a 15-minute presentation, adding 10-15 slides can help you present effectively.

When it comes to an example of a 15-minute presentation, there is one presentation that I can never get out of my mind and that is the one given by Tim Urban on TED.

His use of epic visuals topped with excellent humor is what has stayed with me and if you want to see it too, check out his presentation below:

How many slides for a 20-minute presentation?

Adding 10-20 slides for your 20-minute presentations might help you put your ideas across to your audience and conveniently reach them.

But you are also free to add many more slides than the number suggested based on the kind of information you are planning to share.

An example of adding many slides for your 20-minute presentation is given below. The most distinctive factor was how the speaker simply makes use of photographs he has taken of people and discussed their stories with the people.

How many slides for a 25-minute presentation?

Adding 17-25 slides for a 25-minute presentation should essentially help in navigating you through your entire topic effectively .

How many slides for a 30-minute Presentation ?

According to the general trend, having 15-30 slides in your 30-minute presentation should be sufficient.

How many slides for a 60-minute presentation?

30-60 slides for a 60-minute presentation should essentially help you present your topic in a very detailed and crisp manner .

How many PowerPoint slides for a 90-minute presentation?

For 90-minute presentations, you can include any number of slides between 45-90 or can choose to add even more than 90 slides if necessary.

Final Words

While we might be tempted to find a particular number of slides that are necessary to be included in our presentations, the truth I that there are no specific rules or numbers that you can refer to while making your presentation.

At the end of the day, presentations are about sharing your ideas, opinions, or results with the audience which makes it important for you to focus on the content of your presentation rather than the number of slides you are supposed to add.

In short, you can say that there are too many slides in your presentation when affects the quality of your overall presentation.

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The ideal number of slides for an hour-long presentation, and other thoughts on preparing slides, comparing two recent presentations, the right number of slides, font size and bulleted lists, avoiding laundry lists, argument overview slide, a good essay makes for a good presentation.

These past two weeks, I gave two presentations — a keynote at an internal writers conference at SAP, and a keynote at an internal writers conference at Amazon. (Sorry that I can’t post the recordings.) Both presentations filled an hour time slot. Because I’ve been in presentation mode this past month, especially preparing slides, I’d like to share some thoughts I have about how to create slides for presentations.

Hands-down, the best advice for creating slides is Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rule of PowerPoint , which says you should have just 10 slides , your presentation should last no more than 20 minutes , and your font should be no less than 30 points .

I have aspired to follow Kawasaki’s slide rule for a number of years, but one fear always gets in the way: if I have just 10 slides, what if I run out of things to say after 20 minutes? I mean, usually I have to fill an hour presentation slot, right? In order to guard against running out of time, I have a tendency to add more and more slides, helping me remember points I want to make and ensuring I don’t end early.

With my first keynote presentation, I unfortunately had 50 slides (and got through about 40 of them during the presentation). (Granted, many were “sub-slides,” but they were still slides.) For my second presentation, I had only 14 slides (and got through them all). I felt the second presentation went better than the first.

Here’s the problem with having too many slides: the slides lock you into a fixed, rigid presentation order. The more slides you have, the more locked in you are to a fixed set of topics in a predefined order — which may or may not be the right order you want while presenting. With 50+ slides, you won’t have the freedom and flexibility to flow in a more natural way. The more slides you have, the more fixed the order becomes. Instead of a crutch, these slides become a cast that restricts your movement.

The absolute best presentation I’ve ever attended was by David Crystal at UA Europe , and he had no slides at all. He simply had a stool where he occasionally sat, and he spoke for about an hour and a half. It was the most mesmerizing presentation I’ve ever attended, and much of it focused on grammar (and stories about the origins of language). Crystal is the author of some 100+ books on language , and after the presentation, it was clear to me that he was a complete language genius.

I once gave a 20-minute presentation with no slides at all (at a WordPress conference), and I felt a bit naked. It wasn’t a great presentation, but it didn’t tank either. At some point, I’d like to develop the ability to present with just a few slides. I think such a presentation would resemble that of a stand-up comedian or other performer (like the Moth). I don’t have stage performer skills, so I doubt the slide-less presentation will ever be something I pull off. Still, I think as a general rule, the fewer slides one has, the more knowledge and experience the presenter has. Lots of slides is a red flag that the presenter isn’t an expert.

