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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Implementing The 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint

Implementing The 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint

If you’re not used to making a PowerPoint presentation , it can be tough to know how long to make it and how to format the slides. On the other side of the coin: you might overthink your presentation and put too much information on too many slides.

With help from the 10-20-30 rule, you can make a PowerPoint presentation that’s engaging and efficient . The guidelines for this rule are as follows:

• No more than 10 slides.
• No longer than 20 minutes.
• No larger than 30-point font.

Let’s look deeper at the 10-20-30 PowerPoint rule, why it’s a good rule to follow and things to do to follow this guideline.

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Don’t use more than 10 slides. A good presenter shouldn’t have to (or want to) lean heavily on their PowerPoint slides. The slides should be a supplement for your presentation, not the headliner. Limiting to 10 slides will ensure that you’re not going over the top with the length of your presentation and keeps it moving. Your slide count should include both your title and conclusion. A presentation that goes on any longer than 10 slides will distract from what you’re saying and starts to feel like an information overload.

Keep your presentation 20 minutes MAX. During a presentation, people start tuning out after about 10 minutes.Limiting your presentation to this length will ensure that your audience will remember much of what you’re saying. If you’re covering a more complex topic and need more time, stick to the 20-minute MAX rule—it’s much easier to schedule your presentation by timing each slide down to about two minutes. That feels like a much more manageable timeframe, doesn’t it?

Don’t use fonts smaller than size 30. A 30-point font is a great minimum size because it ensures that your text is easy to read from a distance. The recommended guideline to make your presentation accessible to those who might be visually impaired is a 24-point font. Upping the size to 30 is a significant difference, and you can be confident that your audience can see what you’ve written. In addition, choose a font that’s easy to read. For years it was recommended that you stick solely to sans-serif fonts with digital media because serifs could blur together, making certain fonts hard to read. High-resolution screens have nearly eliminated this problem, so some serif fonts can be used and are easy to read in PowerPoint presentations.

Tips for sticking to these guidelines. It’s not always easy to cut down your presentation to fit the 30-20-10 rule if you’re presenting a lot of information. Follow these tips while putting together your presentation to make the entire process easier on yourself:

• Limit text to the 6×6 rule. It can feel like there are a lot of rules for making a PowerPoint presentation, but they’re all there to help you make a well-organized and engaging presentation. The 6×6 rule suggests that you don’t use more than six lines or bullet points on each slide and limit each line or bullet point to six words. Following the 6×6 rule helps to ensure that you’re limiting the amount of information on your slides so you can continue to present it rather than have your audience read it.
• Use visuals instead. Visuals like graphics, animated gifs, and videos can help to keep your audience engaged . Including visuals with your presentation will also help you limit the amount of time and content on each slide. A graph or illustration on the right side of your slide limits the amount of space you have on the left side. This can help to minimize the amount of text you have.
• Practice makes perfect. There’s a very cool, free tool called PowerPoint Speaker Coach , which leverages AI to help you nail your presentation. Speaker coach gives you feedback on your pace, pitch, use of filler words, poor grammar, lack of originality, use of sensitive phrases, and more as you rehearse your presentation. You’ll get a Summary Report at the end—with key pieces of feedback to help you become a confident presenter .

Use the 10-20-30 PowerPoint rule and these other tips to keep your presentation simple. Whether you’re a college student presenting a class project or a teen making the case for a new car, following these guidelines will help.

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PowerPoint Tips  - Simple Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations

Powerpoint tips  -, simple rules for better powerpoint presentations, powerpoint tips simple rules for better powerpoint presentations.

PowerPoint Tips: Simple Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations

Lesson 17: simple rules for better powerpoint presentations.

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Simple rules for better PowerPoint presentations

Have you ever given a PowerPoint presentation and noticed that something about it just seemed a little … off? If you’re unfamiliar with basic PowerPoint design principles, it can be difficult to create a slide show that presents your information in the best light.

Poorly designed presentations can leave an audience feeling confused, bored, and even irritated. Review these tips to make your next presentation more engaging.

Don't read your presentation straight from the slides

If your audience can both read and hear, it’s a waste of time for you to simply read your slides aloud. Your audience will zone out and stop listening to what you’re saying, which means they won’t hear any extra information you include.

Instead of typing out your entire presentation, include only main ideas, keywords, and talking points in your slide show text. Engage your audience by sharing the details out loud.

Follow the 5/5/5 rule

To keep your audience from feeling overwhelmed, you should keep the text on each slide short and to the point. Some experts suggest using the 5/5/5 rule : no more than five words per line of text, five lines of text per slide, or five text-heavy slides in a row.

Don't forget your audience

Who will be watching your presentation? The same goofy effects and funny clip art that would entertain a classroom full of middle-school students might make you look unprofessional in front of business colleagues and clients.

Humor can lighten up a presentation, but if you use it inappropriately your audience might think you don’t know what you’re doing. Know your audience, and tailor your presentation to their tastes and expectations.

Choose readable colors and fonts

Your text should be easy to read and pleasant to look at. Large, simple fonts and theme colors are always your best bet. The best fonts and colors can vary depending on your presentation setting. Presenting in a large room? Make your text larger than usual so people in the back can read it. Presenting with the lights on? Dark text on a light background is your best bet for visibility.

Don't overload your presentation with animations

As anyone who’s sat through a presentation while every letter of every paragraph zoomed across the screen can tell you, being inundated with complicated animations and exciting slide transitions can become irritating.

Before including effects like this in your presentation, ask yourself: Would this moment in the presentation be equally strong without an added effect? Does it unnecessarily delay information? If the answer to either question is yes—or even maybe—leave out the effect.

Use animations sparingly to enhance your presentation

Don’t take the last tip to mean you should avoid animations and other effects entirely. When used sparingly, subtle effects and animations can add to your presentation. For example, having bullet points appear as you address them rather than before can help keep your audience’s attention.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you create a presentation—your audience will thank you. For more detailed information on creating a PowerPoint presentation, visit our Office tutorials .

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Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

Kristen m. naegle.

Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

Funding Statement

The author received no specific funding for this work.

Home Blog Presentation Ideas Understanding the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations

Understanding the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations

Imagine sitting through a seemingly never-ending presentation. The speaker rambled on, reading from text-heavy slides, using a tiny font that strained your eyes, and failing to connect with the audience. As the minutes ticked by, you found yourself daydreaming and eagerly awaiting the end of the ordeal.

If you have been in this situation, then you know what to do if you were in the presenter’s shoes – make your presentations concise. But how do you even start?

You can follow several techniques when preparing your deck and your presentation as a whole. One of them is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint , a presentation rule championed by Guy Kawasaki – a former Apple employee and a marketing specialist.

Table of Contents

What Is the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations?

Applying guy kawasaki’s 10 slide template in any presentation, the 20 minutes rule, the 30-point font rule, the benefits of using the 10/20/30 rule, tips for applying the 10/20/30 rule to your presentation.

The idea of the 10/20/30 rule is easy to understand, which is summed up in three points.

• Your presentation should consist of no more than 10 slides .
• Your presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes .
• The text on each slide should be no lower than 30 points in size .

Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rule for slideshows emphasizes brevity, focus, and visual appeal to keep your audience engaged and deliver your message effectively.

Let’s examine each rule and explore how to apply it to your presentations.

The 10 Slides Rule

Kawasaki argues that a typical person can only take 10 concepts in one sitting. Therefore, according to him, a presentation should only consist of 10 slides, each serving a specific purpose and conveying a distinct concept.

This insight underscores the importance of concise, focused presentations that prioritize key messages and avoid overwhelming the audience with too much information.

If you are a business presenter struggling to develop a pitch deck , Kawasaki suggests a 10-slide PowerPoint template that includes what venture capitalists like him care about.

• Title – Includes the business name, the presenter’s name, contacts, etc.
• Problem/Opportunity – Highlights pain points or unmet needs of customers you aim to solve.
• Value Proposition – Articulates the value or benefits of your product or service.
• Underlying Magic – Explains the key technology that goes into your product or service offers.
• Business Model – Describes how you plan to generate revenue.
• Go-to-Market Plan – Outlines your strategy for bringing your product or service to market, e.g., marketing and sales plan .
• Competitive Analysis – Explains how your business is positioned to compete and capture market share.
• Management Team – Highlights your management team’s skills, experience, and expertise that will drive the success of your business.
• Financial Projections and Key Metrics – Highlights your business’s financial viability and potential profitability.
• Current Status, Accomplishments to Date, Timeline, and Use of Funds – Provides an overview of your current business status, any accomplishments or milestones achieved to date, the timeline for future milestones, and how you plan to use the funds you seek.

The 10 rule slide was specifically designed for startup and business presentations , focusing on pitching a business idea or concept to potential investors . However, it can also be a useful framework for other types of presentations that don’t deal with selling a service or product.

For example, if you are a lecturer, you can emulate Kawasaki’s PowerPoint template layout and reduce your presentation to 10 slides. Some slides might not be relevant to the nature of your topic, so replace them with one that works for your presentation. Using PPT templates helps you focus on the graphical aspect so you can articulate the content to fit into exactly 10 slides (while preserving the same aesthetic).

Let’s say you are a mindfulness expert talking about the benefits of meditation. The first three slides of Kawazaki’s workflow may be applied as you’ll need to establish your audience’s pain points and your solution.

However, you may need to modify the remaining slides as you’re not seeking to make a sale or raise funding. You may use them instead to discuss the main content of your presentation – in this case, the benefits of meditation. The last two slides may contain your conclusions and call to action, respectively.

Now, off to the second part of the 10/20/30 presentation rule.

According to Kawasaki, you only have 20 minutes to present your 10 slides – the time needed before your audience’s attention starts declining. He believes it is long enough to convey a meaningful message but short enough to maintain the audience’s attention span.

This is exactly why most TED Talks or The Big Bang Theory episodes would only last for approximately 18 minutes. 

While giving longer presentations is possible, longer presentations may be more difficult to maintain audience engagement and attention.

Kawasaki’s final rule pertains to the font size that presenters can use. This rule suggests that presenters should use a font size of at least 30 points for all text in their slides , including titles, headings, and body text.

When creating presentations, it is common to jam each slide with text and information. This poses two possible problems:

• First, it may take your audience’s attention from you as they may end up reading your whole presentation and stop listening to you. 
• Second, including too much information can make your presentation overwhelming and difficult to follow.

Using a larger font size, you must include only the key points of your presentation slides. This prevents your audience from getting ahead of you and keeps them listening to you speak. By applying this rule, you are also ensuring your content is understandable for people with visual impairments. We highly recommend you check concepts from W3C.org on how to make events accessible, as some of these rules can benefit your audience.

Presenters often ask themselves whether is worth applying a new framework for their presentation design and delivery. The reality is that the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations is one of the most effective methods to build your presentation skills . In the list below, we expose the main benefits of this framework for presenters.

Concise and Focused Presentation

With a limited number of slides and a strict time limit, the 10/20/30 encourages you to choose the most relevant content and eliminate unnecessary information carefully. This avoids overwhelming your audience with too much information and ensures your key message is clear and memorable.

Improved Audience Engagement

This rule encourages presenters to focus on delivering a clear message rather than overwhelming the audience with flashy visuals. With fewer slides and a shorter duration, you are likelier to hold your audience’s attention throughout the presentation. This also allows you to address questions from the audience, leading to better interaction and a productive meeting.

Increased Chance of Success

Whether pitching to investors or selling a product, a concise and focused presentation can significantly increase your chances of success. The 10/20/30 rule helps you effectively communicate your value proposition and address potential concerns. This makes your presentation more persuasive and memorable, increasing the likelihood of securing funding or closing a sale.

Time Management

The more senior the person you present to, the lesser time you got to make your case and convey your message. Following the 10/20/30 encourages you to be mindful of the time and deliver your presentation within the allocated timeframe. It also allows you to show respect for your audience’s time.

1. Present One Idea Per Slide

Following Kawasaki’s rule on creating your PowerPoint presentation, identify the key points you want to convey to your audience and allocate one slide for each.

Presenting one idea per slide can help your audience stay focused on the topic at hand.  It makes it easier for them to understand and remember your message, as it reduces the amount of information they have to process at once. When there’s too much information on a slide, it can be overwhelming and distracting, making it difficult for your audience to stay engaged and attentive.

Presenting one idea per slide can also help you control the flow of information and ensure that you cover all of your main points.

2. Keep Your Slides Simple

As mentioned earlier, the 10/20/30 rule emphasizes simplicity. Keep your slides simple and avoid flashy design elements that may distract your audience.

Use a consistent color scheme , font style, and layout throughout your presentation. This will help your audience follow along and focus on your message.

3. Balance Text and Visuals

Visuals like images, charts, graphs, videos, and diagrams can help break up text-heavy slides and make your presentation more interesting and memorable. However, relying solely on images can also be ineffective and lead to confusion or disengagement.

When using visuals in your slides, it’s important to balance text and images. Text can provide important context and details, while images can help illustrate key points and make your presentation visually appealing.

Let’s say you want to inform your audience of your company’s marketing plan . Using a rising spiral template is an excellent choice since it can represent multiple plan stages with increasing intensity.

4. Break Down Your Presentation into Smaller Units and Make it Interactive

Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule only gives you 20 minutes to wrap up the whole presentation, but what if you need more than that?

It’s not uncommon to give presentations that last 45 minutes to an hour – for instance, if you are giving a lecture or facilitating a training workshop for employees. The longer your presentation, however, the harder it will be to hold your audience’s attention.

One great way to keep them engaged is to divide your presentation into smaller units and pause in between.

So, before the guy from the third row starts yawning, plan in-between activities to reenergize your audience and reacquire their attention. It can be a simple Q&A session, interactive exercises, or team-building activities.

Don’t forget to time your activities so they won’t disrupt the flow of your presentation.

5. Start Strong

The opening of your presentation is critical in capturing your audience’s attention and setting the tone for the rest of the presentation. Start with a compelling hook, such as a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or an engaging story, to grab your audience’s attention. Clearly state the purpose and objectives of your presentation to establish the context and provide a roadmap for what’s to come.

6. End Strong

Your outro is as important as your introduction. So, instead of ending your presentation with a flat Thank you slide , use the opportunity to nudge your audience to action.

Using a summary slide is one of the ways you can end your presentation if your goal is to reinforce your key points. It can be a useful reference for the audience, helping them remember the most important information.

You can also encourage your audience to take action based on what they’ve learned in your presentation. This can be a great way to motivate them to apply the concepts you’ve covered.

The 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint is a useful framework to emulate in creating your presentation.

There are questions about the practicality of its application outside the business context. However, we can agree that it teaches us valuable insight – keeping presentations concise as possible. Limiting the number of slides, adhering to a strict time limit, and using a larger font size can create a concise presentation that effectively communicates your message.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to presenting; you don’t have to strictly follow Kawasaki’s rule. Depending on the audience and the topic, modify the template and adapt your presentation to suit the situation.

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The Essential 5 Rules of Effective PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint presentations have become a cornerstone of modern communication, whether in the boardroom, the classroom, or the conference hall. When PowerPoint is used effectively, it can elevate your message, making your message engaging, clear, and memorable. There are 5 simple rules to follow to ensure your presentation doesn’t become a dreaded “death by PowerPoint” experience. In this blog, we’ll quickly explore these five essential rules of creating compelling and impactful PowerPoint presentations.

Rule 1: Keep It Simple

One of the cardinal sins in PowerPoint presentations is overcrowding your slides with text, bullet points, and too many visuals. The first rule is to keep it simple. Each slide should have a single, clear message. Use concise language, bullet points, and minimal text to convey your points. Visuals should be clean and uncluttered. Simplicity enhances comprehension and retention.

Rule 2: Visualize Your Data

Data is a critical element in many presentations, but raw numbers can be overwhelming. Rule number two is to visualize your data. Use charts, graphs, and diagrams to represent your data in a visually engaging way. Choose the right type of visualization for your information, ensuring it’s easy to understand at a glance. Well-crafted visuals make your data more accessible and memorable.

