An elevator pitch is the talk you could give in the time of a short elevator ride — about sixty seconds to say who you are, what you do, and why it matters, before the doors open. This timer counts that minute down and beeps once at zero, so you can drill the pitch until it fits without rushing the ending.
A minute is the comfortable upper end; many pitches are sharper at thirty seconds. Rehearse against the countdown, trim whatever pushes you over, and when you want the tighter version open the editor and set it to thirty. A pitch you can land inside the clock, every time, is one you can deliver under pressure.
Twenty slides, twenty seconds each — 6:40 of talking to whatever is on screen, with a beep at every change. Set your deck to auto-advance at 20 seconds and let the timer keep you honest.
A flat five minutes — twenty slides, fifteen seconds apiece, five seconds tighter than Pecha Kucha and far less forgiving. The beep is your cue to click on; set your slides to advance to match it.
Five minutes to land one clear idea, counted down to a single beep so a packed bill of speakers stays on schedule. Running a three-minute slot instead? Change the length in the editor.
Eighteen minutes — the TED ceiling, the point past which a talk loses the room. It is a limit, not a target, so rehearse until yours finishes comfortably under. Reset the length in the editor for any other cap.