Until I can go slide-less, I have compromised at what I feel is the ideal number of slides for an hour-long presentation: about 15 slides (including the title and conclusion slides). Kawasaki says to limit the number of slides to 10 because no one can retain any more than 10 ideas in an hour, and though I don’t know what data supports this, I generally agree. I bumped my estimate up from 10 to 15 because Kawasaki’s ideal time of 20 minutes seems too short for the hour-long time slot.

Limiting the number of slides to 15 provides the perfect balance between flexibility and structure. You can pursue your ideas in a more freeform, natural way without being locked into a fixed, rigid order that might not fit the idea journey of your presentation.

You might object and say that if you practice your presentation enough, the slides can exactly match the idea journey you want to tell. Hence, you wouldn’t be locked into a structure you don’t want — instead, the slides would help you follow that desired structure.

Well, maybe. But I’ve given about 90 presentations, and it never seems to work out that way for me. Consider the analogy of a conversation. You want to have talking points that allow you to move about in a more freeform way, not necessarily a rigid order in which each topic must be spoken. If you imagine yourself having a conversation with the audience (rather than presenting a presentation), the talking points idea has more merit.

Another Kawasaki principle is to limit the font to no less than 30 points. This is also key. When I see slides with extensive bulleted lists, I cringe. While these bulleted lists might prompt the presenter with details to say, what ends up happening is the presenter more or less reads the slides and presents the presentation rather than telling a story.

Whenever you present a slide with text, the first thing the audience does is tune you out and start reading the text. As an audience member, it’s impossible not to — the screen is huge and directly in front of you.

If you reveal the bulleted list point by point, it has the same effect as flashing multiple, separate slides on the screen: It locks the presenter into a fixed order that potentially interrupts the natural flow of the story.

Ideally, I think good slides should be idea diagrams or visual sketch notes that demonstrate your ideas. Some presenters just put photos from Flickr on their slides to generally depict an idea, but I like more purposeful concept diagrams that might have multiple ideas going on. For example, like this:

Or like this:

Granted, some font on these slides is less than 30 points, but you don’t see extensive bulleted lists here.

For my second presentation slides , I tried to include about 3 stories per slide depicting concept diagrams like this. My thought was that I could glance at the pictures, and each picture would trigger 3 points to cover for the topic. I could cover the 3 stories/points in whatever order I wanted, so I wasn’t locked into a fixed outline. It more or less worked.

I also had slide notes in the presenter view that I could fall back on, but these presenter notes are challenging to read while speaking, and I think most presenters end up ignoring them. Pictures that trigger thought without interfering with one’s language-speaking functions work much better (for me anyway).

I use The Noun Project and Illustrator to create my concept diagrams, as it allows me to more easily manipulate different objects into the slides I want. The images aren’t spectacular, and they’re mostly black and white, but they aren’t embarrassing either, and I have fun making them. I end up exporting these artboards into my presentation. Each artboard is basically a slide in my presentation.

I use RevealJS for my presentations (and have been for the past several years). RevealJS is an HTML/CSS/JS framework that lets you code your slides with simple HTML syntax. For my second presentation, I put the SVGs as slide backgrounds , leaving ample room on the sides to allow for visibility even when the slide show is not in full screen. This worked quite well.

I also put each RevealJS slide presentation into its own GitHub repo. This makes it easy to update the slides. Kawasaki doesn’t say anything about RevealJS, PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote. It really doesn’t matter which tool you use. (I just added some tool-related details here in case you were curious.)

I’ve given many presentations that turn out to be laundry lists of points — a format I regret. This was the problem with my first keynote presentation. After highlighting a trend, I started listing a number of points that could provide solutions to the challenge. These “laundry list” topics tend to be on a lower-level than topics that provide a fuller, richer argument throughout.

Here’s an example of what I mean by a laundry list. In my first presentation, my argument overview was this:

Technology is getting simpler on the front-end for end-users But the code underneath is becoming increasingly specialized/complex Tech writers are generalists, not specialists To provide value in specialist contexts, tech writers must exploit the gaps These gaps are (1) doc tools/processes, (2) understanding user feedback/experiences, and (3) information usability

Then within the “(3) information usability” section, I covered these points:

Give users a map Make information discoverable as needed Ensure harmony across all docs Reduce and distill to its essence Confirm to genre expectations Reduce language complexity Iterative design of docs

Can you see how the presentation just devolved into a laundry list of points rather than focusing on a more focused idea journey? The laundry list comes into focus with the “(1)”, “(2)”, “(3)” points in the last bullet, followed by the 7 bullets later. When I was a composition teacher, I docked student essays for presenting similar laundry lists of ideas rather than going in depth with one point.

