# How many slides should a presentation have? Plan from minutes, not habit > Plan one slide for every one to two minutes you will actually talk. Subtract the time you want for questions, then divide what is left by 1.5: a 10-minute slot holds 5 to 7 slides and a 20-minute slot 8 to 12. Title and divider slides cost seconds, a decision slide costs minutes, and appendix slides do not count. Build the count from the messages you want remembered, then rehearse once with a timer. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-many-slides/ - Updated: 22 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/ratgeber/wie-viele-folien/ **Plan one slide for every one to two minutes you will actually talk.** Take your slot, subtract the time you want for questions, and divide what is left by 1.5. A 10-minute slot holds 5 to 7 slides and a 20-minute slot 8 to 12. The count is a result, not a target: it follows from how many messages you want remembered and how much evidence each one needs. ## How many slides for a 5, 10, 15 or 20 minute presentation? These ranges assume a business audience, one message per slide and part of the slot kept for questions. Use the low end for dense slides with charts and the high end for light ones. | Slot | Time to talk | Slides (range) | Words | Per slide | What they carry | | ---------- | ------------ | -------------- | ----- | --------- | --------------------------------------------- | | 5 minutes | 5 | 4 (3 to 5) | 650 | 1.3 min | The answer, one or two reasons, the ask | | 10 minutes | 8 | 6 (5 to 7) | 1,040 | 1.3 min | Summary, two or three reasons, the ask | | 15 minutes | 12 | 8 (7 to 10) | 1,560 | 1.5 min | Three reasons with one or two slides each | | 20 minutes | 15 | 10 (8 to 12) | 1,950 | 1.5 min | Three reasons with proof, risks, the decision | | 30 minutes | 20 | 13 (10 to 16) | 2,600 | 1.5 min | Fewer if the audience will discuss as you go | | 45 minutes | 30 | 19 (15 to 24) | 3,900 | 1.6 min | Pauses for questions after each section | | 60 minutes | 40 | 26 (20 to 32) | 5,200 | 1.5 min | Several sections, with room for discussion | The slides, words and minutes per slide are what the [slide count calculator](https://ai-presentations.com/tools/slide-count-calculator/) returns for a business update at a steady pace. “Time to talk” is the slot minus the minutes kept for questions: none in the 5-minute slot, then 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. The word counts use 130 words a minute, the normal pace in the [speaking time calculator](https://ai-presentations.com/tools/speaking-time-calculator/), and about a tenth fewer fit if you count pauses. ### How many slides for a 5 minute presentation? Three to five, with four as a default. A 5-minute slot leaves no time for questions, so you talk for all five minutes: show the answer, one or two reasons and the ask. That is about 1.3 minutes per slide. Skip the agenda, because the summary does its job. ### How many slides for a 10 minute presentation? Five to seven. Keep about two minutes for questions, so you talk for eight, and plan one slide for every one to two minutes. Six slides is a good default: a title, a summary with the answer, three reasons with one slide each, and the ask. ### How many slides for a 15 minute presentation? Seven to ten, with eight as a default. With three minutes kept for questions you talk for twelve minutes, which is 1.5 minutes per slide. That carries three reasons with one or two slides each, framed by the summary and the ask. ### How many slides for a 20 minute presentation? Eight to twelve, with ten as a default. With five minutes kept for questions you talk for fifteen, which is about 1.5 minutes per slide. Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule also names ten slides and at most 20 minutes, which is two minutes per slide. ### What if your slot is not in the table? For a slot that is not in the table, the formula is short: divide the minutes you will talk by 1.5 and round down. With 14 minutes to talk, that gives 9 slides. Treat the number of minutes itself as a ceiling, so 14 minutes never take more than 14 slides. Enter your own slot and the minutes you keep for questions to get the number of slides, a range and a minute plan. [Open the interactive tool](https://ai-presentations.com/tools/slide-count-calculator/) ## How do you work out the number for your own slot? Count minutes first and slides second. Build the budget from the end: **Steps** 1. **Subtract the time for questions.** A 20-minute slot with 5 minutes of discussion leaves 15 minutes to talk. Fix this number before you open the file. 2. **Reserve the fixed parts.** The title takes about half a minute, the summary with your answer about two, and the decision slide about two. 3. **Split the rest across your messages.** Two to five messages carry any talk. A message with a claim slide and a proof slide takes about three minutes. 4. **Add up the slides.** If the total is higher than your minutes to talk, you are over budget. 