How Long Should An Online Presentation Take?

 

Time is money (C) Bettmann/Getty Images

This is a rare case when the title question can be answered directly: The less, the better!

“Simplicity is the basis of sophistication” - these words from Leonardo da Vinci can serve as the motto for any good presentation. The paradox of creativity is that it is impossible without limits.

Most experts advise boldly throwing everything from the presentation’s script at the audience, without which your presentation will lose coherence and fail to retain the idea that you want to convey.

To determine a presentation’s time limit, we offer you two guidelines.

The time limit for a TED conference is 18 minutes.

The 10:20:30 rule is 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 sentences.

Do you feel that this is not enough? Feel free to search the web for the TED talk by the author of the Big Story concept, David Christian. He recaps the story of history from the Big Bang to the present day into 17 minutes 30 seconds (The history of our world in 18 minutes | David Christian).

Limiting the length of an online presentation to 18 to 20 minutes has another important function - it is convenient to watch the recording during lunch, coffee breaks, while on public transportation, etc. There may even be time left to share the recording and / or comment on it. To watch videos of a longer duration, you will most likely have to look for a specific window in your schedule.

“But what about webinars?” - you ask. The answer is that webinars are built according to the same rules. The average time for a good webinar is approximately 45 minutes ± 15 minutes. If we drop questions and answers, discussion, filling out questionnaires, completing assignments, etc. from the agenda, what remains is approximately the targeted 18 to 20 minutes.

Successful presentations and high income to all!

P.S. We hope you have noticed that our text is less than 30 sentences. And if you read it aloud, it will take no more than three minutes.

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Source ROI4PRESENTER Blog