For my second presentation, I decided to chop out this laundry list of ideas and instead focus more singularly on my trends argument. So my argument overview was as follows:

Technology is getting more specialized/complex. This complexity drives up the value of technical knowledge, making it more prized than writing skills. To handle the complexity, technical writers must play increasingly collaborative roles with engineers to create documentation

And that’s it. No laundry list at all. I instead spent much more time developing, supporting, and exploring each of these parts of my argument.

Speaking of arguments, I also recommend putting up an “Argument Overview” slide right after your intro hook slide (which usually comes after your title slide). In other words, after you introduce the relevance of your topic, present the audience with your overall argument, so they know where you’re going and what you’re arguing for.

Many presentations will omit this argument overview. When they do, I find myself wondering what the presenter’s overall point is, if they even have one, or if they just have a collage of lots of little ideas. People can often take 10-15 minutes working their way up to some point, which they articulate in fuzzy ways.

I think a good presentation mirrors the elements of an essay:

• relevance hook
• argument/thesis

Many other essay elements might be reflected as well.

Kawasaki says to limit your presentation to 20 minutes. His main scenario isn’t presenters at a conference but rather presentations from startups to venture capitalists (VCs), and he doesn’t really give much reason here for the 20-minute length except to sarcastically say that if you have a Windows machine, it will take 40 minutes to troubleshoot the display. My guess is that VCs are executive types who have a lot of questions and don’t want to be lectured at extensively.

For too many presentations I’ve given, I’ve filled the entire time slot, without leaving any time for questions. This has been a mistake, in part due to having too many slides in the first place. For my second keynote, I spoke for only about 40 minutes and then let Q&A dominate the remaining 20 minutes. Although as an audience member I sometimes dislike listening to other audience members ask questions, I do like to ask my own questions.

Further, very few people can sit patiently listening to a lecture for an hour without engaging with more interactive dialogue. My brain isn’t wired to listen to lectures this long, and neither are many other people’s. You have to be pretty interesting to retain my attention for a full hour in an engaging way.

Probably the biggest reason, though, is that the purpose of a conference is not to present lectures — it’s to confer . You come together to confer with other people, and so you need this space to allow time to discuss your ideas.

What if no one has any questions, and you’re done 20 minutes early? Won’t that feel like you didn’t fill the time, that you short-changed what you promised?

If no one asks questions, it might mean you didn’t make a real argument in your presentation, but instead focused on something everyone already agrees on.

Coming back to the essay comparison, a good presentation focuses on an argument. And an argument must be something that people can take different sides on. If everyone already agrees on the position you’re taking, why bother making it in the first place? Are you already telling people something they already know?

I realize that many presentations at conferences are more information-based rather than argument-based, and people come to “learn” rather than to “debate,” but I’d counter that almost every topic has areas of controversy or uncertainty, and I like to see someone taking a position and defending it with evidence. This shows my bias towards the essay format, as I think good essays reflect this focus as well.

At any rate, if you’ve focused on some argument that people can disagree about, then ending 20 minutes early for Q&A should be ideal, as you will have set the stage for a lively discussion — which is one draw to these gatherings in the first place. You’re setting up the discussion and then allowing for the audience to engage in critical thinking.

Additionally, note that as a presenter, you can also be the one to ask questions. A good teacher doesn’t just lecture to students for 20 minutes and then ask them what questions they have. The teacher asks challenging questions to students and invites them to engage. Why can’t presenters at conferences do the same?

A good essay and a good presentation share many similarities. For many presentations I give, I’ll often write out the content as a blog post or essay before hand. For example, for my second keynote presentation, my Tech comm trends - take two post was the essay form of the post. The essay was about 8,000 words, which is about right for an hour-long presentation. For my first keynote, the essay was an earlier version of the same trends topic .

If the essay doesn’t have a good shape and focus (no idea journey, no story arc, no argument, no evidence, no analysis of opposing views, no interesting questions, etc.), then the presentation will probably lack life as well.