5. **Rehearse once with a timer** and replace these allowances with your own pace. A related tool is the [speaking time calculator](https://ai-presentations.com/tools/speaking-time-calculator/). Here is the arithmetic for a 20-minute slot with 5 minutes of discussion: | Part | Slides | Minutes | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ------- | | Title | 1 | 0.5 | | Summary with the answer | 1 | 2 | | Three reasons, each a claim slide plus a proof slide | 6 | 9 | | Risks and options | 1 | 1.5 | | Decision and next steps | 1 | 2 | | Total | 10 | 15 | That is ten slides at 1.5 minutes each on average. A shorter slot trims the evidence, not the messages: in 10 minutes, with 8 to talk, the same skeleton is six slides, a title, the summary, one slide for each of the three reasons and the ask. A longer slot adds proof, not messages. The [guide to structuring a presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-to-structure-a-presentation/) explains the skeleton. The example quarterly review below has six slides: a title, three slides of evidence, the plan and the ask. At 1.5 to 2 minutes for each content slide it takes about 8 to 10 minutes to present, so it fits a 15-minute slot with time for questions. The deck is on the [quarterly business review](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/quarterly-business-review/) page. 1. Kessler Bau and Lindhoven Site: a quarter of fewer delays 2. Site reports now arrive the same day, and rework is down by a third 3. Berlin has 64 weekly active users, Leipzig 17; Leipzig is the one to watch 4. Four of five Q3 commitments delivered 5. Three steps to full adoption before the renewal 6. Two things we need from you ## Is one slide per minute a good rule? As a ceiling, yes. As a target, usually not. The published rules disagree by a factor of six, because they describe different kinds of talk: | Rule | Pace | 10 minutes at that pace | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | Kawasaki's [10-20-30 rule](https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/rule-of-thumb/192718) | Ten slides in at most 20 minutes, so 2 minutes per slide | 5 slides | | The common rule of thumb | One slide per minute | 10 slides | | [PechaKucha](https://www.pechakucha.com/) | 20 slides at 20 seconds each, so 3 slides per minute | 30 slides | Which one is right depends on what each slide carries. A slide with one number takes 20 seconds, while a waterfall chart that needs explaining takes two to three minutes. So budget by slide type, not by an average. The figures below are planning allowances, not measurements, and one timed run-through will correct them. | Slide type | Allow | | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | Title or section divider | 10 to 30 seconds | | Summary with the answer | 1.5 to 2 minutes | | One message with one chart | 1.5 to 2 minutes | | Dense analysis (waterfall, matrix, table) | 2 to 3 minutes | | Decision and next steps | 2 to 5 minutes, because discussion starts here | | Appendix | 0, unless someone asks | At 1.5 to 2 minutes each, the ten slides of the example [pitch deck](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/pitch-deck/) take 15 to 20 minutes, which is where Kawasaki's rule lands. ### What is the 10/20/30 rule? Guy Kawasaki's rule for pitches: ten slides, at most twenty minutes and no type smaller than 30 points. For a 10 minute slot it points to 5 slides at 2 minutes each. The full rule and its limits are in the [presentation rules guide](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presentation-rules/). ## Is 7 slides enough for 10 minutes? Yes. With two minutes kept for questions, seven slides give you just over a minute each for eight minutes of talking. What matters is that each slide carries one message and that the ask comes before the last third of your slot. ### What is the 7-7-7 rule? The 7-7-7 rule limits how much text a slide holds, usually seven lines of seven words, and says nothing about how many slides you show. Some versions also cap the deck at seven slides, so say which version you mean. The [presentation rules guide](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presentation-rules/) shows where it helps and where it misleads. ## Do title, agenda, appendix and backup slides count? Count the slides you will show. The title slide counts but takes seconds. Skip the agenda in a short deck, because the summary does its job, and skip the thank-you slide, because the last slide you show should hold the ask. Appendix and backup slides do not count toward your time, since you show them only when someone asks. They do count when you send the file, so put a divider titled “Appendix” after the last slide and mention on the summary that the [appendix](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/appendix/) exists. If the slot might be cut, mark in your notes which slides you would skip, and make sure the ask comes before them. ## How many slides for a deck you send rather than present? Then the limit is the reader's patience, not your minutes. A deck read on a screen can hold more per page and run longer, as long as the first pages answer the question and every title states its point. That is the idea of a [pre-read](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/pre-read/): the reader gets the argument in advance, so the meeting can go to the decision. Cut by relevance instead of by time: a page that proves no title goes to the appendix. If the audience is senior and short of time, the guide to [presenting to executives](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presenting-to-executives/) shows how to lead with the recommendation and keep the detail behind it. ## What do you do when you have too many slides? > **Avoid: 34 slides for a 20-minute slot** > > The plan is to go fast. By minute ten the audience has seen twelve charts, and the recommendation sits on slide 31, in the last two minutes. > **Do: 10 slides, with 24 behind the line** > > The ten slides are built from a minute budget. The recommendation is on slide 2, and 24 backup slides follow the last slide, shown only when someone asks. Cut in this order: **Steps** 1. **Merge slides that make the same point.