PowerPoint 101: Best Tricks to Use the 5×5 PowerPoint rule. When creating a PowerPoint presentation, there are many elements that we can use to optimize our slides. Some rules can help us structure and organize our production better.
If you find creating a PowerPoint presentation challenging, use the rules! Rules are the easiest way to create a compelling presentation with accurate information, such as the 5/5/5 rule, which is one of the simplest, and in this post, we will give you the best tips for its use. But first, we must tell you what the 5×5 PowerPoint rule is.
What is the 5/5/5 Rule?
As its name suggests, the 5/5/5 PowerPoint rule follows the following aspects:
- Five lines of text per slide.
- Five words on one line.
- Only five presentation slides should contain the two rules in a row.
For a better understanding, let’s see in detail what each rule consists of:
Five Lines of Text per Slide
When designing a PowerPoint presentation for your business, you must have one idea per slide. Why? People typically view a slide as a single unit of content, which tells the brain to keep those ideas together by creating bits of information that will consolidate in our minds. Going by neuroscience, we all have limits in information processing capacity.
For this reason, by limiting a text to 5 lines and helping your presentation have better results, your audience can internalize the information you plan to share.
Five Words on One Line
Businesses consider Powerpoint presentations to be two-dimensional. This assumption is because they combine written words, visual narration, and spoken language to provide the information you want to convey. The objective is that all the information is there, but in an attractive way and without losing value.
When you apply this rule, you can ensure that you will include clear writing and the audience will focus more on you and not on the screen.
Remember that a presentation with much content leads to less retention of information, which is ultimately very counterproductive for your company.
Only Five Slides Should Contain the Two Rules in a Row
Once you follow the two rules we have already explained for your PPT slides, you will likely have too much content, and your presentation is not effective enough.
Therefore, you can revise to vary your content even if you have used the previous rules.
What do we mean by this? You can trim the information on some slides to reduce the written content and add more images, charts, and infographics.
In some cases, you can also remove some slides if they are not needed.
What are the Benefits of the 5/5/5 Rule?
Additionally, the 5×5 PowerPoint rule not only establishes a limit for the words and slides of your presentation but also offers you other benefits that we will mention below:
Highlight your message
As a rule, the essential information gets highlighted to convey the main message.
It also helps make this information the center of attention so that the audience actively listens and understands the message.
Reduce Your Workload
Making a lot of slides is exhausting, and it will take a lot of time, time that you may not have. Now, when you know what the rules are and understand how to reduce your content, you will not have to make a lot of effort to make a quality presentation adjusted to your company’s needs.
Avoid Making Your Presentation Sound like “Reading Aloud.”
You will always rely on PowerPoint slides when you add many words to your presentation. You will likely read all the text that appears, while the 5/5/5 rule will keep it short by cutting down as many words as possible. This way, you will not look like a student reading a presentation in the classroom. Much less, the audience will only see your back while you turn to see everything your slides say.
What are the Cons of the 5/5/5 Rule?
In addition to the 5/5/5 rule, there are other similar ones, such as 6×6 or 7×7. But they all focus on reducing as much text as possible in presentations. In the case of the 5/5/5 rule, it is straightforward to apply to make great slides with exciting content.
In effect, this rule tells us that we should add a maximum of five bullet points, which means that we should add five ideas on a slide. Many prefer to believe that one idea per slide is better. The reason is that the audience may be reading the other ideas while you are just presenting the first one.
Also, if you follow this rule to the letter, you can end up with five text slides in a row, including an image slide and then other text slides, and repeat. Usually, this is not the most attractive thing for your audience.
In many cases, the 5/5/5 rule can go against what should be good practice in presentations. For example, include photos, graphics, or other elements. Even have visual communication with your audience.
How About the 5/5/5 Rule for PowerPoint Presentations?
Can you make good use of the PowerPoint 5×5 rule? Of course, knowing its benefits and cons is essential before applying it. However, some prefer to make their PPT presentations differently without looking too much at the rules.
If you need a PowerPoint presentation to tell the story or show the products or services of your company, at BluCactus, we can help you. PowerPoint presentations have many benefits, and we can create a design that fits your goals and personalized information. Contact us right now to tell you more about this service that works within any marketing strategy and for any business model.
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