Rule 3: Tell a Story

The most compelling presentations are those that tell a story. Rule three is all about storytelling. Structure your presentation like a narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Start with an attention-grabbing introduction, build your narrative with supporting points, and conclude with a memorable takeaway or call to action. A well-structured story captivates your audience and helps them connect with your message.

Rule 4: Design Matters

Effective design is crucial to a successful PowerPoint presentation. Rule four is all about design. Choose a consistent, visually appealing template. Use fonts, colors, and imagery that align with your message and branding. Ensure that text is legible and that visuals are high-quality and relevant. Good design enhances professionalism and keeps your audience engaged.

Rule 5: Practice and Rehearse

No matter how well your slides are designed, the delivery is equally important. Rule five emphasizes practice and rehearsal. Familiarize yourself with the content, so you can present confidently and naturally. Rehearse your timing, transitions, and any interactive elements. Anticipate questions and prepare for them. Practice helps you connect with your audience and come across as a confident, knowledgeable speaker.

Mastering the art of PowerPoint presentations requires following these five fundamental rules: simplicity, data visualization, storytelling, design, and practice. These rules can transform your presentations from dull and forgettable to compelling and impactful. By keeping your slides clear and uncluttered, visually representing data, weaving a narrative, paying attention to design, and practicing your delivery, you can create presentations that inform, engage, and leave a lasting impression on your audience. The next time you create a PowerPoint presentation, remember these rules to ensure your message shines.

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The 10 Slides, 20 Minutes and 30 Point Font Rule for Presentations

• By Judhajit Sen
• May 14, 2024

What separates a good presentation from a dreadful one? Picture this: a never-ending talk that drones on for over 30 minutes, bombarding you with slide after slide, each crammed with tiny text. By the time the speaker finishes, most of the audience is either sleeping, scrolling through their phones, or daydreaming. What went wrong? And more importantly, how can you avoid such a fate in your PowerPoint presentations? Enter the 10-20-30 Rule, your savior from presentation purgatory.

Presentations are everywhere – in school, work, and even casual settings like PowerPoint parties. But crafting a compelling one requires careful consideration. You must choose a topic that resonates, organize your content logically, design visually appealing slides, adhere to a reasonable time limit, and master your delivery style. It’s not just about sharing information; it’s also about  engaging the audience .

Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee and marketing guru, champions a simple yet powerful principle: the 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint. This rule advocates for brevity, recommending no more than ten slides, a maximum duration of 20 minutes, and a font size of 30 points minimum. It’s a game-changer in presentations, emphasizing clarity, conciseness, and connection with your audience.

In an era where effective communication reigns supreme, mastering the art of presentations is essential for success. Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule offers a beacon of guidance, reshaping how we approach and deliver business plan and marketing presentations. So, let’s dive in and discover its transformative power together.

Key Takeaways 

• Brevity is Key: Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule stresses brevity in presentations, limiting slides to 10, duration to 20 minutes, and font size to 30 points. This ensures the concise delivery of essential information without overwhelming the audience.
• Optimize Engagement: By adhering to the rule, presenters can optimize audience engagement . Shorter presentations and larger font sizes maintain audience attention, leading to better retention of key points and increased comprehension.
• Versatile Application: While initially designed for business pitches, the 10-20-30 Rule is adaptable across various contexts. Teachers, students, and professionals from any field can leverage its principles to craft compelling presentations that resonate with their audience.
• Simplicity Matters: Simplifying presentations using Kawasaki’s rule allows presenters to focus on delivering impactful messages. By emphasizing clarity and conciseness, presenters can make a lasting impression regardless of the presentation’s objective.

Defining The 10-20-30 Rule

The 10-20-30 Rule is a simple yet powerful guide for crafting effective presentations. Coined by Guy Kawasaki, a renowned figure in Silicon Valley, this presentation outline rule emphasizes brevity, clarity, and visual impact to captivate your audience and convey your message efficiently.

Guy Kawasaki, drawing from his experience as a venture capitalist, observed the essence of a successful presentation and distilled it into three key components:

1. Conciseness: Limit your presentation to just ten slides.

2. Time Management: Keep your presentation within a 20-minute timeframe.

3. Readability: Ensure that the font size on each slide is at least 30 points.

This rule isn’t just about numbers; it’s about optimizing your presentation’s impact. Adhering to these guidelines can create engaging and memorable presentations that resonate with your audience. Whether you pitch a business idea or deliver a report, the 10-20-30 Rule serves as a blueprint for success, enabling you to deliver your message effectively and leave a lasting impression.

Let us go through the three key components of the 10-20-30 Rule in detail.

The 10-Slide Rule

When crafting a winning presentation, Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule sets a clear path for success, with the 10-slide rule as a cornerstone principle. Kawasaki’s insights into the human mind’s capacity to absorb information underscore the importance of brevity and clarity in presentations.

1. Title Slide: The journey begins with a compelling title slide introducing your presentation, featuring essential information such as your name, company details, and contact information.

2. Problem/Opportunity: The second slide delves into the heart of the matter, outlining the problem or opportunity your product or service addresses. This is your chance to spotlight the pain points or unmet needs of your target audience.

3. Value Proposition: Slide three is dedicated to showcasing your offering’s unique value proposition. Showcase the benefits your product or service offers, emphasizing why it stands out in the market.

4. Underlying Magic: On the fourth slide, unveil the magic behind your product or service—the innovative technology or approach that sets you apart from the competition. Keep it concise yet impactful.

5. Business Model: Slide five zooms in on your business model, elucidating how you plan to generate revenue and sustain profitability. This is your opportunity to demonstrate the viability of your venture to potential investors or stakeholders.

6. Go-to-Market Plan: The sixth slide outlines your strategy for bringing your product or service to market. From marketing initiatives to sales tactics, provide a roadmap for achieving your business goals.

7. Competitive Analysis: Slide seven offers insights into your competitive landscape. Analyze rival offerings, sales processes, and marketing strategies, highlighting how your approach positions you for success.

8. Management Team: The eighth slide spotlights your management team, showcasing their expertise, experience, and contributions to your venture’s success. Investors want to know they’re backing a capable and skilled team.

9. Financial Projections and Key Metrics: Slide nine presents a snapshot of your business’s financial outlook, featuring projections, key metrics, and budget plans. This is crucial for demonstrating the potential return on investment.

10. Current Status and Use of Funds: Finally, the tenth slide wraps up your presentation by providing an overview of your current status, accomplishments to date, timeline for future milestones, and how you plan to allocate the funds you seek. It’s your opportunity to leave a lasting impression with a strong call to action .

By adhering to Kawasaki’s 10 concepts rule, presenters can streamline their message, captivate their audience, and effectively drive home their key points. Whether pitching to investors, presenting to stakeholders, or sharing insights with colleagues, this rule is a guiding beacon for impactful presentations.

The 20-Minute Rule

Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule for presentations doesn’t just focus on the number of slides or font size; it also emphasizes the importance of time management, particularly the 20-minute rule. According to Kawasaki, speakers should end a presentation within 20 minutes, as audience attention tends to wane beyond this timeframe.

1. Attention Span: With human attention spans dwindling, Kawasaki stresses the need to keep presentations concise, avoiding fatigue or disengagement from the audience. This rule aligns with research indicating that people tune out after about 10 minutes, making a 20-minute duration optimal to engage your audience .

2. TED Talks Model: The effectiveness of the 20-minute rule is mirrored in popular public speaking formats like TED Talks, where speakers deliver impactful messages within this timeframe. These fast-paced, engaging, and memorable talks prove that brevity doesn’t compromise substance.

3. Structuring Your Talk: Adhering to the 20-minute limit simplifies the planning and structuring process. Presenters can effectively allocate time to each slide or critical point, ensuring all essential information is covered within the allotted timeframe.

4. Audience Engagement: Longer presentations risk losing audience interest and focus. By keeping presentations under 20 minutes, presenters increase the likelihood of audience retention and comprehension.

5. Flexible Time Slots: While presentations may be scheduled for longer durations, sticking to the 20-minute rule allows for flexibility. It leaves ample time for questions, discussions, and unforeseen technical issues, ensuring a smooth and efficient presentation experience.

6. Practical Considerations: Kawasaki acknowledges real-world challenges, such as technical setup time or late arrivals, emphasizing the importance of delivering a succinct pitch within the designated timeframe.

7. Structured Approach: A well-structured 20-minute presentation typically includes a brief introduction, problem statement or question, main body of critical points, and a concise conclusion. This format maximizes impact while respecting audience attention spans.

Adhering to the 20-minute rule enhances presentation effectiveness, keeping audiences engaged and ensuring key messages resonate effectively within a limited timeframe.

The 30-Point Font Rule

Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule emphasizes not just the content of presentations but also their readability, especially with the 30-point font rule. Keeping font sizes at a minimum of 30 points ensures clarity and prevents overcrowding on slides, thus enhancing audience engagement.

1. Clarity Overload: Small fonts on slides can distract and overwhelm audiences, drawing attention away from the presenter. Kawasaki stresses the importance of legibility in focusing on critical points and preventing audiences from reading ahead and disengaging.

2. Key Point Focus: Presenters must distill their content to essential points by enforcing a minimum 30-point font size. This practice prevents information overload and ensures audiences remain attentive and receptive to the speaker’s message.

3. Accessibility Consideration: Larger font sizes benefit individuals with visual impairments, ensuring presentation inclusivity. Kawasaki’s rule aligns with accessibility guidelines, making presentations accessible to a broader audience.

4. Strategic Content Selection: Adhering to the 30-point font rule prompts presenters to prioritize content, selecting only the most critical information for inclusion. This selective approach enhances audience comprehension and retention.

5. Visual Clarity: Larger fonts enhance slide legibility, reducing strain on the audience’s eyes and encouraging active engagement. This approach fosters a smoother presentation flow and facilitates audience understanding.

6. Content Quality: Limiting font size to 30 points or above forces presenters to focus on conveying key messages effectively. This requirement encourages deeper understanding and more impactful content delivery.

7. Engagement Optimization: Font sizes of 30 points or higher keep audiences focused on the speaker rather than struggling to decipher small text. This fosters a more engaging and immersive presentation experience, maximizing audience retention and comprehension.

Adhering to Kawasaki’s 30-point font rule ensures that presentations are clear, concise, and accessible to all audience members. By prioritizing readability and content focus, presenters can deliver more impactful presentations that resonate with their audiences.

Applying The 10-20-30 Rule Beyond VC Presentations

Entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki devised the 10-20-30 Rule drawing from his venture expertise. While initially crafted for business pitches, its adaptability extends beyond the startup world. It’s a winning formula for anyone seeking to sway opinions, whether you’re pitching a product, securing funding, or simply conveying ideas.

The essence of the rule lies in simplicity and clarity. Limit your presentation to 10 slides, each delivered in 20 minutes, with a font size of no less than 30 points. This structure ensures focus, conciseness, and audience engagement.

This approach isn’t exclusive to business endeavors. Teachers, students, or professionals from any field can benefit. Suppose you’re a teacher discussing mindfulness in class. Embrace Kawasaki’s methodology by condensing your lecture into ten slides. While the initial slides might address your audience’s needs and your proposed solution, the subsequent ones should delve into the benefits of meditation. The final slides could encapsulate key takeaways and urge action tailored to your audience’s needs.

Moreover, leveraging PowerPoint templates streamlines the process, allowing you to concentrate on content delivery. Adhering to the 10-20-30 principle ensures your message remains focused and impactful, regardless of your presentation’s objective.

Wrap-Up: The 10 slides, 20 minutes and 30 Point Font Rule for Presentations

In the world of presentations, the 10-20-30 Rule is a beacon of guidance for marketers and presenters alike. Simplified for success, this rule packs a punch with its straightforward approach: 10 slides, 20 minutes, and a font size of 30 points. You’re poised to make a lasting impact by condensing your content into these parameters when you make your presentation.

First, limiting yourself to 10 slides forces you to distill your message to its core, highlighting only the most crucial points. This ensures that your audience stays focused on what truly matters.

The 20-minute timeframe keeps you on track and encourages you to deliver your message concisely and effectively. There is no room for rambling or unnecessary details here; every minute counts.

Lastly, the 30-point font size is a visual cue, reminding you to keep your slides clean and concise. Large fonts discourage cluttered slides and encourage you to focus on key takeaways, not wordy explanations.

Remember, while the 10-20-30 Rule may have its roots in marketing, its principles can be applied across various contexts. Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or professional, mastering this rule equips you with the tools to engage your audience and drive your point home with clarity and impact.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the 10-20-30 Rule for presentations?

The 10-20-30 Rule, popularized by Guy Kawasaki, is a guideline for crafting impactful presentations. It suggests limiting your presentation to 10 slides, keeping it within 20 minutes, and using a font size of at least 30 points. This rule aims to ensure brevity, clarity, and audience engagement.

2. Why is the 10-20-30 Rule important?

The rule emphasizes concise communication, respecting audience attention spans, and enhancing readability. By following this guideline, presenters can deliver focused, memorable presentations that effectively convey their message and captivate their audience.

3. How can I apply the 10-20-30 Rule to my presentations?

To apply the rule:

(a) Start by selecting essential points and condensing them into ten slides.

(b) Aim to deliver your presentation within a 20-minute timeframe, focusing on clarity and avoiding unnecessary details.

(c) Ensure your slides have a minimum font size of 30 points for optimal readability.

4. Can the 10-20-30 Rule be adapted for different types of presentations?

The rule’s principles can be adapted for various presentation contexts, including business pitches, academic lectures, or casual talks. Whether pitching a product, delivering a report, or teaching a class, adhering to the 10-20-30 Rule can help you streamline your message and engage your audience effectively.

Master Stellar Presentations with Prezentium’s 10-20-30 Rule Implementation

Transform your presentations with Prezentium ‘s expert services tailored to Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule. Say goodbye to long, tedious presentations that leave your audience snoozing or scrolling through their phones. Our overnight presentation service ensures you receive a stellar, concise presentation in your inbox by the next business day, adhering to Kawasaki’s guidelines for brevity and clarity.

Our team of presentation specialists will help you craft engaging slides, transforming your ideas into exquisite presentation designs while following the 10-slide rule. Whether you pitch a business idea or deliver a report, our experts will ensure your message is conveyed effectively within 20 minutes, keeping your audience engaged and focused.

Additionally, our Zenith Learning workshops combine structured problem-solving with visual storytelling, empowering you to master the art of presentations using the 10-20-30 Rule. Join us in reshaping how you approach presentations and leave a lasting impression on your audience. Let Prezentium be your partner in crafting captivating presentations that resonate with clarity and impact.

Why wait? Avail a complimentary 1-on-1 session with our presentation expert. See how other enterprise leaders are creating impactful presentations with us.

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5 golden rules of PowerPoint design

april 30, 2024

by Deb Ashby

Wondering how to design the perfect PowerPoint presentation? It's easier than you think–just follow five simple rules to get started:

1. Consider using templates

When building a slide deck, it’s important to maintain consistency throughout. We want to ensure we are using consistent font styles, colors and themes. This can be tricky when designing from scratch, so why not start from a template?

Microsoft Create contains hundreds of pre-made, customizable PowerPoint templates, which means you don’t have to start from scratch and the fonts and colors are already set for you.

Simply choose a template from the gallery, customize it as needed, and you are done!

2. No walls of text

We’ve all seen PowerPoint presentations where slides contain too much text. The human brain struggles to listen and read at the same time. If you are presenting to an audience, keep the text on slides to a minimum.

Consider employing the “5-5-5" rule. No more than 5 lines, no more than 5 words, no more than 5 minutes. Think short and sharp memory joggers instead of rambling paragraphs.

Where possible, consider replacing text with visuals to represent your point. People remember images more than words.