The absolute best advice for any presentation is to structure the idea journey as a story. I don’t mean to pepper in anecdotes everywhere (though that is actually great advice). I mean presentations should follow the general story arc. You have some sort of goal, and you encounter challenges to that goal. The bulk of your work is in getting through these challenges, until you finally come to some realization or conclusion. This flow aligns perfectly with the essay format.

Although I’m not a professional presenter and I lack more training and polish, in the presentations I’ve given over the years, fewer slides work better than more slides. Overall, if I can shape the essay right in the first place, it usually eliminates most of the problems with presentations. That’s why I spend about 90% of the time writing the essay first, and then in the last couple of weeks create the slides.

About Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me . Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.

© 2024 Tom Johnson

Slides Per Minute Calculator

Introduction.

Slide presentations are a common and effective means of conveying information in various settings, including business meetings, educational lectures, and conferences. The timing of slide transitions plays a crucial role in maintaining audience engagement and ensuring that the information is comprehensible. Slides that change too quickly can overwhelm the audience, while transitions that are too slow can lead to disinterest. The Slides Per Minute Calculator assists presenters in finding the optimal balance between slide transitions and audience comprehension.

The formula for calculating the ideal number of slides per minute is:

Slides Per Minute (SPM) = (Total Number of Slides) / (Total Presentation Time in Minutes)

• SPM represents the slides per minute, indicating how many slides should transition in one minute.
• Total Number of Slides is the count of all slides in the presentation.
• Total Presentation Time in Minutes is the desired or allocated time for the entire presentation in minutes.

This formula provides a straightforward way to determine the recommended slide transition speed based on the presentation’s length and content.

How to Use?

Using the Slides Per Minute Calculator involves the following steps:

• Determine Total Number of Slides : Count all the slides in your presentation. This should include the title slide, content slides, and any additional slides like section dividers or conclusion slides.
• Specify Total Presentation Time : Decide how long you want your presentation to last or how much time you have been allocated for your presentation. Express this time in minutes.
• Calculate Slides Per Minute (SPM) : Use a calculator to perform the calculation.
• Apply the Result : The calculated SPM value will provide you with the recommended speed at which slides should transition to match the desired presentation time.

Let’s illustrate the Slides Per Minute Calculator with an example:

Suppose you have a presentation with a total of 20 slides, including the title slide and conclusion slide. Your allocated presentation time is 15 minutes.

Using the formula:

SPM = 20 slides / 15 minutes

SPM ≈ 1.33 slides per minute

In this example, the Slides Per Minute Calculator suggests transitioning approximately 1.33 slides per minute to fit the presentation into the allocated 15-minute time frame.

1. Is there an ideal SPM value for all presentations? The ideal SPM can vary depending on the nature of the presentation, the audience, and the content. Some presentations may require a slower pace for complex topics, while others may benefit from a faster pace for concise delivery.

2. What if my calculated SPM is not a whole number? It’s common to obtain fractional values for SPM. In such cases, you can round to the nearest whole number or use a decimal value if you prefer a more precise pace.

3. Can I adjust the SPM during my presentation? Yes, presenters can adapt the slide transition pace during the presentation based on audience engagement and feedback. Flexibility in pacing can enhance the overall effectiveness of the presentation.

Conclusion:

The Slides Per Minute Calculator is a valuable tool for presenters who want to strike the right balance between slide transitions and audience comprehension. By calculating the ideal number of slides per minute, presenters can ensure that their presentations are well-timed, engaging, and effective in conveying the intended message. This tool empowers presenters to create presentations that resonate with their audience, ultimately leading to more successful and impactful communication.

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• Presentation

How many slides in a 20-minute presentation?

• April 19, 2022

Presentations—whether they’re for business or school, they’re a part of life. One of the first things you may wonder about when you’re assigned a presentation is how long it needs to be. You may also wonder how many PowerPoint presentation slides to use per minute.

How many slides for a 20 minute presentation? This is a question that often confounds business professionals and students alike. The answer, however, is not as complicated as you might think. In this blog post, we will discuss how to create a presentation that is both effective and engaging. We’ll also provide tips on determining the correct number of slides for your PowerPoint presentation design services!

Table of Contents

1. How long is a 20-minute presentation?

The average person speaks at a rate of 125 words per minute. This means that a 20-minute presentation should be around 2500 words long. If you’re using slides as part of your presentation, you’ll want to keep this number in mind when determining how many slides to use.