** Two slides with one message become one. 2. **Move answers to likely questions into the appendix.** Method, full tables and rejected options do not belong in the main line. 3. **Replace a section the audience already knows with one sentence** on the summary, and send the detail as a pre-read. 4. **Cut the agenda, the thank-you and the company overview.** They cost minutes and carry no argument. 5. **Run it once with a timer** and cut whatever you skip when you run short. Do not fix a long deck by speaking faster or shrinking the font. Both move the problem to the audience. ## How can AI help you plan the number of slides? AI can draft a deck of any length, so the number it chooses is the number you ask for. Give the slot and the question time in your brief, name the count you worked out, and ask for an appendix for the rest. In the plan, check the page count against your minute budget. Ask for speaker notes and the AI writes them into the PowerPoint file, so request them if you want a time per slide. **Prompt: A brief built from the minute budget** ```text Create a presentation for [audience] in a [20]-minute slot with [5] minutes reserved for questions, so about [15] minutes of talking. Use [10] slides: a title slide, a summary with the recommendation on slide 2, [three] reasons with one claim slide and one proof slide each, a slide on risks and options, and a final slide with the decision, owners and dates. Write every title as a full sentence that states the message. Put supporting detail in an appendix of up to [10] slides after the last slide, behind a divider titled “Appendix”. Add speaker notes with the minutes planned for each slide. Use the figures in the attached [file]. ``` **Key takeaways** - Count minutes first: the slot minus question time, divided by 1.5. - A 10-minute slot holds 5 to 7 slides and a 20-minute slot 8 to 12, and never more slides than minutes of talking. - Budget by slide type: a title takes seconds, a message with one chart 1.5 to 2 minutes, a decision slide longer. - Appendix slides do not count toward your time, and the ask must come before the last third. - Rehearse once with a timer and replace these allowances with your own pace. ## Frequently asked questions ### How many slides should a 10-minute presentation have? Five to seven. Keep about two minutes for questions, so you talk for eight, and plan one slide for every one to two minutes. Six slides is a good default: a title, a summary with the answer, three reasons with one slide each, and the ask. ### How many slides for a 20-minute presentation? Eight to twelve, with ten as a default. With five minutes kept for questions you talk for fifteen, which is about 1.5 minutes per slide. Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule also names ten slides and at most 20 minutes, which is two minutes per slide. ### How many minutes per slide? One to two minutes for a slide that carries one message and one chart. Title and divider slides take seconds, a dense analysis slide two to three minutes, and the decision slide two to five because discussion starts there. These are planning figures, so time one rehearsal and adjust. ### Is 7 slides enough for 10 minutes? Yes. With two minutes kept for questions, seven slides give you just over a minute each for eight minutes of talking. What matters is that each slide carries one message and that the ask comes before the last third of your slot. ### Do appendix slides count? Not toward your time budget, because you show them only when someone asks. They do count when you send the file, so put a clear divider titled Appendix after the last slide and mention on the summary that the backup exists. ### Can you have more slides than minutes? Only when each slide takes seconds, as in the PechaKucha format of 20 slides at 20 seconds each. For a business deck with charts and text, more than one slide per minute of talking means you are rushing or reading aloud. Merge slides or move detail to the appendix. ## Related pages - [Structure a presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-to-structure-a-presentation/): How to structure a presentation for work: lead with the answer, match the order to your purpose, use skeletons for decisions, updates, pitches and proposals. - [Presentation rules](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presentation-rules/): What the 10-20-30, 5-5-5 and 7-7-7 rules say, where each one helps, where it misleads and which are worth following in a work deck. - [Presenting to executives](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/presenting-to-executives/): How to present to executives and senior management: lead with the recommendation, plan for a shortened slot, keep detail in the appendix and send a pre-read. - [Action titles](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/action-titles/): Write slide headlines as full sentences. Six rules for action titles, twelve before-and-after examples and a quick test you can run on any deck. - [Quarterly business review](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/quarterly-business-review/): Plan a customer QBR on 6 slides: results, adoption, commitments, the plan for next quarter and the decisions you need from the customer. With an example deck. - [Appendix](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/appendix/): The appendix is the backup section after the closing slide: data, methods and details you show only if someone asks. See what belongs in it and what does not. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).