3. Be mindful of colors and fonts

No one wants their audience to leave with a headache after an hour of straining to read slides. We need to ensure that our presentation is easy to read for everyone – even for those in the nosebleed seats at the back! Think about the font you are using. Is it appropriate for the presentation? What about the font size? Can people at the back easily read? What about people with visual impairment? Ensure all text is at least 24pts.

When it comes to color, ensure all slides have good contrast. Dark backgrounds should have light font and vice versa.

4. Use animation sparingly

Animation can really liven up an otherwise flat presentation. However, it should be used thoughtfully and sparingly. Too much of the wrong type of animation with objects flying in and zooming around the screen, while fun, can look confusing and unprofessional.

Animation should be subtle (especially for pitch decks and other formal presentations). With every animation you add, ask yourself, "Is this going to enhance my presentation or distract from it?"

5. Engage your audience

When presenting to an audience, there is usually an awkward time before the presentation begins while the speaker waits for everyone to arrive. During this time, people may start scrolling on their phones or get distracted with work emails, and it can be hard to pull the audience back.

To avoid this issue, work to grab your audience's attention before the presentation even starts. Instead of just having the title slide on the screen, consider creating "kiosk slides." These are a series of slides that contain a combination of interesting things for the audience to look at or engage with. Maybe you have an interesting image? A funny quote or fun facts? Or maybe there is a question you want them to think about prior to the session?

Create these slides and have them automatically cycle round before the presentation starts.

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What Is the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint?

Published: November 12, 2020

Despite how many PowerPoint presentations I’ve given in my life, I’ve always struggled with understanding the best practices for creating them. I know they need to look nice, but figuring out how to make them aesthetically pleasing and informative is tough. 

I’m sure my experience isn’t unique, as finding the correct balance between content, design, and timing can be difficult. Marketers know this more than anyone, as success in the role is often marked by being able to create engaging campaigns that tell a story and inspire audiences to take a specific action, like purchasing a product. 

However, PowerPoint presentations are different from advertisements. Understanding how to leverage your marketing knowledge when creating PowerPoints can be tricky. Still, there are various resources for marketers to use when creating presentations, one of which is the 10/20/30 rule. 

What is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint?

The 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint is a straightforward concept: no PowerPoint presentation should be more than ten slides, longer than 20 minutes, and use fonts smaller than 30 point size. 

Coined by Guy Kawasaki, the rule is a tool for marketers to create excellent PowerPoint presentations. Each element of the formula helps marketers find a balance between design and conceptual explanations, so you can capture audience attention, emphasize your points, and enhance readability. 

Guy Kawasaki PowerPoint

Guy Kawasaki , one of the early Apple employees, championed the concept of a ‘brand evangelist’ to describe his position. He spent most of his time working to generate a follower base for Macintosh, the family of Apple computers. Today he works as a brand evangelist for Canva, an online graphic design tool. 

Given that he’s had significant experience giving presentations to captivate audiences, he’s figured out that the 10/20/30 is a successful formula to follow. Kawasaki’s book, Art of The Start , is where he first introduced the concept and described how it works.

Let’s cover each part of the rule in more detail. 

Kawasaki believes that it’s challenging for audiences to comprehend more than ten concepts during a presentation. Given this, marketers should aim to create PowerPoints with no more than ten slides, i.e., ten ideas you’ll explain. Using fewer slides and focusing on the critical elements helps your audience grasp the concepts you’re sharing with them. 

In practice, this means creating slides that are specific and straight to the point. For example, say you’re presenting on the success of your recent campaign. Your marketing strategy was likely extensive, and you took a series of different actions to obtain your end result. Instead of outlining every aspect of your campaign, you would use your slides to outline its main elements of your strategy. This could look like individual slides for summarizing the problem you hoped to solve, your goals, the steps you took to reach your goals, and post-campaign analytics data that summarizes your accomplishments. 

It’s important to note that there shouldn’t be overwhelming amounts of text on your slides. You want them to be concise. Your audience should get most of the information from the words you’re speaking; your slides should be more supplemental than explanatory. 

After you’ve spent time coming up with your ten key points, you’ll need to present them in 20 minutes. Knowing that you’ll only have 20 minutes also makes it easier to plan and structure your talk, as you’ll know how much time to dedicate to each slide, so you address all relevant points.

Kawasaki acknowledges that presentation time slots can often be longer, but finishing at the 20-minute mark leaves time for valuable discussion and Q&A. Saving time in your presentation also leaves space for technical difficulties. 

30 Point Font

If you’ve been in the audience during a presentation, you probably know that slides with small font can be challenging to read and take your attention away from the speaker. 

Kawasaki’s final rule is that no font within your presentation should be smaller than 30 point size. If you’ve already followed the previous rules, then you should be able to display your key points on your slides in a large enough font that users can read. Since your key points are short and focused, there won’t be a lot of text for your audience to read, and they’ll spend more time listening to you speak. 

Given that the average recommended font size for accessibility is 16, using a 30-point font ensures that all members of your audience can read and interact with your slides. 

Make Your Presentations More Engaging

The 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint is meant to help marketers create powerful presentations. 

Each element of the rule works in tandem with the other: limiting yourself to 10 slides requires you to select the most salient points to present to your audience. A 20-minute timeline helps you ensure that you’re contextualizing those slides as you speak, without delving into unnecessary information. Using a 30-point font can act as a final check for your presentation, as it emphasizes the importance of only displaying key points on your slides, rather than huge blocks of text. Font size then circles back around to the ten slides, as you’ll craft sentences from your key points that will fit on your slides in 30-point font. 

Being mindful of slide count, text size, and presentation length ensures that your audiences are captivated by your words as you explain the value behind your work. 

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10 Tips to Make Your PowerPoint Presentation Effective

You may have heard of the famous 10/20/30 rule , devised by Guy Kawasaki , for designing presentations. This rule states that using 10 slides in 20 minutes at a 30 point minimum font size is the most effective presentation strategy—but what does this really mean?

The most important thing to remember, particularly if you’re using PowerPoint to convey your message, is to keep your audience in mind when preparing your presentation. Your audience wants a relevant presentation, not just something that is visually appealing .

A common mistake speakers make when designing PowerPoint presentations is being too passionate about it that they put everything they know into it. In trying to get their point across, presenters tend to use complex jargon and impart too much information, leaving the audience confused about the actual purpose of the presentation.

So how can you simplify your information but still convey a powerful message to your audience?

Here are 10 suggestions:

1) Cut out the wordiness

Ironic as it may seem, an essential part of proving a point is to use a minimal amount of words per slide so that the audience is focused on you, not on the screen. It’s rather difficult for any kind of audience to read texts and listen to you at the same time. If you have longer statements, break them down into multiple slides and highlight the key words. This doesn’t mean you limit your content to dull, boring facts. Feel free to incorporate anecdotes or quotes as long as they’re relevant and support your message.

2) Add pictures

Instead of more words, supplement your ideas with vivid imagery. Again, the key is not overusing photos to the point that it makes your presentations look unprofessional. Photos should only be used if they promote or emphasize the main idea of your slide.

3) Use appropriate animation

Like pictures, use animation only when appropriate and only if you’ve completely rehearsed your presentation with the animation flow. Otherwise, they will be distracting and will make it appear that you’ve designed your presentation in poor taste.

4) Don’t overuse numbers

As with words, minimize the amount of numbers you present in each slide. If you have charts that summarize the total figures toward the end, then you no longer need to fill up your entire chart with the little numbers on the scale.

5) Use large fonts

Aside from the obvious reason that larger fonts are more readable, size dictates the impact of your message and a larger one makes it easier for your audience to clearly grasp what you’re saying or want to highlight. Aside from font size, pay attention to the spacing between paragraphs, rows, and columns; you don’t want your text to appear jumbled.

6) Maintain consistency

The whole objective of your presentation is to drive home a point, not to make your presentation look cheesy. Keep your font sizes and the size and format of a box on one page consistent throughout your slides.

7) Limit bullet points

Keep your bullet points to a maximum of 5-6 per slide. In addition, the words per bullet point should also be limited to 5-6 words. It’s also wise to vary what you present in each slide, such as alternating between bullet points, graphics, and graph slides, in order to sustain the interest and focus of your audience.

8) Choose colors and contrast effectively .

Use bold colors and high contrast. A color may look completely different on your monitor than it will when projected on a large screen.

9) Tell a story

Everyone loves a good story , especially if it’s something that they can easily relate to. A good story begins with a problem and the more irritating the problem is for the audience, the more effective your presentation will be once you’ve provided a possible solution for them.

10) Be flexible

In order to develop a strong connection with your audience, you need to be flexible with your slides. During your speech, you may feel that some slides have become unnecessary; therefore you want to prepare your presentation in such a way that you can easily interchange or eliminate them. Conversely, prepare some optional slides in anticipation of questions or ideas you expect from your audience. This will give your presentation the “wow” factor.

When using PowerPoint to deliver a PowerFUL point, your goal isn’t to design the best presentation but the most effective one. This means creating a presentation that your audience can connect with through interest, participation, memory recall, and ideally, learning something useful.

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The Golden Rules of holding the audience attention in presentations

There are innumerable ways to structure PowerPoint presentations based on the context and the requirements. However, presentations, not unlike other forms of communication, do have some ground rules that are often considered cardinal regardless of what is being presented. Savvy presenters understand that they cannot take the audience’s attention span for granted and work smartly to get the most out of the time the audience gives them. 

A lot of research has been done on the methods of presentation delivery. SlideUpLift has compiled a list of these rules for you to create an impact when you adopt these practices.

In this blog, you will learn

Importance Of Organizing For Attention Capture

10-20-30 Rule

Single Big Idea

The 15-75-10 Narrative

• SlideUpLift Templates For Business Presentations

Many forms of media and communication take the idea of attention capture very seriously- think about the last time you saw a TV ad the ad was likely a few seconds long and the creators worked very hard to get the message across in those few seconds- every aspect was optimized knowing fully well that precious attention from the audience is likely to wander off if anything goes off tangent in the advertisement. There is more: think of posters, of banner ads on websites- all of these are designed around constraints of space or time- limiting how much time and attention the audience could really give.

Now think of PowerPoint presentations: the audience behavior is likely to not deviate much: In fact, studies have indicated that the average duration of focused attention span is 8 seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2020; there are enough distractions in today’s digital world that drive these trends.

Bottom line is, presenters need to actively think about the topic of holding the attention of their audience. The ease of editing slides in tools like PowerPoint is a proverbial double-edged sword -since it is so easy to add slides, text, graphics, etc that the presenters often can do too much without seeing the slippery slope they are on when that occurs. 

Presentation Rules To Maximize Attention Span

Each of the following rules presents powerful ideas towards capturing and holding the audience’s attention. These can be used in isolation or combined to cater to your specific requirements and objectives for a presentation.

Guy Kawasaki , a venture capitalist well versed in making and assessing presentations, came up with the 10-20-30 Rule. He created this rule in response to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to him using dense 60+ slides PowerPoint presentations to explain something that could have been explained in 10. While he made the rule in the realm of venture capitalism and start-up pitches , the 10-20-30 Rule can be applied pretty much unanimously for every business need.

The rule states that each presentation should have no more than 10 slides each. The total time taken for the presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. And the font size for all the text in the presentation should not be less than 30 px. 

10 Slides – This is in reference to people’s attention spans and the power of retention. For the average human, the information given concisely and carefully is more effective, rather than long-winded explanations and detailed descriptions. Thus, 10 slides are the optimum number of slides to put relevant information that can actually be retained. 

20 Minutes – This is the maximum time an audience is willing to give you after experiencing several bouts of attention loss. So, wrap up your presentation within 20 minutes to keep the audience interested and focused.

30 px font size – The dilemma of putting in more information at the expense of font size is a struggle every presenter’s faces. However, having the bottom line read 30 px for the font size constrains a presenter into making their information short and effective, rather than relying on long-winded explanations crammed onto a page in 10px font size. 

Business Pitch Deck

Source: Business Pitch Deck by SlideUpLift

The 5-5-5 Rule follows the principles of the 10-20-30 Rule, in the sense that it seeks to quantify the structure of a presentation. However, it delves deeper into the details of PowerPoint presentations through the number 5 and talks about structuring information within a single slide.

The three 5s stand for

5 words – There should be no more than 5 words in one sentence (in a slide). This keeps the sentence focused only on the objectives, rather than creating a whole story around it.

5 sentences – There should be no more than 5 sentences or lines of text on a single slide. This makes each slide that much more approachable and readable for the audience. 

5 slides – There should not be 5 text-heavy slides within a presentation in a row. Space them out as much as possible. Having text-heavy slides back to back can cause information overload and fatigue in the audience.

One of our guiding principles is the notion of a “Single Big Idea”. The premise of this idea is two-fold. The overall presentation should be focused on the main vision and goal of the presentation. For instance, if the goal is customer acquisition, the whole presentation, tonality, graphics, story flow, messaging should be focused on customer acquisition. 

Moreover, each slide should also follow the concept of a “single big idea”. Treat each slide with the reverence given to the overall presentation, ensuring that each element, be it visual or textual, aligns with and reinforces the larger idea being presented on that slide.

One of the best tools in a presenter’s toolbox for making presentations is storytelling . We as human beings love stories and absorb messages without even realizing it.

One of the ways to structure your PowerPoint presentations is to narrativize them. The 15-75-10 rule is one way to do it

The 15% Introduction : This should be about 15% of the whole presentation, wherein you introduce yourself if needed, and the larger idea that you intend to convey within the presentation. You can also establish your touchpoints and objectives right at the beginning. 

The 75% Body : Consisting of about 75% of the presentation, the body is where each of your touchpoints is elaborated on using anecdotes, examples, statistics, and information related to them. The body should answer the questions of what, why, and how for the topic.

The 10% Conclusion : The last 10% of your presentation should be the conclusion. A good conclusion is not just a conclusion slide with a thank you note on it. A solid conclusion summarises the presentation, talks about key points of focus, provides contact information, has a call-to-action, and prompts audience engagement to recall and revise everything said during the presentation. Conclusions are brief but powerful parts of a presentation.

Also learn a few tips on effective public speaking .

SlideUpLift Templates for PowerPoint Presentations

SlideUpLift consists of a team of visual design and business experts that are well-versed in both presentation structures, and business foundations for communication. As such, each presentation is made keeping in mind their impact and effectiveness for each topic. 

All SlideUpLift presentations work with the rules of structuring that best fit that particular topic. From project reviews to SWOT analysis , each template is guided by the golden rules of presentation structuring to create a unified and cohesive template that fits all business requirements. Creating impactful, engaging, and effective PowerPoint presentations has never been easier.

Value Proposition PowerPoint

Source: Value Proposition powerPoint by SlideUpLift

Customer Journey Executive Summary

Source: Customer Journey Executive Summary by SlideUpLift

Ladder Diagram

Source: Ladder Diagram by SlideUpLift

Puzzle PowerPoint Template

Source: Puzzle PowerPoint Template by SlideUpLift

Project Kickoff

Source: Project KickOff Presentation by SlideUpLift

It’s a given that a good presentation needs a great structure. But understanding the rules that govern human psychology is extremely important to make an impact when presenting, whether to a group of people or an individual. Using presentation templates that pre-bake such insights and are created specifically to capture the audience’s attention is a smart thing to do.

Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint Templates from within PowerPoint. See how ?

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7 Simple rules to help you create effective powerpoint presentations

Make effective presentations by following simple but important presentation rules.

Supriya Sarkar

Building presentations

Presentations are powerful tools for conveying information and at the same time engaging the audience so that they retain the information that is shared. However, creating an impactful and engaging PowerPoint presentation requires adherence to certain rules. In this guide, we'll explore key principles to help you craft presentations that captivate your audience. Also, we will discuss some tips and common mistakes in creating an effective presentation.

Implementing effective presentation techniques

To create an effective presentation, you need to know the basic techniques first. Think of these techniques as the building blocks for your presentation. Once you have these basics in place, you can then make improvements to make your presentation even better. This might mean adjusting things as you go based on how your audience is reacting, being open to changing your content on the spot and adding interactive elements to keep everyone engaged.