If you’re unsure how long your presentation should be, you can always ask your audience how much time they have for it. This will help you to gauge how long your presentation should be and how many slides to use.

2. What are the average slide lengths for different presentations?

The average slide length for a business presentation is 40 seconds. For a student presentation, the average slide length is 50 seconds. These numbers will help you to determine how many slides you should have in your 20-minute presentation.

If you’re not sure how long your slides should be, you can always ask your audience how much time they have for your presentation. This will help you to gauge how long your presentation should be and how many slides to use.

3. How to figure out how many slides you need for a 20-minute presentation?

Now that you know how long a 20-minute presentation is and what the average slide length is, you can start to figure out how many slides you need for your specific presentation. To do this, simply divide the total number of words in your presentation by the average number of words per slide. For example, if your presentation is 2500 words long and you’re using an average of 40 words per slide, you’ll need 62.50 slides.

4. Tips for creating effective slides

Once you’ve determined how many slides you need for your presentation, it’s time to start creating your slides. When creating your slides, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind:

– Use images and graphics: People are more likely to remember information that is presented visually. Adding images and graphics to your slides will help make your presentation more memorable.

– Keep it simple: You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with too much information. Stick to the essentials and leave out any unnecessary details.

– Be clear and concise: Make sure your slides are easily understood. Use short sentences and bullet points to make your information easy to digest.

Tips for Creating a Short Presentation

The “Rule of Three,” a renowned writing principle, suggests that when things come in threes, they are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. Think of a famous phrase or slogan and chances are it’s structured in three.

Tell them those three takeaways at the beginning.  Flush them out in the middle.  And at the end, remind them of those takeaways.  Sticking to the power of three will make your short presentations memorable and incredibly effective.

Tell A Story

Telling a story is a surefire way to wrap your audience into your message.  We do not suggest telling your story for the entire 5 – 10 minute talk.   You may tell your audience you want to share a story that will drive home your point.

Stick To Your Purpose

Many times, speakers will go over the 10-minute mark of a short presentation because they’re not staying true to the purpose of the presentation or they’re adding in too many details that really aren’t vital to the purpose. At the beginning of any presentation, you create, think about the purpose and remind yourself of it so you’ll remember exactly why you’re giving the talk, to begin with.

tips to make a good presentation

1. create an easy-to-follow structure.

• A compelling introduction . Your introduction needs to briefly sum up what you’re going to talk about and why it’s useful or relevant to your audience.
• Offer a body of evidence . The body of your presentation is where you hit ’em with the facts, quotes, and evidence to back up your main points.
• Sum up with key takeaways . The conclusion is where you loop back to your original statement and give the audience some key takeaways on how they can put into practice what they’ve learned.

2. Limit the number of copies on each slide

• No more than six words per slide . Marketing king Seth Godin says we should have just six words per slide – that’s not a lot of copy. Choose your words carefully and rewrite them until you’ve got it just right.
• Think of ‘bite-size’ information . We called ourselves Biteable for a reason: studies have shown that information is retained better when it’s broken down into bite-sized chunks. Video is a great way to learn and research suggests it’s 95%more compelling than text.

3. Have a plan for a smooth delivery

• Have a practice run-through . There’s nothing like reading it out loud to ensure your message makes sense before you actually deliver it. Try recording your presentation on video — this way you’ll be able to review it with an accurate eye and notice whether your speech matches up with your slides. It’ll also help you sort out your run time.
• Use a remote . A clicker or remote will help you face the audience and not have to keep turning back to your laptop. Sought-after public speaker Garr Reynolds says a remote is essential to pause and advance your presentation so you have time to be spontaneous and control the flow of your delivery.

As a general rule, PowerPoint slides should contain brief, useful and simple information and cannot be used without the provider of that action. Proper timing for each slide can improve your presentation as a whole, and the final result is the impact of the presentation.

How many slides are in a 20-minute presentation?

The average person speaks at a rate of 125 words per minute. This means that a 20-minute presentation should be around 2500 words long.

What are the average slide lengths for different presentations?

The average slide length for a business presentation is 40 seconds. For a student presentation, the average slide length is 50 seconds.

How to figure out how many slides you need for a 20-minute presentation?

To do this, simply divide the total number of words in your presentation by the average number of words per slide.

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