Average Time to Create a Presentation (With Data): 2025 Benchmarks
"How long should this presentation take?"
It's a question every professional asks. Whether you're planning your week, quoting a project, or wondering if you're slower than everyone else—knowing the benchmarks helps.
This article compiles data on presentation creation time from industry studies, user surveys, and real-world measurements to give you accurate benchmarks for 2025.
Executive Summary
The average presentation takes 4-6 hours to create manually. This includes planning, writing, designing, and reviewing. With AI tools like TextDeck, this drops to 8-15 minutes on average—a 95% time reduction.
Quick update (5 slides): 1.5-2.5 hours manual → 3-6 minutes with AI
Standard (10 slides): 4-6 hours manual → 8-15 minutes with AI
Complex (15+ slides): 8-12 hours manual → 18-30 minutes with AI
Pitch deck: 20-40 hours manual → 1-2 hours with AI---
How We Measured This
Our data comes from:
TextDeck user analytics (thousands of presentations, anonymized)
Industry surveys from productivity research firms
Time-tracking studies from enterprise deployments
User self-reports from 500+ survey respondentsWe tracked:
Active editing time
Total elapsed time (including breaks)
Number of revision cycles
Time by presentation type---
Time by Presentation Type
Quick Updates and Briefings (3-7 slides)
Average time: 1.5-2.5 hours (manual) / 3-6 minutes (AI)
These are internal updates, team briefings, and simple status reports. They require minimal design work and focus on conveying straightforward information.
With TextDeck, you describe what you need, and the AI generates a complete deck in under a minute. A quick review and minor edits, and you're done.
Planning/outline: 15-20 min manual → 1 min with AI
Content writing: 30-45 min manual → 1-2 min with AI (automated)
Design/layout: 20-30 min manual → 0 min with AI (automated)
Review/edit: 15-20 min manual → 2-3 min with AI
Total: 1.5-2.5 hours manual → 3-6 minutes with AIStandard Business Presentations (8-12 slides)
Average time: 4-6 hours (manual) / 8-15 minutes (AI)
This covers most business presentations: quarterly reviews, project updates, department meetings, and client presentations. This is the sweet spot for AI tools.
Planning/outline: 30-45 min manual → 1-2 min with AI
Content writing: 90-120 min manual → 2-4 min with AI (automated)
Design/layout: 60-90 min manual → 0 min with AI (automated)
Data/charts: 30-45 min manual → 2-4 min with AI
Review/edit: 30-45 min manual → 3-5 min with AI
Total: 4-6 hours manual → 8-15 minutes with AIComplex Presentations (15-25 slides)
Average time: 8-12 hours (manual) / 18-30 minutes (AI)
Training materials, comprehensive proposals, and detailed analysis presentations fall into this category. Even complex decks stay under 30 minutes with AI assistance.
Planning/outline: 60-90 min manual → 2-3 min with AI
Content writing: 180-240 min manual → 5-8 min with AI
Design/layout: 120-180 min manual → 0 min with AI (automated)
Data/charts: 60-90 min manual → 5-8 min with AI
Review/edit: 60-90 min manual → 6-11 min with AI
Total: 8-12 hours manual → 18-30 minutes with AIInvestor Pitch Decks (10-15 slides)
Average time: 20-40 hours (manual) / 1-2 hours (AI)
Pitch decks require multiple iterations, careful messaging, and often external feedback. The AI time includes generating a first draft, then refining with real data and feedback.
Research/strategy: 4-8 hours manual → 1-2 hours with AI (some manual work required)
Initial draft: 6-10 hours manual → 5-10 min with AI
Design/layout: 4-6 hours manual → 0 min with AI (automated)
Feedback + revision: 6-12 hours manual → 30-60 min with AI
Final polish: 2-4 hours manual → 15-30 min with AI
| Total | 20-40 hrs | 2-4 hrs |
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Time by Task
Breaking down where time actually goes during manual presentation creation:
| Task | % of Total Time | Avg. Minutes (10-slide deck) |
| Content writing | 35% | 84 min |
| Design and layout | 25% | 60 min |
| Planning and outline | 15% | 36 min |
| Data visualization | 12% | 29 min |
| Review and editing | 13% | 31 min |
| Total | 100% | 240 min (4 hours) |
Key insight: Design and layout—the tasks most professionals struggle with—consume 25% of time. AI tools eliminate this entirely.