Rule 1: Engaging and memorable in just one slide

When you present one idea per slide, you allow your audience to focus on a single concept, making it easier for them to comprehend and remember. Complex ideas can be overwhelming, so breaking them down into smaller, digestible pieces helps your audience follow your message more effectively.

Rule 2: Following the 5 rules for creating effective presentation slides

Spend only one minute or less on each slide to keep things lively and avoid overwhelming your audience. The 5/5/5 rule is a simple guide to keep things short and sweet. Stick to five words per line, no more than five lines per slide, and steer clear of having five slides in a row with lots of text. This way, your audience won't feel bombarded with too much information, and you can share details in manageable bits. This helps keep your audience engaged and paying attention.

Rule 3: Avoiding slide overload for clear messages

Putting too much stuff on slides can make it hard for people to read and listen. To follow Rule 1 (about having one idea per slide), limit your elements to six or fewer on each slide. This keeps things focused. Also, use short text, add some space (white space), and include images or graphics smartly. Doing this helps you deliver your message effectively, making it easier for the audience to remember what you're sharing.

Rule 4: Mastering slide design to get your message across efficiently

The title at the top of each slide is like a signpost for your message. A clear and meaningful heading acts as a cue, helping your audience understand what's coming up. Make sure your heading is a short and clear summary of what you'll talk about on that slide. Everything on the slide should support that heading, like a team working together. This makes it easy for your audience to follow your message smoothly. Keep it concise and to the point!

How to create engaging slides?

Visuals are crucial for creating engaging slides. Think of making presentations like crafting art, where colors, fonts, and images play pivotal roles. Let's delve into each of these factors to understand their significance and technique in detail.

Rule 5: Utilizing effective slide design

Picking the correct font and its color is crucial. It doesn't just make things easier to read but also boosts how well your presentation works. To make words clearer, go for colors that stand out, keep backgrounds simple, and use big fonts. This helps everyone see and understand your slides better. Stay away from italics, underlining, or all caps because they might take attention away from your main message. Keep it simple and easy on the eyes!

Rule 6: Using appropriate animation and transitions

Try to steer clear of using too many animations. Studies indicate that people generally don't enjoy a lot of movement in a presentation. While animations can make things interesting, it's important to use them sparingly. Small, subtle animations can help highlight key points and make your audience remember things better. But, if you use too many flashy movements, it might distract people and make your presentation less effective.

Rule 7: Implementing visual presentations such as graphs and images

Visual elements, such as images and graphs, add interest and engagement to your presentation. However, it's essential to strike a balance. Avoid overly complex graphics that may confuse your audience. When you decide to use a graph or chart, make sure to explain what it shows so everyone understands the information you're sharing. Keeping things clear and simple ensures your visuals add to the presentation without making it confusing.

Tips for delivering successful PowerPoint presentations

Adhering to the presentation rules will help you enhance the audience experience, but also ensure the efficient delivery of your PowerPoint presentation. There are a few presentation tips that will not only assist you in following the rules discussed above but will also develop the necessary skills to keep your audience engaged.

Strategies for engaging content:

To make your presentation more engaging try to craft a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience. You can share relatable stories to evoke emotions that can help in making your topic more relatable and interesting. Choose visually appealing slides and break down complex concepts into digestible bits that can be easily understood and retained. Enhance interactivity by incorporating questions, polls, and activities to infuse life into your presentation. This dynamic approach ensures your audience stays not just informed but actively involved throughout your talk.

Know your audience:

Tailor your presentation to the needs, interests, and knowledge level of your audience. Understanding your audience allows you to adjust your content and tone accordingly.

Developing presentation skills:

Refine your presentation skills to captivate your audience. Practice confident body language, maintain consistent eye contact, and modulate your voice for emphasis. These practices not only boost your credibility but also amplify your persuasive impact. Engage with your audience to build a connection, intensifying the impact of your message.

Enhancing understanding with simple rules:

Adhere to straightforward presentation rules to enhance audience comprehension. Utilize clear and concise headings, limit the text on each slide, and incorporate visuals strategically. Ensure that your message is easy to follow and doesn't overwhelm the audience with unnecessary details.

Maximizing slide impact:

Each slide should contribute significantly to your message. Highlight key points, use visually striking elements, and maintain a clean design. Colors and fonts play a very important role. Eliminate unnecessary clutter, ensuring that every component on the slide serves a specific purpose.

Efficient presentation delivery:

Focus on delivering your presentation with efficiency. Practice your timing to ensure a smooth flow, avoid unnecessary technical jargon, and actively encourage audience participation. Keep the presentation dynamic and engaging to sustain interest from the beginning to the end.

Common mistakes to avoid in PowerPoint presentations

Let's take a closer look at the common mistakes we often see and find the best ways to avoid them.

Avoiding overloaded slides and complicated visuals:

Resist the temptation to overload a single slide with excessive information or complex data charts. Keep it simple and focused to ensure your audience easily grasps the key points without feeling overwhelmed. The "Rule of One Slide, One Idea" emphasizes steering clear of overstuffed slides, allowing for a more effective and digestible presentation.

Minimizing the use of text-heavy slides for maximum impact:

Presenters sometimes put too much text on slides to help them remember what to say. However, this can make the audience lose interest and the message isn't as clear.  Don't drown your slides in text. Use short and impactful messages. Use visuals, bullet points, and brief text to convey your message effectively, keeping your audience's attention intact.

Avoiding ineffective presentation design elements:

Every visual and layout choice should enhance your message and not distract or confuse your audience. Therefore, stay clear of design elements that don't contribute meaningfully to your presentation.

Avoiding fonts that are difficult to read or understand:

Choose fonts wisely. Select clear, readable fonts that ensure your audience can easily comprehend your content. Avoid italics or complex fonts that may hinder rather than aid understanding. Consider using a font size of 30 points or larger. This ensures readability for people sitting at a distance and those with vision impairments, enhancing the overall accessibility of your presentation.

Benefits of following the presentation rules

Following these presentation rules results in more engaging, comprehensible, and impactful presentations that effectively convey messages to the audience.

Audience engagement:

Following the rules maintains audience engagement by preventing information overload. Limiting each slide's content ensures details are shared in manageable bits, adding interest with visuals while ensuring clarity. Explaining visuals contributes to better audience understanding.

Impactful delivery:

Basic guidelines, such as limiting elements per slide and employing clear headings, enhance message delivery. These rules facilitate focused communication, progressive build-up on complex topics, and seamless audience guidance, resulting in improved understanding.

Visually appealing:

By following rules to enhance visual appeal in your presentation, such as choosing readable fonts, high-contrast colors, and simple backgrounds, you not only improve the aesthetics but also facilitate better information retention for your audience. This is supported by data indicating that individuals process images at a rate 60,000 times faster than text, with 90% of information transmitted to the brain being visual.

Improves retention:

Emphasizing a single, digestible idea per slide enables focused comprehension and better retention. The use of subtle animations to highlight key points enhances audience retention, avoiding excessive movements that may distract from the presentation's effectiveness.

How Prezent help you make an effective presentation in less time?

Understanding the challenges faced by businesses to adhere to the presentation rules, Prezent brings in features that makes the task easier for presenters.

Hyper-personalized presentation: Prezent’s Fingerprint feature helps you understand your audience's preferences, allowing you to customize your presentation accordingly. This ensures resonance with the audience, enhancing its overall effectiveness.

Slide library for visual appeal: You can access the Slide Library to choose background images, layouts, and graphical charts for your data. Prezent facilitates easy audience engagement with compelling imagery, elevating the visual appeal of your presentation.

Compelling narratives with storyline: You can leverage Prezent's Storyline builder , which offers over 35,000 pre-built narratives. These structured storylines assist in breaking down complex topics into easily understandable information, creating an impactful and engaging presentation experience.

Real-time collaboration: The real-time collaboration feature facilitates seamless teamwork, allowing multiple contributors to work on the presentation simultaneously. This collaborative approach fosters efficiency, ensuring that the collective efforts result in a well-coordinated and polished final product.

Brand compliance: Prezent enables swift alignment with established brand standards, ensuring 100% brand compliance in just a few minutes. Transform your slides seamlessly to achieve a harmonious blend of colors, fonts, and visuals. This ensures a consistent reflection of your brand's standards, guaranteeing a professional presentation every time.

Follow these essential presentation rules to ensure your message has a lasting impact. To enhance efficiency in your business communication and presentation creation process, explore Prezent with a free trial . Schedule a demo to experience all the product features and understand the value it can add to your business.

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• Presentations
• Presentation Techniques

Rules of PowerPoint (Rule of 3 and More)

Do you want to give the best presentation? Have you ever created a presentation and thought it could be better but don’t know how to make it better? You can follow PowerPoint rules to make your presentation look better.

One of these rules is the rule of three. In this article, we’ll cover the rule of three and other PowerPoint rules to help you create better presentations.

Jump to content in this section:

What Is the Rule of Three?

How to use the rule of three in your presentation, more powerpoint rules.

Before we cover how to use the rule of three in your PowerPoint presentation, we need to answer the questions: what is the rule of three?  

This writing principle says people understand concepts, situations, and ideas in three groups. This rule can work for sentences, situations, or stories.

We are used to things coming in threes. Many phrases come in threes such as:

• blood, sweat, and tears
• stop, drop, and roll

Since it’s so common, our brain remembers things that come in three more easily because it's expected.

Now we’ve answered the question, what is the rule of 3? Let’s look at how to use it in PowerPoint presentations.

The presentation that will be used throughout this article is the Minimal Presentation PowerPoint Template from Envato Elements.

This premium template comes with over 300 total slides. It also comes with ten color scheme options that you can choose from.

If you want to add some visual interest to your presentation, this template makes it easy through its picture placeholders and 4000 vector icons that come with it.

The rule of three can be used to make your presentation more memorable and stand out. This is how you use the rule of three in your presentation, along with some rule of three examples.

1. Divide Your Presentation

When making a presentation that uses the rule of three, you need to divide your presentation into three parts. The parts are usually the beginning, middle, and end.

Two other ways you can divide your presentation are:

• opportunity, solution, benefit
• problem, solution, action

Your whole presentation should be structured around the number three. This means that you should have three main points in your presentation.

For example, three main points of a presentation could be:

• dogs, cats, and hamsters

Another example would be if your presentation were about the environment. You could divide it into three parts:

• identification
• conservation.

2. Use Bullet Points

According to the rule of three, you should only use three bullet points to support your points.

Three points are easier to remember. When you have three bullet points, your presentation looks full without looking overwhelmingly full.

3. Use Catchy Phrases

If you use catchy phrases, you should follow the rule of three to make those phrases more memorable.

You can use the rule of three in two ways.

• You can have a catchy phrase with three words, such as “lights, camera, action.” 
• You can also use a phrase with three words like this quote from Plato: “There are three classes of men: lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”

4. Use Visual Images

Every good presentation has visuals, but how do you use the rule of three with your visuals?

It's simple. If you use icons, you should only use three. If you use images, follow the rule of three.

You can also use a single image containing three aspects—the ground, mountains, and the horizon.

5. Use the Rule of Three in Flow Charts

Using the rule of three for this part is more complicated, but it is necessary to follow the rule. If you use graphs or flowcharts, you should have three main sections of that chart.

Flowcharts are great to show the process. If you want to follow the rule of three, make sure that It has three main sections.

If you use a graph to represent data, try to have three sections in your graph. For example, if you use a bar graph try having three bars in that graph if possible.

6. Use Three Main Colors

When deciding your color scheme, you should consider the rule of three. This can mean having three main colors that you use throughout your presentation. It can also mean having three colors on your slide.

Here are more PowerPoint rules that you can follow to make your presentation look better:

1. Rule of Thirds

You may be asking what’s the difference between the rule of three and the rule of thirds.

Let’s answer What's the rule of thirds?

The design rule of thirds is where you break up an image or design into different sections using columns and rows to form a grid. The grid is placed over the image and has nine equal boxes with three evenly spaced rows and columns.

The goal of the rule of thirds is that you don’t place the main elements in the center of images. You place the main elements on either the left or right. In the example above, you’ll see that the main focus (the girl with her dog) is on the left of the image, following the rule of thirds.

2. 5/5/5 Rule

The 5/5/5 rule says:

• You shouldn’t have more than five words per text in a line.
• Each slide should have no more than five lines.
• You shouldn’t have more than five text-heavy slides in a row.

When you have too many text-heavy slides in a row, it can tire your audience.

3. Font Rule

The font rule states that you should choose a font that is easy to read, and the color stands out against your slide background. Also, your text should be large enough for people in the back of the room to read it.

4. Seven by Seven

The seven-by-seven rule is where you use no more than seven words per line and no more than seven lines per visual.

If you need more words, make bullet points as sub-points below the main point. The maximum is one key point with six subpoints on a single slide.

Your slides are used to emphasize a single point. The example slide above follows the seven-by-seven rule because it has one key point and six sub-points.

5. Image Rule

The image rule is that you should use an image that is relevant to your presentation.

For example, if you’re doing a presentation on food, having an image of a basketball can confuse the audience. Your audience may forget the text but are more likely to remember your image. You also shouldn’t have too many images or graphics because they lose their effect if you do.

6. The One Principle

The one principle is similar to the image rule. It states that you should limit each visual to one idea, concept, or main point.

It can be overwhelming for the audience if you have more than one main point on a slide and use visuals for multiple points.

7. One-Minute Test

The one-minute test is where you put yourself in the audience's shoes. If your audience needs more than one minute to figure out what your slide says, then it’s too complex. If your slide is too complex, it can cause your audience to lose focus on what you’re saying.

8. 10/20/30 Rule

The 10/20/30 rule says a presentation should be no more than ten slides longer than twenty minutes and use fonts no smaller than thirty.

Some believe it's hard for audiences to comprehend more than ten concepts during a presentation. This means that your presentation shouldn’t have more than ten slides.

Knowing you have twenty minutes to give your presentation allows you to structure your presentation well.

The Top Source for PowerPoint Templates

Do you want to save time? Do you want to impress others with your presentation design? Then, try a premium PowerPoint template.

The best source for premium PowerPoint templates is Envato Elements. Using a premium template saves time because you don’t have to design a presentation from scratch. It’s already done for you.

A good template has labeled sections where all you need to do is add your text into the text holders and images in the picture placeholders. Every premium template is by professionals to be stylish and impressive. If you like to add personal touches to your presentation, you can still use a good premium template that is easily customizable.

Envato Elements is a premium subscription service with a low monthly fee and unlimited access to premium digital assets. Some of these assets include:

• premium templates

Learn More About PowerPoint

Read these articles and tutorials to learn more about PowerPoint:

Download a Premium PowerPoint Template Today!

Next time you need to make a PowerPoint presentation , try using one of these PowerPoint rules to make your presentation look better and more memorable. To impress your audience, download a premium template from Envato Elements. Sign up for Envato Elements today!

What Are The Basic Rules For Creating A Presentation?

‍ “The details are not the details. They make the design.” ~ famed designer and architect Charles Eames

The late Charles Eames , renowned 20th-century master of design and architecture, had a point when he said the details make the design. After all, a visual presentation is a sum of its parts. If designed strategically, however, an effective and cohesive design is transformed into more than a sum of its parts— it becomes a valuable entity all its own. Still, it all starts with the basic design elements and presentation rules.

Want to design an effective visual presentation that communicates your message and achieves your objectives? Be sure to remember the following seven basic rules for creating a presentation:

1. Speak to your audience

"Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it 'to whom it may concern ." ~ Ken Haemer , former AT&T presentation research manager

Effective presentations aren’t one size fits all. To reach an audience, a presentation design should be catered to that audience. You wouldn’t reach a room of business executives in the same way you would communicate with a room of fourth-graders. 

