How many presentation slides would you create for a one hour presentation?

I agree with Tim and Krissy,
Nothing is worse than getting to a room and having a presenter read their slides to you.
Simple visuals, maybe a short sentence, but avoid bullets and slides full of text. You want people looking at you, not reading your slides.

Bear in mind a "simple visual" can be a black slide with 5 large white words on it.

Two tips:

1. If someone got a copy of your slides without hearing your narration, the slides should not make sense on their own.

2. If much of your presentation is just the "information dump" send a presentation - like a Brainshark - prior to the meeting to level-set, and save the valuable face-to-face time for questions and more interactive discussion.

Good day Tekle.

For a standard 60 minute presentation, I generally use up to 30 slides. However, depending on the type of presentation I'm giving, 5-15 of these slides may be hidden and only drawn upon if needed i.e. citing sources, showing additional examples, etc. I tend to stick to 3-5 major bullet points, but I always ensure that I have Facilitators notes in the note section. Generally speaking, I also provide note-versions to those that prefer paper format. This way they have the primary bullets, but they also have access to some of the additional notes.

In regards to time for each slide, that's really dependent on you, your audience and your topic. You might take 10 minutes on one slide alone and only 30 seconds on another. Whatever you choose to do though, I strongly recommend you use the Rehearse Timings function in PowerPoint to help you gage proper timelines. If you're comfortable with that aspect, then go one step deeper and use the Record Slideshow function to lock down and ensure you have some consistency in the delivery.

Agree with Krissy. I now try to only use 1 (large font) line or diagram/image per slide. The number of slides can vary; you could, in a 5 minute period, use 5 slides, each highlighting something that you want to be a memorable point (or "take away" in Microspeak). Equally, in an hour, you could have just a handful of slides.

The main thing is that our session length is determined by content, not by "filling a slot". Be concise, and make sure that the take aways are clear.

The best we can do is to make sure our oral communication is excellent; no amount of Powerpoint slides can make up for this; and if we want something that requires more words, think of using a hand out sheet, rather than a Powerpoint slide to communicate this.

Tekle:

I do not know that there is one standard for one hour. Use as many slides as you need to deliver the key message of the presentation.

Another idea for you that I tried last week at a conference was using a whiteboard. I planned out my presentation using a PPT and then used the white board for the presentation itself. I found the attendees to be very interactive and I received great feedback. I also let the attendees know if they wanted the PPT that I would need their card so I could email it to them. As a result I got many business cards and some good leads.

Carlos Hidalgo
The Annuitas Group
@cahidalgo

The duration depends on the story you are trying to tell. I would avoid using bullet points altogether, instead, rely on powerful imagery and no more than a few words per slide. I once saw this type of presentation given by Zig Ziglar: 400 slides in 90 minutes. It was amazing, as he never looked back at the slides and they flowed seamlessly, supporting his talking points.

If you feel obligated to use bullets and go light on images, try 4 bullets at 28 point font and roughly 1 minute per slide. I tend to talk closer to 2 minutes on content rich topics/slides, but generally average 1.5 minutes per slide, leaving 5-10 minutes for Q&A.

I have used 300 slides for an hour-and-a-half presentation. My subject is highly visual and more images keep the audience interested.

I recall a Gartner presentation in which I counted 150 words on average per slide with the presenter talking during the entire presentation. It was completely impossible to understand what he was talking about if you even looked at the screen. I concluded that their goal was to confuse people so they would hire them to consult and explain (the inexplicable).

That's just an example of what not to do.

I have a simple rule that almost always works. 3 minutes per slide, and carve out a third of your time for Q&A.

So for a 60 minute time slot, that works out to 40 minutes of presenting (13 slides MAX at 3 minutes per) with 20 minutes for Q&A.

Hasn't failed me yet.

I do not think there is a single answer to this question
it is a function of your style.

For example, how much do you depend on your slides to carry your message - if everything you say is on the slide it is very different than if the slide is really a high level outline

For another example, I use lots of animation and sometimes that means 3 to 5 minutes per slide and sometimes (according to how I decide is the best way to animate) it means 1 minute per slide.

Maximum 14 slides (1 every 5 minutes, plus a header and thank you slide).

No more than 7 points per slide, and 7 words per bullet.

Though normally I use as few as possible - and would rarely hit maximum even in a technical briefing.

This is still way too many, and slides should be used to provide visual stimulus rather than reiterating spoken words.

Good day Tekle.

For a standard 60 minute presentation, I generally use up to 30 slides. However, depending on the type of presentation I'm giving, 5-15 of these slides may be hidden and only drawn upon if needed i.e. citing sources, showing additional examples, etc. I tend to stick to 3-5 major bullet points, but I always ensure that I have Facilitators notes in the note section. Generally speaking, I also provide note-versions to those that prefer paper format. This way they have the primary bullets, but they also have access to some of the additional notes.

In regards to time for each slide, that's really dependent on you, your audience and your topic. You might take 10 minutes on one slide alone and only 30 seconds on another. Whatever you choose to do though, I strongly recommend you use the