TED caps its talks at eighteen minutes, on the view that it is long enough to say something serious and short enough to hold an audience. This timer counts that eighteen minutes down on a big, readable display and beeps once at the end, so you can rehearse a talk to the famous limit without watching a clock.
Eighteen minutes is a maximum, not a target — the best talks often finish under it. Use the countdown to find where yours naturally lands and to make sure it never overruns. For a shorter format, the [lightning talk](/presentation-timer/lightning-talk) is five minutes; for any other limit, reset the countdown in the editor.
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.
Sixty seconds to say who you are and why it matters before the doors open. Drill it until the ending lands without a rush; trim it to 30 seconds in the editor for the sharper cut.