The audience should be considered in every design choice. What sort of humor would the audience respond to? What types of images would best catch its collective interest? What basic knowledge of the topic does the audience already know? Each of these considerations should impact how the message is communicated and how the presentation is designed. 

2. Remember the 10/20/30 rule

“Think of your slides as billboards. When people drive, they only briefly take their eyes off their main focus, which is the road, to process a billboard of information. Similarly, your audience should focus intently on what you’re saying, looking only briefly at your slides when you display them.” ~ Nancy Duarte , author and CEO of Duarte, Inc.

It isn’t always easy for amateur designers to know the difference between principles of good design and what amounts to a hot mess. One of the more basic PowerPoint presentation rules is the 10/20/30 rule .

What is the 10/20/30 rule? It’s threefold yet simple:

• Use no more than 10 slides in your presentation.
• Present for no longer than 20 minutes.
• Use fonts no smaller than 30 points in your design.

While experienced presentation designers might veer away from this rule for certain slide decks, a beginning designer can follow the 10/20/30 rule to keep their audience interested, provide an appropriate amount of information and ensure their message clearly can be understood.

3. Customize your theme or branded style

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” ~ Paul Rand , art director and corporate logo designer

Consistency and unity are vital aspects of an effective presentation. Every slide should look like it’s part of a package with specific typography and color palettes . 

Presentation designers might spend hours customizing the details on each PowerPoint slide, or they can use a PowerPoint alternative presentation software like Beautiful.ai and create a custom theme that not only unifies the slides into a cohesive design, but also reflects a brand’s style guide .

4. Include high-quality assets

“There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.” ~ Milton Glaser , famed graphic designer

If a presentation design is a sum of its parts, then those parts must be of a premium caliber. High-quality presentations are made up of high-quality elements, including vivid photos, eye-catching videos and engaging infographics. 

Beautiful.ai users can choose from a library of thousands of free stock photos, icons and logos. The cloud-based PowerPoint alternative presentation design software also makes it simple for users to add high-quality music and other audio tracks , as well as a variety of animations to bring presentations to life.

5. Illustrate your data

“I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way,” ~ artist Georgia O’Keefe

Numbers rarely lie, but they also don’t always make a lot of sense to audiences. Nobody wants to sit through a presentation where they are inundated with so much data that they are either left confused or asleep. 

But when data is illustrated, its story begins to emerge. Considering 65% of people are visual learners, data visualizations like infographics are a vital element of an effective presentation.

Beautiful.ai users can create a plethora of various graphs, charts and infographics to illustrate any type of data. Just choose the best type of infographic among the smart slide templates , enter the numbers and watch as artificial intelligence designs colorful and informative data visualizations, including bar graphs, scattergraphs, pie charts and so many more, right before your eyes.

6. Tell a story

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” ~ author Rudyard Kipling

Humans respond to emotion, and one of the best ways to convey emotion is through storytelling. Empathetic characters, personified data and relatable experiences all help convey emotional tones and messages. In fact, research has shown that multiple areas of the brain display heightened connectivity after the subject listens to a story.

Designing a presentation that tells a story , therefore, captures audience attention, holds its interest and conveys more powerful messages. Be sure to consider the narrative of your presentation when choosing how to illustrate your ideas. 

Remember, every good tale has a distinct beginning before following a story arc that leads to a powerful conclusion. Likewise, presentations are the perfect media to utilize elements of visual storytelling , which has long been used as an effective tool in the realms of both marketing and education, thanks to the additional engagement it fosters.

7. Less is more

“Simplicity, carried to an extreme, becomes elegance.” ~ Jon Franklin , author and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner

It’s easy to overdo it when adding elements to a presentation. After all, most presenters have a lot more information to convey than they can squeeze into a reasonable number of slides. 

It’s only natural to want to add as much as can fit onto a slide, but the most effective slide decks usually are the simplest presentations. Your audience isn’t there to read a novel, and adding too many details not only makes the information less digestible and less memorable, but the design also will appear cluttered, busy and unprofessional.

Simplicity is key in presentation design. Stick with two primary colors when customizing your theme, and add shades of these if additional hues are needed. Likewise, stick with a primary font and adjust its size and weight as needed to create a cohesive design. Use photos and data visualizations, but stick with no more than one or two per slide. 

As much as possible, let the visual elements of the presentation take the place of extra text. Remember, some empty space is your friend.

Of course, Beautiful.ai users don’t have to memorize these PowerPoint presentation rules. The PowerPoint-alternative software employs AI to apply the same principles of great design used by the pros, modifying the presentation design each time new content is added. They can also choose to customize multiple presentation templates , perfectly curated by professional designers to fit a variety of topics. 

Samantha Pratt Lile

Samantha is an independent journalist, editor, blogger and content manager. Examples of her published work can be found at sites including the Huffington Post, Thrive Global, and Buzzfeed.

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Creating an effective presentation in PowerPoint with the Rule of Thirds

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You’re preparing another presentation , yet you know that PowerPoint is an essential part of the job, and you face the same questions that plagued your previous presentations : 

Are these slides too full? Isn’t there a trick for creating an effective presentation in PowerPoint that I could easily implement?

Maybe you’re aware of overfilling your slides, but you’re wondering, “How can I not include all this information?  It is too important!”

I took a ride on slideshare and I found a presentation by Deloitte, which I will use as an example of overcrowding a slide.

Have you looked at it? It’s there in front of you, so it’s hard not to look. This is what you subject your audience to each time you show them a slide.

People can do one thing properly at a time, so if they look at your slide, they’re probably not listening to you anymore.

How much time elapses between when you start to look at the slide and when the audience comes back to look at you and pay attention to you again?

That is, how long are they not listening to your presentation , their attention too caught up in the slides?

Looking at the Deloitte slide, did you feel that you were facing a wall of information that looked the same, without knowing where to start reading?

If yes, do not worry, as that is a normal reaction. This slide is built on a layout that is not optimized for the content it’s presenting.

I am sure that the layout was chosen from among the layouts available in the slide master ( Check Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Master tutorial and save time  on your presentations ).

You can see that the fields have been kept: title and subtitle.

If it’s possible, you removed the placeholders and added the contents of the 4 colored boxes by hand .

The problem lies in the fact that we try to express complex concepts with a layout already prepared in the Slide Master of the deck, not optimized according to the needs of the content presented.

The result is that people will watch the slide but they will lose interest, as they will not find any point of support, and therefore will only read it from top to bottom.

However, no one wants to read the slides, and laziness makes us bounce from one side of the page to the other in an attempt to find a way to quickly catch the contents.

In the meantime, your audience is no longer listening to you; they are tired because they’re exposed to a great deal of information at the same time. This causes drowsiness and decreased attention.

I tried to redesign the slide to show you the impact of the technique I want to talk about in this article .

If you think about the starting slide of Deloitte, it could easily be a common layout , part of the everyday life of those who work professionally with PowerPoint .

What do you think?

According to the approach of Lean Presentation Design , it is not important that it is more beautiful or ugly, only that it works better.

I will show you blater why this design works better than the original.

For the moment, I’m interested in teasing your curiosity. Redesigning this slide does not require any creative skill!

How is it possible?

I know that you are not ready to believe me yet, but I can already anticipate that to solve the layout of Deloitte, it is really enough knowing only one golden rule: The Rule of Thirds .

What is the Rule of the Thirds?

The Rule of Thirds is a technique of graphic composition used for centuries in the world of painting and today widespread in the world of photography and film production.

John Thomas Smith was the first to talk about it in 1797 in a publication called “ Remarks on Rural Scenery “, in order to define a guideline for artistic compositions of landscapes.

Have you ever noticed that grid check when you make a story or publish a picture on Instagram?

The Rule of the Thirds consists of dividing the work area into 9 equal parts through the intersection of 4 lines, two vertical and two horizontal.

Thus, 4 points of intersection are obtained, called PowerPoints !

Every time I say this, something registers in the eyes of those who listen to me, enlightened in having discovered the reason for the name of the presentation software they’re likely using.

The PowerPoints are the strengths of the graphic composition and, therefore, the points that attract the eye before any other element on the slide.

After all, if you think about it for a moment, all high-level professional photos never really have the subject in the center, it is always moved a little to the left or right, to be precisely centered on the chosen PowerPoint .

Have you watched the 007 Casino Royale movie ?

Do you remember the scene where James Bond is poisoned and realizes it by looking at the poison in the glass?

If you look at the framing, it’s based on the rule of thirds and focuses first on the PowerPoints on the left with the cocktail, and then on the right, where you find James ( challenge:  Add a comment to the article with the name of the cocktail and you could win a book on Lean Presentation Design!).

At this point, it is quite clear that the 4 PowerPoints are located in fundamental focus points that attract the attention of the audience and that you will have to exploit for positioning your key messages.

This is a better practice, but you don’t need to anchor objects exactly on PowerPoints , but at least around them.

The Rule of Thirds gives us another great guideline: the composition of the image proportionally 1/3 and 2/3.

In fact, if you look at the grid, you will immediately notice that the slide can be divided into one part that is twice the other, both vertically and horizontally.

This allows you to organize content , especially when you have background levels, giving more importance to what remains in 2/3.

In the following picture , you see that the plane was placed on the PowerPoint of the right and that the image was composed by assigning 2/3 to the sky.

Thanks to the use of the grid, it seems all more natural, more harmonious. The human eye tends to perceive harmony in the proportion 1/3 and 2/3.

By using the Rule of Thirds in PowerPoint , your slides will be perceived proportional and harmonious , without using any more layout to the case or, worse, to the template.

The Rule of Thirds is dynamic

The rule of the thirds introduces dynamism into the slides. Think about it for a moment.

If the subject of the photo were simply in the middle of the slide, it would be equidistant from all sides and therefore, once the focus was observed, they would not have a side to prefer where to go because it would have the same space everywhere.

Likewise, with the application of the Rule of Thirds , the eyes start from the subject centered on the lateral PowerPoint and then they move on the rest of the slide.

Look at the image of the kayak that follows.

I bet you started looking at him, not the left part of the landscape.

The fact that the rower is placed on the right third and that it goes to the left leaves room for the eye of the beholder to move from right to left, following him.

For this reason, if you had a message to write , I would recommend you put it on the PowerPoint at the top left.

Thus, the Rule of Thirds guides the eyes by attracting them to the PowerPoints , but also has the power to direct the gaze from one side to the other of the slide.

Now that you know how it works, use it wisely.

How do I set the Rule of Thirds in PowerPoint?

It seems trivial but it is not. You will have to visualize, duplicate and position the guides precisely in the right place to reap the best reward.

I ask my seminars how they would efficiently produce this in PowerPoint . No one has ever managed to answer me with an efficient solution (If you have already done some training with me, you’ve experienced it).

First, you need to display the guides from the appropriate “ View ” menu.

You will see two guides that identify the center of the slide to create the third division, but you would have to divide the slide into 8 equal parts.

How do you know where exactly to leave the guide?

First, to duplicate a guide, you must hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard while you drag it.

While duplicating the guide, you will notice a small box with a number that indicates the exact point where the guide is located.

The point is calculated relative to the ruler and the ruler works according to the metric system used by the computer you are working on.

You could have vertical slides. Maybe you’re drawing a brochure or the size of the PowerPoint slides would be a different ratio (4:3, 16:9, 16:10, etc…)

It wouldn’t be helpful if I give you a numerical reference to where leave the guides; you’ll need a flexible rule.

Here’s the trick: insert a 3×3 table in the slide

Drag the corners at the top left and bottom right, making the table the same size as the slide, changing the color of the table to give you a blank canvas, and thus, the slide is divided into thirds.

Now drag the guides by holding down CTRL once for each guide you duplicate.

Place the guides, delete the table and here is your Rule of Thirds in PowerPoint .

If you have installed MLC PowerPowerpoint Addin , the Rule of Thirds can be activated by pressing the appropriate button.

If you have not tried MLC PowerPoint Addin yet, take advantage of this and try setting the Rule of Thirds in PowerPoint in a single click.

The nice thing about addin is that, if at any time, you move the guides, losing the setup of the thirds, just click on the button to make them disappear and reappear in the correct position.

You may find it cumbersome to work with the guides on sight, because you could mistakenly move them with the mouse and drag them, losing the proportions obtained.

In this case, I recommend setting the rule of thirds directly in the Slide Master :

1. Access the Slide Master ( Check the Microsoft Slide Master Tutorial to  know the shortcut to access the Slide Master in PowerPoint ).

2. Select the theme slide within the master to make sure that all layouts inherit the grid (the first slide of the master in the image below).

3. Repeat the procedure by creating the table as seen above. You will notice that in this case, the guides are orange, to stand out from those in the normal view.

4. Close the Slide Master and you will see the guides in normal view. You may need to drag the original gray guides out of the slide if you only want to keep the orange grids.

The Slide Master-set grids cannot be moved while in normal view, so the grids will remain active and always presented without the risk of dragging them by mistake.

Use the rule of thirds to redesign any layout

The only rule you should use to redesign the layout of Deloitte was the Rule of Thirds, and now you know the solution.

How did I solve the layout with the use of a single graphic composition rule? I’ll explain it to you!

Before starting to draw, I advise you to always analyze the information in front of you.

Looking at the Deloitte slide, it is clear that the presenter wants to communicate the importance of the holiday season for shopping. Information is also presented to support this statement.

First, we set the rule of thirds and divide the content according to what we want the audience to see first.

As you can see, I deleted the icons that did not add any value, and also removed all the colors.

The use of colors, like any other element, must have a specific purpose and must be functional for the use of the content.

In this case, the 4 numbers support the same message, so it is best that they are the same color , for the principle of “repetition” ( Discover the 4 principles of graphic composition at the base of the presentation design ).

We introduce the key message, assigning it to the two lower PowerPoints.

We recall the holiday season concept with a simple icon (Learn how to use icons in PowerPoint presentations ).

If you are curious about how I created the effect of white in continuity on the palm icon, share the article and ask it in the sharing text on Linkedin.

It will be my pleasure to explain it to you!

SHARE IT NOW!

As you can see, the slide we redesigned communicates much better with the audience than the original one.

Let’s compare them.

You do not need any creativity to get this layout . Step by step, I showed you that the slide was obtained, not invented.

This is the basis of Lean Presentation Design – a rational approach to presentations .

Check if the presentation works before delivering it with the “Squint test”

By now, it should be clear that the application of a standard layout taken from the Slide Master of the company template applied to any content can’t work.

For this reason, I taught you to use the rule of thirds and optimize the layout of your slides giving proportionality and priority to content .

How do you make sure you have correctly applied the rule of thirds by designing a really efficient layout for each specific case?

I want to share a quick method to understand whether your slide works or not, simply by looking it.

Have you ever heard of the “ Squint Test “?

Essentially, when you close your eyes most of the way and look at the slide, you should see everything a little fuzzy and only the most important parts of the layout should be visible.

What stands out at first sight in your opinion?

Surely the 4 blocks because of the size, the colors and the fact that they occupy 2/3 and maybe more than the slide.

See the importance of proportions?

Next I would say that the attention goes to the keyword highlighted in green, positioned immediately above the 4 blocks.

This shows you the visual strength of keyword highlighting .

It emphasizes the word(s) highlighted in your slide.

In my opinion, highlighting the keywords is the best practice and should be used as often as possible, where obviously it is necessary to prioritize content and to guide the audience’s gaze.

I suggest highlighting keywords in cases of self-standing presentations, full of text that are sent by email and left to individual use (without speech or speaker).

In those cases, since there is no speaker who can help the audience , it is essential to optimize the path by highlighting the key words.

Finally, attention most likely goes to the title and subtitle, distinguishable only by the difference in the color .

This layout leads people to read from bottom to top, which is not natural, and the priority of the messages is questionable.

Do you know the redesign I proposed, developed in thirds?

We apply the Squint Test to the slide we have redesigned together.

Where is your look? The attention falls first on the numbers, in my opinion, if you think about it, they are exactly the information that we are highlighting.

For the principles of alignment and proximity , the glance immediately acquires the meaning of the numbers by reading the underlying comment label.

