If you are not familiar with the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint created way back in 2005 here’s how it goes: The most effective PowerPoint presentations should contain no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes, and feature font no smaller than 30 points.
This rule is still as relevant as ever. Here are just some of the reasons why you should still stick to it:
Most people make the mistake of not being able to reduce their pitches, proposals, or ideas into short and concise presentations , having around 10 slides.
Rather than cramming as much text as you can into your presentations, you should create a strong outline and include only the most important points, and deliver the rest yourself. The slides should have very little text, maybe a sentence or two.
People’s Attention Spans Are Getting Increasingly Shorter
The 20-minute aspect of this rule is arguably not very flexible. It’s hard for people to sit down and listen to something for more than an hour without their focus wandering somewhere else. Your presentation should end in 20 minutes, leaving enough time for questions, presentation of ideas etc.
Don’t Make Your Audience Squint
The 30-point rule is there is because of the limitations of our eyesight. You want the person in the back to be able to follow the presentation in similar means as the person sitting right there before you. Make it an equal experience for everyone.
And if you’re thinking that there is not much you can fit onto a single slide using a font larger than 30 points, you would be right, but you’re not supposed to anyways. You are the vessel for your ideas, not your computer, nor PowerPoint. It’s you who the audience will listen to.
As you can see, the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint is still very effective. Whether you are using PowerPoint, or some of is alternatives, it doesn’t matter, because those are just the tools of the trade.
The real reason why this decade-old rule remains effective is because of the individuals.