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Star Venture
Capitalist Guy Kawasaki hears hundreds of venture capital pitches
every year. And the ones that he says are the best follow what he
calls the 10/20/30 rule.
Limit your slides
to 10. Limit your time to 20 minutes. And make your fonts no
smaller then 30 point.
It’s a guideline
all of us should consider, regardless of the presentation. The
10/20/30 rule is ultimately designed to keep the slides limited so
that the speaker, her stories, and her ideas remain center stage.
If all you’re doing is narrating and reading slides, you’re in
trouble. Here is how the 10/20/30 rule keeps that problem in check.
Limit your slides
to 10.
Too many slides will kill your presentation and make you seem
disorganized. A client came to us recently with a sales
presentation that had 60 slides for a one-hour pitch. That’s
ridiculous. No listener can process the information on that many
slides in such a short period. Limiting your slides to 10 forces
you to be disciplined in what you’re trying to say. Your listeners
will appreciate your discipline.
Limit your time to
20 minutes.
By limiting your time, once again you force yourself to be focused
on what you really want to say. You also allow more time for
questions. In most business presentations, the Q&A is the most
important thing. It allows you to respond to the audience’s true
interests.
Make Your Fonts No
Smaller than
30
Point.
This forces
you to limit the amount of stuff you cram on to any slide. Smaller
fonts are too small to be read by the audience.
At Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate in a way that
connects and persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a great
communicator give us a call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website
at
www.speechworks.net. |