Thanks to the strategic application of the two overestimated principles, the audience will unconsciously perceive that the 4 numbers as part of a single message, but it has not yet been viewed by the audience so questions will arise: “What are these 4 numbers? What are they telling me?”

The gaze, attracted by the lower third will promptly respond to the audience .

See that thanks to the rule of thirds and an intelligent positioning of the contents I have also managed to reverse the sense of reading?

In two quick steps, this slide communicates a message that, with its original design, it wouldn’t be able to communicate.

Furthermore, thanks to the new organization of contents, the look will quickly return to the speaker, keeping continuity with the speech and a high level of attention.

Consider that all these moments of attention I showed you happen in fractions of a second; people’s eyes go very fast. So even a single smudge or imperfection in design could make a slide totally ineffective.

Applications of the rule of thirds for bullet point resolution

The rule of thirds applies itself well to the resolution of many layouts .

During my training in the company, I always carry the application of the rule of thirds for the resolution of the infamous bullet list as an example.

Imagine being in front of this bulletin on Millennials:

With a quick Squint test, it immediately becomes clear that this slide does not work.

What can you distinguish? It all seems the same, right?

Let’s try to redesign this slide using the rule of thirds and giving a hierarchy to the contents.

First of all, we break down the text of the main box into several independent text boxes in order to have the flexibility we need to reorganize the contents.

To do this, simply drag the phrases from the text box to the slide in order to free them from the box in which they are all together.

I will use the “ Split ” function of the MLC PowerPoint Addin for convenience. Just select the text box and click on the split function.

Each sentence of the original text box will be assigned to an independent text box .

Now I use the “ Stack Vertical ” function (You don’t need it if you’re doing it manually).

In your opinion, what is the first level of the reading?

I would say that it is quite simple to note that there are 3 main points and 6 sub-points.

Moreover, as illustrated in the guide of Neuro Presentation Design, human beings, at least in our part of the world, are horizontal rather than vertical readers.

So let’s try reimagining this layout based on these considerations and the rule of thirds.

We reduce the size of the underlays.

We reduce the size of the main text.

We group the 3 blocks in order to apply the Grid Shapes function and distribute them on 3 columns and one row.

Even this step can also be easily performed by hand moving object by object and making sure to safeguard the alignments.

Move the elements away while keeping the same space between them (so you do not have to redistribute them).

Now we use the rule of thirds to compose a proportional layout .

Then, I move the three points of the list to PowerPoint at the bottom and divide the slide into 2/3 and 1/3 with a colored cover. I also use the space available to define the size of the text in order to maximize readability.

We apply the main color (blue) to titles and orange to the keywords.

Are you wondering why I chose orange for keywords?

Because orange is the complementary color to the blue of the cover; it maximizes the contrast and that it fits perfectly with the blue, creating harmony on the slide ( Learn to use the colors in your PowerPoint presentations).

Since key messages remain etched longer if communicated visually, add icons. If you want to find out how to take advantage of the PowerPoint vector icons ,just click here .

The slide is ready, but if you wanted to go further and add an additional visual appeal, you could add an image related to the Millennials behind the cover in transparency.

I invite you to read my article on the images to learn how to create transparency effects and maximize the impact of your slides thanks to the use of high-quality photos.

Conclusions

The Rule of Thirds is a powerful tool that allows you to solve complex layouts in a very short time, creating slides that communicate effectively with your audience.

To set the Rule of Thirds , you can use the 3×3 table technique to obtain the position of the lines and the points of intersection quickly,  or  use the button in the MLC PowerPoint Addin to activate the Slide Master .

If you found the rule of thirds useful, the next level is the study of human behavior at the sight of a slide, and how this can be influenced by neuro-marketing techniques ( How to control the visual path of your audience in presentations with the Neuro-Presentation Design ). Among the techniques, you will also find the rule of thirds.

Share in the comments some of your applications of the rule of thirds which have revolutionized the effect of your slide.

Use the rule of thirds to help your PowerPoint :

How to Improve Your PowerPoint Slides with the Rule of Thirds

Rule of Thirds in Photography: Start Taking Amazing Photos

How to Use the Rule of Thirds Effortlessly

The Rule of Thirds: Know your layout sweet spots

Looking at Images: Phi Grid vs. Rule of Thirds

The Squint Test: Creating Simplicity of Design and Complexity of Data

Maurizio La Cava

About Maurizio

Comments on Creating an effective presentation in PowerPoint with the Rule of Thirds

Jill Butters

hi, Fab and interesting. Does MLC addin work on a Mac? I cannot open the zip file – it appears empty!

unfortunately not for now.

Caterina Poidomani

Vesper Martini! Great rule of thumb to quickly organize contents in a slide.

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Table of Contents

PRESENTATION DESIGN

PowerPoint 101: The 5/5/5 Rule

When it comes to presentations, we believe that content should drive design. That is, the way that you structure and organize your presentation should follow the needs of the content, rather than a rigid structure.

But this is a lot of work, and isn’t always easy, particularly if you are still learning the ropes of presentation design and storytelling. That’s where rules come in. If you’re struggling to get started, or are unsure of how best to structure a PowerPoint presentation, rules can offer an easy on-ramp to help you get going. And the 5/5/5 Rule is both one of the simplest and most effective.

What is the 5/5/5 Rule

The 5/5/5 Rule explains what it is right in the name: when creating slides for your presentation, use at most:

5 words on a single line

5 lines of text on a single slide.

5 slides that apply the first two rules in a row

Now, let’s take a closer look at each part of the rule, and see how it helps build a better presentation.

Presentations are multi-dimensional. They rely on a combination of written words, spoken language, and visual storytelling to effectively communicate information. So if you are writing out lengthy, complete sentences in order to make sure that “all the information is there,” you are missing the point (and the value) of PowerPoint.

By applying the “5 words per line” rule, you’re ensuring that your writing stays sharp and clear, and that the audience is focused more on you than on the screen. As we noted in our blog 3 ways to up your PowerPoint game , too much content can actually lead to less information retention, which is very counterproductive.

When we are designing PowerPoints for clients, we have our own general rule we try to follow: one idea per slide .

That’s because people tend to think of a slide as a single unit of content. This tells the brain to keep those ideas together, creating associations between bits of info and helping us to cement them in our minds. And if a seminal piece of neuroscience is true, we can hold “ seven, plus or minus two ” pieces of short-term information in our brains.

By limiting yourself to 5 lines of text, not only are you helping to make your presentation more effective, you’re also helping your audience to internalize more of the information your trying to share.

(No more than) 5 slides that apply the first two rules in a row

If you followed the first two rules to the letter on every slide in your PowerPoint, you could still have way too much content for an effective presentation. So if you catch yourself relying too heavily on the first two 5’s, you should take a step back and look for ways to vary your content.

This could mean trimming back certain slides to reduce the amount of content, adding in more images/infographics, or simply removing some slides altogether.

When to use the 5/5/5 Rule

The purpose of this rule isn’t to blindly apply it to every PowerPoint you make. Rather, it’s to force you to take a step back and carefully consider each slide you’re creating for it’s content as well as keep the audience’s considerations front and center.

It’s also a great way to outline your content. If you’re ever feeling stuck on how to get started with a big presentation, creating content within the 5/5/5 Rule can help you to structure your presentation just enough that you can ignore the rule.

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Best practices for making awesome PowerPoint slides

Whether you’re presenting a slideshow to your executives, clients, or peers, you want to convey your message clearly and successfully. Unfortunately, many mistakes can be made when creating PowerPoint presentations .

Choose the fonts wisely

Select pleasing colors.

• Don’t overuse animations and effects

Use a standard presentation rule

From hard-to-read fonts to colors that hurt the eyes of your audience, here are some best practices to keep in mind for your next PowerPoint slideshow.

Using a fancy, dramatic, or even whimsical font can be tempting. But you must consider the readability of the font. You want your audience to easily see your headings and bullet points. Consider the two basic font styles: serif and sans serif.

Serif fonts are more decorative, have a classic appearance, and are frequently used in print publications. Each letter has a stroke that extends from a point in the letter. Popular serif styles include Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, and Baskerville.

Sans serif fonts are more precise, have a clean appearance, and are frequently used in digital publications. Each letter is clear-cut without wings or curves at its points. Popular sans serif styles include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Calibri.

Because of the extended strokes, serif fonts can appear a bit blurry on a screen. This makes a sans serif font the favored choice. The bottom line is that you should remain consistent and use the same type, serif or sans serif, for all fonts in the slideshow.

The colors you use in your PowerPoint presentation can be just as important as the content. You want to use those that enhance the appearance of the slideshow, not distract or give your audience a headache.

As Robert Lane explains in his article about combining colors in PowerPoint , mixing red and blue or red and green can cause eye strain. Plus, red and green mixtures are difficult to see for those with color blindness.

The article mentions that warm colors like reds, oranges, and yellows are eye-catching, whereas cool colors like blues, greens, and purples draw less attention. Additionally, lighter colors are more noticeable than dark.

One of the easiest ways to choose the colors for your presentation is to use a built-in theme. Select the Design tab and you’ll see a collection of Themes in the ribbon.

Once you select a theme, you can then use the Variants section to choose a different color scheme. Each scheme includes eight complementing colors. You can also pick the font style you want to use in the Variants drop-down menu.

Tip : You can also check out the Design Ideas if you need help with the layouts for your slides.

Don’t overuse animations and effects

Animations can be attention-grabbing additions to a slideshow. But if you overuse or misuse them, they can be detrimental to your presentation and actually turn off viewers. The best thing to do is consider your audience and slideshow’s purpose.

For instance, if you are presenting the slideshow to a classroom of 8-year-old students, animations can grab and hold their attention more than simple images or words. However, if you’re presenting to your company’s executive team or board of directors, animations can come across as unprofessional.

If you really want to include animations, make them subtle or purposeful. As an example, you may want to expand on each bullet point in your list. You can create an animation to display the bullet points one by one and only when you click.

To do this, select the first bullet point, go to the Animations tab, and choose the Appear effect. Then, in the Timing section of the ribbon, choose On click in the Start drop-down list. Do the same for each bullet point in your list.

This creates a simple animation that benefits your presentation. It doesn’t distract but instead keeps your audience focused on your current talking point.

What is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint? What is the five-by-five rule? What about the 5/5/5 and seven-by-seven rules? Rules, rules, rules. These are different standards that many recommend using when it comes to creating PowerPoint presentations.

• The 10/20/30 rule : Have no more than 10 slides, a presentation no longer than 20 minutes, and a font size no smaller than 30 points.
• The five-by-five rule : Have no more than five words per line and five lines per slide.
• The 5/5/5 rule : Have no more than five words per line, five lines per slide, and five text-heavy slides in a row.
• The seven-by-seven rule : Have no more than seven words per line and seven lines per slide.

What each of these rules basically means is: Keep it simple.

The first rule, 10/20/30, is a good rule to follow for your overall presentation. While it may not always be possible, the more succinct a presentation, the more successful it will be.

The last three rules are helpful ones to follow when you’re adding text to your slides. As you know, presentations are visual. Using too much text means your audience is reading more than watching.

Hopefully, these best practices will help you create a memorable and effective slideshow. For other ways to enhance your presentation, look at how to add audio to the slides or how to  include music in PowerPoint .

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These new Microsoft 365 apps for Apple M1 Macs are all universal apps, which means that they will also run on traditional Macs with Intel processors. This also means that the Office apps on Apple's M1 Macs -- like the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini -- should all feel snappier and faster than when they were previously running under emulation with Rosetta 2.

This holiday season, Microsoft will release a dual-screen smartphone known as the Surface Duo. As a dual-screen device, you can stack your favorite apps side by side, span apps across the screen for a better view of your work, and generally do more while on the go.

That demands software and hardware work hand-in-hand, however, so the new Office app for iOS and Android is paving the way forward. It'll make your phone a bit more useful for work -- in Office apps, at least. One hub for all things Office You can already use the dedicated Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps on your phone. With the new Office app, however, Microsoft is creating a one-stop hub for all things related to work. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are all part of the Office app. Yet it's lightweight, coming in at less than 100MB.

Public speaking, including the delivery of PowerPoint presentations, can be a trial. There's the need to pace yourself, as well as to avoid reading your slides word for word. Microsoft gets that.

Leaning on the power of artificial intelligence, the company is now launching a public preview of its PowerPoint Presenter Coach, a tool which can help critique your PowerPoint presentation.

Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, the 6 by 6 rule for presentations explained.

There are countless tips and tricks for giving great presentations but one that you might be familiar with is the 6×6 Rule. This presentation rules suggests that you should include no more than six words per line and no more than six bullet points per slide. The goal of this rule is to prevent your slides from becoming so dense and text heavy that people don’t want to look at it. While it might sound like a great idea in theory, it’s not as cut and dry as it seems. Here’s a little more information and what the 6×6 rule actually looks like and why it could use a little tweaking.

What does the 6×6 Rule look like? If you were to present on a topic using the 6×6 rule, all of your slides would resemble something like this: Have only one idea per slide Have no more than six points This slide has six bullet points Each bullet point has six words Is this a good presentation rule? If you were bored reading these bullet points, then you understand why this technique is not always effective. Sure, there are times when we come across a simple saying that truly sticks in our minds such as “Today’s decisions are tomorrow’s realities.†However, it’s nearly impossible to fill all of your slides with such eloquent and profound statements. As a result, you end up cutting out valuable information just to stick to the 6×6 Rule.

Why it doesn’t always work. Your main focus should be conveying your main points as clearly as possible. While it’s true that you don’t want to lose people in text heavy slides, there are times when it’s just not possible to explain your point in six words or less. When you try, you end up cutting and distorting the information to the point where your meaning gets lost. Furthermore, if you want to use a quote or tagline to further explain your message, you can’t exactly break up the quote and eliminate words. This is just one example of how the rule does not apply in all situations

How the 6×6 Rule can act as a guide. This isn’t to suggest that the 6×6 Rule should never be implemented, it’s simply to explain why it shouldn’t be forced all the time. When you are designing your presentation, you have to find a way to convey your message without being too wordy. The 6×6 Rule is a great reminder to cut and edit when possible to keep things concise, but it doesn’t have to be the standard for every single slide. Remember that you should be the star of your presentation so don’t be overshadowed by poor slide design.

WHITNEY D. WALTER

PowerPoint Made Easy with the 5 5 5 Rule

Whitney D. Walter

Looking for an easy way to create a more compelling PowerPoint presentation? Look no further than the 5 5 5 rule! This simple guideline makes it easy to lay out your slides in a clear, organized way that draws attention to the most important information.

Experts suggest that using this method – one of the many similar ones out there – will result in a better experience for your audience and better results for you as a presenter.

It can keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

Use images or icons to tell the story., what exactly is the 5 5 5 rule.

Simply put, the 5 5 5 rule (often written as the 5/5/5 or 5-5-5 rule) means that on each slide you should have no more than 5 lines of text. Within each line, there should be no more than 5 words. And finally, there should be no more than 5 text-heavy slides in a row.

5/5/5 Rule Powerpoint Example

Benefits of Using This Rule

Using this simple rule allows you to limit the amount of text on your slides which can be beneficial for many reasons.

You can focus on the main points.

Instead of putting all of your detailed ideas on each slide, this rule reminds you to focus on the main ideas and stops you from committing a major PowerPoint faux pas – reading directly from the screen.

Why shouldn’t you read from the slide?

First, directly from your presentation creates an extremely boring experience for your audience. They came to see you, not to read along with a slide.

Second, it’s often very difficult to read from a slide anyway, so you’re likely to make mistakes or lose your place.

Third, and most importantly, it takes away your chance to make eye contact with the audience and connect with them on a personal level.

So next time you’re giving a presentation, remember not to read directly from the PowerPoint slide – it’ll be better for both you and your audience.

And an added bonus? When you aren’t reading directly from the slide, you are encouraged to explain your ideas through storytelling which is a much better way to relay information.

