10-20-30 Microsoft PowerPoint Rule

Most any Venture Capitalist you run into (worth their salt) can explain how they have sat through 100’s and maybe 1,000’s of PowerPoint presentations.

There is a pretty good ‘unwritten’ rule that we use in America that works well. (I emphasize America because Countries do differ slightly as to what they like to see in the presentations) Now for the ‘magic numbers’ explanation:

10 = 10 slides - If you need more than 10 slides to get your point across, you have already ‘missed the point’.  The persons listening to your dialog are human beings too and unless they are very different from the rest of the people in the world they HATE long boring slide shows.

20 = 20 minutes – You should be able to give your idea from 10 slides and you should be able to do this in 20 minutes. Again, if you can’t hit a home run in 20 minutes then you are out of the game anyway. (For personal instruction shoot me an email)

30 = 30 Point Font – The font should NOT be less than 30 point. Never place a ‘book’ up on the screen and expect the audience to be enthusiastic. No one wants to read that much.

This rule works. For references shoot me an email.

I was able to spend a week in Switzerland last week. We were fortunate enough to spend an afternoon in the Technopark in Zurich. (Switzerland’s Silicon Valley) We received some great insight at the park. There are several great young inspiring CEO / Owners there in the Technopark. More to follow this week regarding experiences in the Technopark.

kml

2009