A 42-Slide Quarterly Review in a 20-Minute Slot
Marcus, a marketing analyst, must present a quarterly review to 12 executives in a 20-minute slot followed by 10 minutes of questions. His current deck has 42 slides: 30 are dense bullet lists copied from the written report, 6 are product screenshots, and 6 are appendix tables. The executives care about three decisions: budget reallocation, campaign timing, and headcount. Marcus is tempted to speak faster and keep every slide because 'the data might come up.' The room has a projector, and the session will be recorded for absent staff. He also has to send the deck afterwards.
1. How should Marcus choose the main-show slides for a 20-minute slot, and what specific PowerPoint features should he use to keep the appendix available without bloating the live show?
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Marcus should build the main show backward from the three decisions, not forward from the 42 slides. A 20-minute slot realistically supports about 12-15 slides if he leaves time for transitions and a buffer; each decision can get a context slide, an options or evidence slide, and a recommendation slide. The 30 dense bullet lists should be mined for one assertion per slide, with detail moved to speaker notes or the appendix. The six screenshots stay only if they prove a point about timing or budget. He should use sections named Main Show and Appendix, create a custom show for the 20-minute version, and keep the full 42-slide file for follow-up. Rehearse timings in Slide Show > Rehearse Timings to check the 20-minute budget rather than planning to speak faster.
2. What is the difference between hiding appendix slides and building a custom show, and how should Marcus handle a question that needs a table from the appendix during the live session?
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Hiding slides is a quick skip: the slides stay in the file and can be jumped to with the H key or a slide number, but they are easy to reveal accidentally and the order is still the full deck. A custom show is a named subset with its own order; Marcus can present it directly and keep the appendix out of the recorded session. For live questions, he should put a Q&A or agenda slide in the main show with hyperlinks to specific appendix slides, using Show and Return so he can jump back. He should test the links in Slide Show mode and keep a printed appendix index or slide numbers in his notes. The recorded audience should get the main custom show, while the emailed deck can be the full version.
3. What should Marcus change in the dense bullet slides to make them work for executives, and what should he put in the handout?
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The dense bullets should become message titles plus a small amount of evidence. For each executive slide, Marcus should write a title that states the takeaway, then keep at most three short supporting points or one chart. Sentences copied from the report belong in the notes or a written handout. He should avoid shrinking text below about 18-20 pt and should not use animation to reveal long lists. The handout can use 3 slides per page with notes, or a separate appendix with the full tables, so the executives have detail without seeing it on screen. For the recording, he should check that the custom show and any captions or transcript are correct.