In fact, studies have shown that our brains naturally look for stories and patterns to help us understand information.

Your audience will be more engaged.

Since your audience won’t be busy reading all of the text on your slide while you’re presenting, they will be more inclined to actually listen to what you’re saying.

Better yet, they will have the opportunity to be more engaged by responding to the things you’re saying or asking questions.

Remember, more than five text-heavy slides in a row will simply be a distraction for your audience and a guaranteed way to lose their interest.

You’ll end up with more professional-looking presentations.

If you’re looking for a quick and simple way to make your presentation look more professional the first thing you should do is evaluate whether you are using an unnecessary amount of text.

Professional presentations typically use clean and easy-to-skim designs. This means taking advantage of negative space (aka purposely leaving empty space on the slide).

If you’ve ever had to create a presentation in rush you know how stressful it can be.

The same is true for those who are new to using PowerPoint and those who are simply not comfortable with its capabilities.

Using this rule can make creating a presentation much less stressful because it gives you a guideline to work off of.

It also minimizes how much time you’ll spend on adding content to the slide because you know that each slide will have no more than 25 total words. (5 lines of text with 5 words each=25 total words.)

If you’re not sure where to start, add your thoughts for each slide to the Notes pane first and then copy/paste only the most necessary information to the actual slide.

How to Use This Rule Effectively

Include high-level, key data points..

Not sure what to include for the “main points” mentioned above? Think about the 5Ws; who, what, where, when, and why.

Try to avoid including information that doesn’t answer one of these questions.

Use headings, short phrases, and common abbreviations.

Using a heading is a great way to summarize the information that will be shown on a particular slide.

Within the slide, locate any complete sentences and determine whether they can be summarized with a short phrase instead.

Here’s an example.

Full Sentence: Our annual earnings were up 10% compared to last year.

Summarized: Annual Earnings: +10% YOY

(In this example, YOY means “year-over-year” which is a frequently used abbreviation in business.)

As you can see, the summarized version allows you to use less text. It also makes it easier for the audience to retain information and recall it later.

You can also remove text from your slide altogether by replacing it with images, icons, or easily recognizable symbols.

There have been numerous studies that show audiences remember information supported by images at a far higher rate than those told with text alone. Use this to your advantage!

Similarly, icons and symbols can easily replace text in many situations.

For example, text that says “this is important” can be replaced with a caution symbol. Text that says “key dates” can be replaced by a calendar icon.

Other Related Questions

What is the 2 4 8 rule in PowerPoint?

The 2 4 8 (also seen as 2/4/8 or 2x4x8) rule is another similar technique used by presenters to organize their slides.

This rule states that you shouldn’t spend more than 2 minutes presenting each slide. Each slide should contain no more than 4 main ideas or bullet points. Each idea or bullet should have 8 words or less.

This approach helps presenters to stay focused on their key points and avoid getting lost in too much detail or extraneous information.

By prioritizing the most important messages, you can ensure that their audiences will take away from the presentation only the most essential information.

What is the 10 20 30 slideshow rule?

The 10 20 30 (or 10/20/30) rule is another set of guidelines for creating effective presentations.

This rule means that your presentation should contain 10 slides total slides, last no more than 20 minutes, and use a font size of no less than 30 points.

The 10/20/30 rule was created by Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist and it has since been adopted by many business professionals.

While it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, it is a good general guideline to follow when creating presentations.

What is the rule of 7 in PowerPoint?

Also called the 7×7 rule, it means that for every slide, there should be no more than 7 lines of text or bullet points and no more than 7 words per line.

What is the 6 by 6 rule?

It is nearly identical to the 7×7 rule mentioned above. The 6 by 6 rule (or 6×6) means that for every slide, there should be no more than 6 lines of text or bullet points and no more than 6 words per line.

How many slides is a 5-minute presentation?

Generally speaking, a 5-minute PowerPoint presentation should have somewhere around 5 to 7 slides . This is an ideal number because it strikes the right balance between being concise and providing enough information to engage your audience.

Ultimately, how many slides you need in your presentation will depend on a variety of factors, including the nature of your topic and the specific goals of your presentation.

But with careful planning and clear communication, you can create an effective 5-minute PowerPoint that will help you achieve your objectives and “wow” your audience.

How do you plan a 5-minute presentation?

Planning a 5-minute presentation can be daunting and you might be wondering “how many slides should a 5-minute presentation be?”.

Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you make the most of your time.

First, determine the purpose of your presentation . Are you trying to educate, entertain, or persuade your audience?

Once you know the purpose of your talk, you can begin to plan what to include.

It is important to be concise and clear in your presentations, so plan to focus on just one to three main points . Make sure that you can provide a quick but impactful story (or any supporting evidence) to drive each point home.

Finally, practice your presentation several times before delivering it . This will help you ensure that you stay within the time limit and that your talk flows smoothly while also making sure you don’t forget any important details.

By following these tips, you can plan an effective 5-minute presentation that is sure to engage your audience.

Time to clap it up because you’ve just added some serious productivity-boosting info into your PowerPoint toolkit. Want to dive into even more tips for reducing text? Download the full, free cheatsheet here.

The 5/5/5 rule is a powerful tool for creating effective PowerPoint presentations. It can help you to summarize your ideas, makes your slides more visually appealing, and can even result in increased audience engagement during your presentation.

So when it’s time to draft your next presentation, keep the 5/5/5 rule in mind. It may take a bit of patience to get the process down but, once you do, you’ll see what a significant difference it can make.

Have you used this rule – or similar rules – when creating presentations? Do you know of any other rules that help with efficiency and design? Drop a comment below and let’s talk about it!

Whitney is a recognized Professional Development Expert, professional speaker, and the founder of Harness Your Power. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Florida State University and a Microsoft PowerPoint Specialist certification. She has been featured in Yahoo Finance, AOL, Authority Magazine, Business Insider, Fox and more. Read more.

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How to Keep Audience Engaged? 10 Successful PowerPoint Presentation Rules

We live in a fantastic time. The world is changing rapidly and the digital universe will have changed significantly. To cope with such a rapid information flow, you must learn how to structure and present data to your potential audience properly. While you address the audience, it’s vital to not only convey the necessary information but also create a fascinating and inspiring presentation. Such ones will remain in people’s memories for long. To make your audience react to your PowerPoint presentation instead of seeing indifferent yawning faces during your speech, see the following PowerPoint presentation rules .

Rule #1. Get the Audience involved with Your Content

What is the number 1 secret of any successful presentation? You will not believe how transparent it sounds. The secret is to deliver compelling, well-structured and well-presented content.

You know, that kind of content when all the listeners would take out the phones for only one purpose - snapping the presentation slides, and not checking their Facebook or Instagram feed.

They say, “Content is King!”

You want to see the fire in people’s eyes, which shows their desire to create.

But how can you understand if the audience is ready or whether your content is interesting? How would see if the audience is involved enough?

First, keep in mind one truth of life - people are not willing to think and put efforts to do something. And, most likely, they don’t care about your presentation . However, your content and the way of presenting one can change their opinion.

Take advantage of professional design with attractive layouts for images and graphics to help the audience perceive your content more effectively. Have a look at PowerPoint templates from TemplateMonster.

Here is one of many examples - Minimal PowerPoint Template .

Every - Minimal PowerPoint Template

Rule #2. Engage With them!

The more actively your audience participates in the process, the more effectively you’ll be able to deliver the necessary message.

Add as many interactions as possible - games, tests, tricky questions . When people interact with the content (at least somehow), there grows an involvement level. For a perfect ending, ask the audience a question so that they have something to consider about. It doesn’t matter if they respond immediately or leave it for later. They’ll reflect on the topic in any case.

Rule #3. Tell a Story

The human brain reacts automatically to stories. Somehow, this is a part of our survival mechanism ( Stay in the cave! Huge mammoths are out! ). Also, stories are a great way to entertain yourself ( the reason why kids love fairy tales and why people watch movies ). Storytelling made narration to be one of the most critical communication means between people.

We pay more attention when we hear stories rather than when someone lists facts. Storytelling during your PowerPoint presentation helps the audience to understand and memorize the information for a longer time, even after the story’s end.

Instead of concluding a chain of facts (figures, breakdown), which can drive even the most positively-minded person crazy, make a story out of those facts.

I guess, the recently-added Marakesh PowerPoint Template will be perfect as a storytelling base for your PowerPoint.

Infographic Pack

Rule #4. Stop Reading Text from Slides

So, 69% of respondents answered that they couldn’t stand a speaker reading text from the presentation slides. You must convey the information in your own words without even looking at the slide.

Yes, I mean you have to memorize it. Otherwise, you risk having your audience fall asleep.

Rule #5. Keep the Reasonable Font Size

48% of people hate when the font size is too small. Like who cares about your genius text in each slide when people are not able to read a single thing? Goodbye to all your creative text, useful statistics, meaningful remarks, etc.

The More Bundle Presentation PowerPoint Template

Rule #6. Do Not Be Afraid to Joke

Even during the most serious TED talks, Will Stephen does not forget to laugh at himself. He knows - humor rules the world . Even in the business world.

If you are getting ready for a serious presentation in front of your client or investor, don’t think that using humor for the presentation will be inappropriate. You do not need to joke around all the time. This instead means staying cheerful and appealing. The audience will appreciate your ease of communication and simplicity of speech.

Although it might be tough to find the right humor vibe, I still recommend you take a risk. The effect is amazing! People get more open to the ideas you want to share during your presentation.

Rule #7. Choose the Right Fonts

In 2012, The New York Times had an experiment called " Are you an optimist or a pessimist? ". The participants had to read a piece from a book and answer " yes " or " no " to several questions. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether different fonts can influence the reader's confidence in that text.

40K of participated ones were shown the same paragraph typed in different fonts: Comic Sans, Computer Modern, Georgia, Trebuchet, Baskerville, Helvetica.

The results state: text written in Comic Sans and Helvetica are least “trustworthy” among readers, while Baskerville font, on the contrary, gained the most of trust . According to psychologists, it has to do with the more formal outer look of the font.

Timeline Infographics PowerPoint Template

Rule #8. Visualize

People perceive information differently. So, you tell somebody: make a beautiful presentation. In your head, you are drawing a particular picture of how a beautiful presentation should look. But you don’t even think that the other person’s thoughts about a beautiful presentation are far more different from yours.

Thus, it is better to show five images than to explain everything in words. You need more visuals. Graphics, charts and visual metaphors - everything that supports and demonstrates your argument. Speaking of visual metaphors, it’s the way of using images to illustrate your ideas or separate important statements. Such visual metaphors are likely to stay in people’s minds longer.

And don’t stop on traditional visuals because 1998 has gone for 20 years already. Stylish and modern PowerPoint presentation ideas look far different from what we used to see 10 or 15 years ago. Make sure you keep up with the latest trends, including moving graphics, videos, emojis and gif animations.

For example, Inertia Template has an incredible set of layouts with modern-looking infographics and charts. I haven’t seen anything better so far!

Inertia PowerPoint Template

Rule #9. Simplify the Design

Once PowerPoint let us experiment with colors and slide designs, people started to believe that leaving plain white background is dull and unprofessional. It’s like if you change the background color, some magic will make your client accept the order.

Who still believes in this kind of a delusion? Why do we keep embellishing slides with many objects when you can explain your thought in 1 word or picture?

Unnecessarily details, elaborate design, and unreadable fonts only distract the audience from the idea you intend to convey. Using illustrations and a minimum of text is enough to deliver your thoughts to listeners and grab their attention.

Remember that less is not boring . Look at this minimal PowerPoint template, and you’ll make sure!

Philosophy - Minimal PowerPoint Template

Rule #10. Use Personal Examples

One more way to reach your audience is giving examples and reflect the issue of the listeners . It doesn’t necessarily mean providing examples from your own life. Once you know your target audience, whether it’s a speech at a conference or in front of your potential investor, think of how your topics can relate to them directly.

Use examples to help support your solutions to the presented issue. People might not care how your solution can be useful to someone else, but once you show how it might affect them, people will start listening attentively. Psychology is so basic.

Remember those listing facts out loud is not a presentation. If you want to make an impression, convince the audience and urge them to act. You got to work on your presentation structure and add some enthusiasm.

All the above-described rules work. Use and implement them in your presentation.

Get better every day!

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Meet the girl who writes better than she talks. Spent 5 years on master's degree in modern German communications and on content writing. Web trends hunter, passionate traveler, Reese's lover. Facebook

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The 5/5/5 Rule for Presentations: How to Use it and Examples

Last updated on June 21st, 2024

In today’s fast-paced world, delivering effective presentations is more important than ever. Whether you are presenting to colleagues, clients, or conference attendees, the ability to communicate your message clearly and concisely is essential.

One proven method for creating visually appealing presentation slides is the 5/5/5 Rule. This rule is designed to streamline the presentation design process and keep your audience engaged. By following the 5/5/5 Rule, you’ll be able to create presentation slides that are both visually appealing and informative, leading to more successful presentations.

What is the 5/5/5 Rule?

The 5/5/5 Rule is a simple yet powerful guideline for creating presentation slides that are easy to understand and visually engaging. The rule breaks down into three components:

5 words: Limiting 5 words per line

When creating slide templates, it’s essential to prioritize readability. By limiting the number of words on a single line to five, you ensure that your text is easy to read and comprehend, even from a distance. This constraint forces you to be concise and choose your words carefully, ultimately leading to clearer and more effective communication.

The first “5” in the 5/5/5 Rule also encourages presenters to use succinct, powerful language. By condensing your message into a few essential words, you increase the likelihood that your audience will remember and understand the key points of your presentation.

5 lines: Limiting lines of text per slide

Too much text on a single slide can overwhelm your audience, making it difficult for them to process and retain the information being presented. By limiting the number of text lines to five, you reduce the cognitive load on your audience, allowing them to focus on the most important aspects of your message.

Visually appealing slides are crucial for keeping your audience engaged. When you limit the number of text lines on a slide, you create more white space, which can make your presentation slides look cleaner and more professional. This increased visual appeal can help maintain your audience’s attention and contribute to the overall success of your presentation. You can combine this idea with the rule of threes for presentations .

5 slides: Limiting consecutive slides with text

To keep your audience engaged, it’s important to break up long stretches of text-heavy slides. By limiting the number of consecutive slides with text to five, you encourage the use of visuals, multimedia, and other forms of content that can help maintain interest and enhance understanding.

Incorporating visuals such as images, infographics, charts, and videos into your presentation can help illustrate complex concepts and reinforce key points. You can separate essential parts of your presentations into different topics, then keep up to 5 slides in each section. Following the third “5” of the 5/5/5 Rule ensures that your presentation is balanced, engaging, and informative.

Benefits of the 5/5/5 Rule for Presenters

Implementing the 5/5/5 Rule in your presentation design process can lead to several benefits, including:

1. Enhanced audience focus

By reducing the amount of text on your slides and incorporating more visuals, you can help your audience focus on the essential aspects of your message. This focused attention can lead to increased understanding and retention of your presentation’s key points.

2. Improved information retention

When you simplify your slides and present information in a clear, concise manner, your audience is more likely to remember what you’ve shared. The 5/5/5 Rule helps you distill complex ideas into easily digestible slides, increasing the likelihood that your audience will retain the information long after your presentation has ended.

3. More effective communication

The 5/5/5 Rule encourages presenters to be mindful of their audience’s needs and attention spans. By following this guideline, you can communicate your message more effectively, making it easier for your audience to understand and engage with your content.

4. Reduced cognitive load

Limiting the amount of text on your slides and interspersing visuals helps reduce the cognitive load on your audience. When they are not overwhelmed by information, they can better process and remember the key points of your presentation.

How to Implement the 5/5/5 Rule in your own Presentations?

To incorporate the 5/5/5 Rule into your presentation design process, consider the following steps:

1. Analyzing your content

1.1 Identifying key points. Before you start designing your slides, take the time to identify the most important points of your presentation. This process will help you determine what information to include on your slides and how to structure your content effectively.