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Time by Skill Level
Creation time varies significantly based on experience:
Design Skill Level
| Skill Level | Time Multiplier | Example: 10-slide deck |
| Professional designer | 0.6x | 2.4 hours |
| Experienced presenter | 1.0x | 4 hours |
| Average professional | 1.3x | 5.2 hours |
| Novice | 2.0x | 8 hours |
PowerPoint Proficiency
| Proficiency | Time Multiplier | Example: 10-slide deck |
| Expert | 0.7x | 2.8 hours |
| Proficient | 1.0x | 4 hours |
| Intermediate | 1.4x | 5.6 hours |
| Beginner | 2.2x | 8.8 hours |
Key insight: AI tools level the playing field. A novice using AI can produce a professional-quality presentation faster than an expert working manually.
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Time by Creation Method
Manual Creation (PowerPoint/Google Slides)
Average: 4.2 hours for 10-slide deck
Time varies based on:
Starting from scratch vs. template: 30% difference
Available content vs. creating new: 40% difference
Designer involvement: 50% reductionAI-Assisted Creation (TextDeck)
Average: 12 minutes for 10-slide deck
Time breakdown:
Prompt writing: 2 minutes
AI generation: 1 minute
Review and editing: 6 minutes
Export and final check: 3 minutesTemplate-Based Creation
Average: 2.8 hours for 10-slide deck
Faster than scratch but still requires:
Template selection: 15-20 minutes
Content adaptation: 60-90 minutes
Design adjustments: 30-45 minutes
Customization: 30-60 minutes---
Industry Benchmarks
Time Spent on Presentations Weekly (Without AI)
Consultant: 8-12 hours/week
Sales professional: 5-8 hours/week
Marketing manager: 4-6 hours/week
Executive: 3-5 hours/week
Project manager: 2-4 hours/week
Engineer: 1-2 hours/weekPresentations Created Monthly
Consultant: 8-12 presentations
Sales professional: 10-15 presentations
Marketing manager: 4-6 presentations
Executive: 2-4 presentations
Project manager: 3-5 presentations
Average professional: 3-4 presentations---
The Time Cost of Common Mistakes
These common mistakes add significant time when creating presentations manually:
Starting without an outline: +45 min
Poor content organization: +30 min
Inconsistent design: +60 min
Wrong tool for the job: +30-60 min
Last-minute changes: +45 min
Not having assets ready: +30 minTotal potential time waste: 3+ hours per presentation
AI tools like TextDeck eliminate most of these issues automatically—outlines are created from your prompt, design is always consistent, and layout is handled for you.
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ROI of AI Presentation Tools
Time Savings Calculation
For a professional creating 4 presentations per month (TextDeck user average):
Time per presentation: 4 hours manual → 12 min with AI = 3.8 hours saved
Monthly time: 16 hours manual → 48 min with AI = 15.2 hours saved
Annual time: 192 hours manual → 9.6 hours with AI = 182.4 hours saved
Value (at $50/hr): $9,600 manual → $480 with AI = $9,120 saved annuallyBreak-Even Analysis
| AI Tool Cost | Time to Break Even |
| $10/month | 12 minutes saved |
| $25/month | 30 minutes saved |
| $100/month | 2 hours saved |
Even expensive AI tools pay for themselves if they save more than 2 hours per month—a bar easily cleared by most users.
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Tips for Reducing Presentation Time
Without AI
Start with an outline (saves 30+ min)
Use templates consistently (saves 45+ min)
Batch similar presentations (saves 20% overall)
Prepare assets in advance (saves 30+ min)
Set a time limit and stick to it (prevents perfectionism)With AI
Write detailed prompts (better output = less editing)
Specify slide count and structure (matches expectations)
Include context about audience (improves relevance)
Use iterative editing (refine specific slides)
Export early, polish in PowerPoint (best of both worlds)---
What the Data Tells Us
Key Findings
Design work is the bottleneck: 25% of time goes to layout/design—tasks AI handles instantly
Skill matters less with AI: Novices using AI outperform experts working manually on speed
The first draft is the hardest: AI eliminates the "blank page problem"
Quality doesn't suffer: AI-generated presentations rate higher on consistency
Time savings compound: Professionals creating 3+ presentations/month save 100+ hours annuallyThe Future of Presentation Creation
Based on current trends:
2025: Average AI-assisted time drops to under 20 minutes
2026: Voice-to-presentation becomes common
2027: Real-time AI collaboration becomes standard
2030: Manual presentation creation becomes rare for routine business content---
Methodology Note
Data in this article comes from:
TextDeck platform analytics (Q4 2024 - Q1 2025)
Industry surveys (n=500+ respondents)
Time-tracking studies from 3 enterprise deployments
Public research from productivity consultanciesTime estimates represent averages for typical business presentations. Highly creative or design-intensive presentations may take longer. All AI estimates assume moderate editing of generated output.
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Ready to reclaim your time? Try TextDeck and see how much faster presentation creation can be. Your first deck takes under 5 minutes.