1.2 Simplifying complex ideas. Once you have identified your key points, consider ways to simplify and distill complex ideas into easy-to-understand concepts. This will make it easier for your audience to grasp your message and increase the likelihood that they will retain the information.

2. Designing your slides

2.1. Emphasizing brevity and clarity. As you design your presentation slides, focus on keeping your text concise and clear. Use the 5x5x5 Rule to guide you in limiting the amount of text on each slide, prioritizing readability and visual appeal.

2.2. Using visuals and multimedia effectively. Incorporate visuals, such as images, graphs, and videos, to support your message and engage your audience. Be mindful of the third “5” in the 5/5/5 Rule, and ensure that you break up long stretches of text-heavy slides with visually appealing and informative multimedia content.

3. Balancing text and visuals

3.1. Knowing when to break the rules. While the 5/5/5 Rule is a helpful guideline, it’s essential to recognize that there may be instances when it’s appropriate to deviate from it. Depending on the complexity of your topic or the needs of your audience, you may need to adjust the rule to suit your specific situation.

3.2. Tailoring your approach to your audience. Consider the preferences and expectations of your audience when designing your slides. Some audiences may appreciate a more text-heavy approach, while others may respond better to visuals and multimedia. Be flexible and adapt your presentation design to meet the needs of your audience.

Relevant Facts Related to 5/5/5 Rule for Presentations

• Attention spans: According to a study conducted by Microsoft, the average human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013, which is shorter than a goldfish’s attention span (Microsoft, 2015). The 5/5/5 Rule for presentation helps presenters deliver information concisely, catering to these shorter attention spans and improving audience engagement.
• Information overload: A study by the University of California, San Diego, estimated that the average American consumes about 34 gigabytes of data daily (Bohn & Short, 2009). The 5/5/5 Rule for presentation design helps presenters avoid overwhelming their audience with excessive information, allowing them to focus on key points and better retain the presented content.
• Visual learning: According to research, 65% of the population are visual learners (Bradford, 2016). By implementing the 5/5/5 Rule, presenters can create a balanced mix of text and visuals, enhancing understanding and information retention for a majority of the audience.
• Presentation effectiveness: A study from the University of Tennessee found that presentations using visual aids were 43% more persuasive than those without (Vogel et al., 1986). By limiting consecutive text-heavy slides, the 5/5/5 Rule for presentations encourages the use of visual aids, which can improve the overall effectiveness of a presentation.
• Cognitive load: Reducing cognitive load by simplifying information is an essential aspect of effective instructional design (Sweller, 1994), also relevant with the ADDIE model . The 5/5/5 Rule addresses this by limiting words per line and lines per slide, making it easier for the audience to process and retain the presented information.

The 5/5/5 Rule is a powerful presentation design tool for creating visually appealing and effective presentation slides. By limiting the amount of text on your slides, incorporating visuals and multimedia, and tailoring your approach to your audience, you can improve the overall success of your presentations. As you embark on your next presentation design process, consider implementing the 5/5/5 Rule to enhance your PowerPoint slides or Google Slides, and make your message more engaging and memorable for your audience.

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Trump says he will make 'provisions' for mixed-status families but doesn't rule out separations with mass deportations

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said the cost to deport millions of undocumented immigrants is justified and would not rule out separating families made up of citizens and noncitizens.

"It'll cost trillions of dollars to keep these people, and I'm talking about in particular starting with the criminals," Trump told NBC News in an interview during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. "That's costing us a lot more than deporting. But we have no choice, regardless, we have no choice. We're going to have to deport."

When pressed, Trump provided no details on how he would pay for his plan, which could cost billions of dollars to implement at scale. Trump spent much of his first term fighting with Congress to give him money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, an expensive undertaking that the legislative branch never agreed to fund. Ultimately, he took the money from other parts of the Pentagon budget.

Asked whether he would deport undocumented immigrants who are part of mixed-status families, like those married to American citizens or those who are parents to American citizens, Trump simply said, "Provisions will be made, but we have to get the criminals out."

The former president did not elaborate on the provisions he would make for mixed-status families.

Trump also brushed off a question about whether local law enforcement would be willing to help execute mass deportations, ignoring that some have said they are uninterested in assisting.

"They want to do their job," Trump said. "The Border Patrol wants to do their job. They would have a much easier job if they didn't."

Trump's remarks came during a packed day of events near the border, where he took a tour of the fence line and addressed the media.

Trump blasted Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who are in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention this week. Trump blamed Harris and President Joe Biden for "unleash[ing] a deadly plague of migrant crime" in the U.S.

"We had it stopped," Trump said, referring to his administration, before accusing Biden and Harris of not doing enough to secure the border, adding: "The first day in they just said, 'We're not doing anything, we're not doing anything.'"

Trump also criticized Walz, saying the governor "lied like hell last night" during his speech at the convention, and alleged Harris will "lie just like the rest of them lied" in her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night.

This is the former president's first time visiting the border in Arizona this year, though his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, has visited this spot this year.

Trump has visited other sections of the border, in Texas, twice since launching his re-election bid.

Garrett Haake and Jake Traylor reported from Sierra Vista, Arizona, and Alexandra Marquez reported from Washington.

Garrett Haake is NBC News' senior Capitol Hill correspondent. He also covers the Trump campaign.

Olympia Sonnier is a field producer for NBC News. 

Alexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.

US judge strikes down Biden administration ban on worker 'noncompete' agreements

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Dan Wiessner (@danwiessner) reports on labor and employment and immigration law, including litigation and policy making. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Inherited ira rules are changing: what you need to know.

New rules from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will change the way you take the required distributions from inherited IRAs (individual retirement accounts). The ruling changes the age at which account owners must start taking required minimum distributions (RMD), which will go up from 72 to 73, so individuals born in 1951 must receive their first required minimum distribution by April 1, 2025.

Vanguard global head of advice methodology Joel Dickson joins Wealth! to break down the new IRA rules and what Americans retirees need to keep in mind moving forward.

Dickson summarizes the new ruling: "Basically, for most non-spouse beneficiaries, you are going to have to accelerate your drawdown of the IRAs relative to what had been happening before."

"There's a silver lining to these new IRS regulations that requires maybe a greater acceleration of that money, which is that if you can avoid large distributions putting you into higher tax brackets in the future, it actually can make some sense from a total tax paid standpoint and even a total wealth standpoint to actually take distributions from an inherited IRA, maybe even more quickly than the IRS regs [regulators] suggest," says Dickson.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino

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How to Travel With Friends Without Coming Home as Enemies

The horror story goes something like this: A friend group travels to Europe together. After picking out their rooms, there’s a small disagreement over how to keep the Airbnb clean. Then two people argue over splitting the bill at dinner. When the sweaty group waits in a two-hour-long line to climb the Eiffel Tower, one friend makes a bitchy comment toward another about not reserving tickets in advance. Tempers flare, more barbs are traded, and the drama engulfs the rest of the vacation. By the time everyone boards the flight home, no one is on speaking terms. In the end, the trip made it out of the group chat, but the group chat didn’t make it out of the trip.

Maybe you’ve read stories like these online and felt pity. Or maybe you’ve been there, wanting to do nothing but enjoy some pasta and wine in peace on your Italian getaway while your friends give the Real Housewives a run for their money after having one too many Aperol Spritzes. Here are 12 suggestions from the Cut staff that will help you keep the peace and make sure your friendships survive your next group trip.

1. Be honest about your budget and priorities.

It helps to be clear about what you prioritize spending money on versus what you don’t so that there are no surprises when you’re trying to pick out an Airbnb or make dinner reservations. I usually find myself saying something like, “I’d prefer to keep accommodations between $80 and $150 per night, because then I can spend more on good meals.” Or, as much as you can help it, just go on group trips with people who have similar spending habits. — Sarah Miller, photo editor

2. Stay in separate rooms.

I know it’s not affordable for everyone, especially if the location is a particularly high-end one. But I promise having a room to decompress in away from everyone is worth the money. — Brooke Marine, deputy culture editor

3. Book special outings in advance.

I always find it helpful to have a loose itinerary shared in a collaborative Google Doc before the trip. You’re going to be so cranky if you show up to the fancy spa that has no tickets available and a monthlong waiting list. You can always revise your daily schedule or improvise off of what you have, but some structure is key, or else you’re spending half of your vacation researching. — Cat Zhang, culture writer

4. If you bail last minute, pay for your share.

Group trips are a notorious pain to put together. Don’t string your friends along with a “maybe” for more than a week or two of the planning process. If you can’t give a straight answer, allow them to move forward coordinating logistics without you. And if, for any reason, you must pull out of a trip after deposits have been paid, you are on the hook for your share (unless someone else is ready and willing to replace you). I was once on a bachelorette trip where a work conflict came up last minute for one of the invitees. Not only did she honor her commitment to the shared costs of the weekend, but she asked one of the restaurants on our itinerary to send the group a seafood tower at dinner. Classy! — Catherine Thompson, features editor

5. Get an extra rental car.

Forcing the group to do everything together is a great way to fester resentment, and you won’t always have the power to pick a locale with maximum walkability or good public transport. Plus, you never know when that added flexibility will solve a hair-rising logistical crisis. Have you ever quelled a fight with a last-minute CVS run? I have. — Danielle Cohen, writer

6. Don’t let friends arrive hours before the Airbnb is available.

At minimum, everyone should know the address of where you’re staying and check-in and checkout times before the trip starts. — Trupti Rami, assistant managing editor, digital

7. Talk through what you’re cool with and what’s out of the question.

Are people more inclined toward a structured schedule that starts at 7 a.m., or do they plan to get up at their leisure and wing the day? Are your friends down to party until dawn, or do they want to call it a night by 10 p.m.? Setting schedule expectations will help you plan the trip and avoid conflict later on. The same goes for boundaries, especially if you’re mixing friends from different parts of your life. Better to know what makes people uncomfortable ahead of time than have to mediate mid-trip, when Friend A is upset that there’s a half-naked rando walking around the Airbnb after hooking up with Friend B. — Andrea González-Ramírez, senior writer

8. No more than two people on Google Maps at once.

Any adventure only requires one guide and someone to check them in case they’re not great at directions (this is a public apology for whenever I’ve made my friends walk a block the wrong way). If more than two people are looking at the map, as a group we’ll spend too much time standing in the same place, create a conflict where everyone thinks they’re right, and look like big-time tourists. This rule is even more important in a driving scenario. Only the passenger should be allowed to give directions in that case (and control the aux), while people in the back seat relax and fully immerse themselves in the landscape. — Maridelis Morales Rosado, photo editor

9. Stay on top of shared bills.

Track expenses and who owes what on Splitwise . — Bindu Bansinath, writer

10. Block out alone time.

Some people need downtime to recharge or nap. Others may want to work out or read a book. Some may just want to go on a little solo walk. If there are couples on the trip, maybe they want to have sex, assuming the rooming situation allows! It’s everyone’s vacation, so everyone should get independent time to use as they wish. — Sasha Mutchnik, senior social editor

11. Break out a game when the going gets tough.

Stay present and enjoy where you’re at, even if things don’t go as planned — because they usually won’t. If there are any unexpected delays or long lines to wait in, I volunteer my phone for a few rounds of the game Heads Up! . It’s the best way to make the time pass, it’s fun, and it brings everyone together. — Katja Vujić, writer

12. You don’t have to get along with everyone …

… But you do have to be respectful. Disagreements will happen. When they do, remember you only have control over your own actions and reactions. Keep it light, keep it moving. —T.R.

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Use the 25% Rule to Decide How Much Home You Can Afford

When it comes to buying a home , one of the biggest challenges is figuring out exactly how much house you can reasonably afford. After all, you don't want to end up "house poor," paying so much for your mortgage that you have little left over for other expenses and savings. That's where the "25% rule of thumb" can be a helpful guideline.

What is the 25% rule of thumb?

The 25% "rule" states that your total monthly housing costs (including your mortgage payment, property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and any homeowners association fees) should not exceed 25% of your net monthly income. In other words, if your monthly take-home pay (after tax) is $6,000, your total monthly housing costs should be no more than $1,500.

Why does the 25% rule make sense?

This rule can be useful for a few key reasons:

1. It helps ensure your housing costs are reasonable in relation to your overall income. Keeping housing at or below 25% of your income leaves room in your budget for other important expenses like food, transportation, healthcare, and saving for the future.

2. It provides a simple, straightforward way to estimate your maximum home purchase price. Once you know your net monthly income, you can quickly calculate the maximum monthly payment you should target, and then use that to determine the home price you can afford.

3. It aligns with common mortgage lending guidelines. Most lenders use around 36% debt-to-income ratio as a benchmark for approving mortgage applications, so the 25% rule can help ensure you stay within those parameters.

When is it OK to break this rule?

Of course, the 25% rule is just a general guideline, and there may be times when it makes sense to deviate from it. Here are a few situations where it might be OK to break this "rule":

If you have a reliable secondary income source that isn't factored into the 25% calculation. This could allow you to comfortably spend a bit more on housing.

If you have minimal other debt, such as car loans or student loans. The lower your overall debt burden, the more housing costs you may be able to handle.

If you live in an area with a particularly high cost of living. In these cases, sticking to the 25% rule may make it very difficult to find an acceptable home, so you might need to spend a bit more.

The key is to look at your entire financial picture—income, other debts, expenses, savings goals—and determine what housing costs you can truly afford, even if that means exceeding the 25% guideline in some cases. As with most personal finance advice, the 25% rule is a helpful starting point, but your unique circumstances should ultimately guide your home-buying decisions .

Use rules to create an out of office message

Only certain types of accounts support the Automatic Replies (Out-of-Office) feature. If you don't see the Automatic Replies button, your email account doesn't support this feature. However, if you leave Outlook running while you're away, you can use rules to reply to your email messages automatically. Rules also allow you to forward emails to another account, mark messages as read, or move them to a folder automatically. For more information on working with rules, see Manage email messages by using rules .

Use rules to reply to incoming emails when you're away

When you click File in Outlook, you should see a screen that looks something like this:

If you see a button that says Automatic Replies , see Send automatic out of office replies from Outlook . Otherwise, use the following steps to create a template to reply to messages and set up Outlook to reply to every message you receive.

Create an out-of-office template

In Outlook, create a new email message.

Enter a subject and message body for your out-of-office template.

Select File > Save As .

Give your template a name and in the Save as type drop-down, select Outlook Template (*.oft) .

You can change the location for your template, but you can also pick the default location, which is usually c:\users\ username \appdata\roaming\microsoft\templates . Click Save .

You can create a new template every time you're out of the office or reuse an existing template. Now you're ready to use that template to create your Out of Office rule.

Create an out-of-office rule

On the File tab, select Manage Rules & Alerts .

In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, on the E-mail Rules tab, select  New Rule .

Under Start from a blank rule , click Apply rule on messages I receive and click Next .

To reply to every email message you receive, leave the Step 1 and Step 2 boxes unchanged and click  Next again. Select Yes when Outlook asks you if you want to apply this rule to all messages.

Under What do you want to do with the message, in  Step 1: Select action(s) , select reply using a specific template .

Under Step 2: Edit the rule description , click the underlined text for a specific template .

In the Look In box at the top of the Select a Reply Template box, select User Templates in File System .

Select the template you created above, and then select Open and Next .

You can add any necessary exceptions, then select Next .

Give your rule a name, for example, Out of Office.

By default, Turn on this rule is checked. If you're ready to turn on your out of office reply now, select Finish . Otherwise, uncheck this box. You can turn the rule on at a later date.

Note : In order to have the rule send automatic replies to your email messages while you're gone, you must leave Outlook running.

Turn on a rule

If you created your out of office template and rule a few days before you needed it, turn the rule on using the following steps.

Select the File > Manage Rules & Alerts .

In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, on the E-mail Rules tab, find the rule you created and check the box to the left of the rule. Then select OK .

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