by Adam Noar

Do a quick Google search for “presentation statistics” and you won’t find much.

Sure, you’ll get the broad stats like the fact there are “500 million PowerPoint users” or that“30 million presentations are created daily”. But beyond that high-level stuff … you’re not going to get the fun details such as:

91% of people feel that a well-designed slide deck would make them feel more confident when giving a presentation.

Yes, today you’re in for a treat because I’ve got some exciting survey data from 269 people (Presentation Panda email subscribers) who provided feedback on their attitudes towards presentations, their preferred presentation tool/software, the challenges they face when creating slides, and more!

I’m going to update this post every year with new stats, and I’ll also ask other industry friends and websites to do their own surveys, so we can cover a bunch of different niches, get a bigger sample size, and more.

Let’s take a look at the graphic summary and then we can talk about some of the insights and what they might mean below.

<a href=”https://presentationpanda.com/blog/new-presentation-statistics/”><img src=”https://presentationpanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Presentation-Statistics-2018-Presentation-Panda-Subscriber-Survey.png” alt=”Presentation Statistics for 2018 – Presentation Panda Survey Infographic” title=”Presentation Statistics for 2018″></a><br /><small><center>Presentation statistics updated each year can be found <a href=”https://presentationpanda.com/blog/new-presentation-statistics/” rel=”nofollow”>here</a>.</center>

So what do these survey results tell us?

When I created this survey on presentations I really wanted to get a good understanding of how people create their slide decks, their confidence level, their challenges, and more.

Here are some of the things I found most interesting:

1.) People realize the power of presentations — 92% agree that presentation skills are critical to success at work. This was 22% higher than what was uncovered from the same question that Harris (a reputable market research company) asked about a year ago. Maybe the reason why our results are even higher is that our savvy panda respondents simply know better than the average presenter? Regardless, of whether its 92% or 70% it’s a high number! People understand the simple fact that those who create and deliver outstanding presentations excel in business. After all, a presentation can win that business deal, accelerate that promotion, and much more. On the other hand, poor presentation skills mean that leaders fail to inspire their teams, products fail to sell, entrepreneurs fail to attract funding, and careers fail to soar. That seems like a big price to pay for neglecting such a basic skill that anyone can improve upon.

2.) People believe most presentations today suck — 79% agree that “most presentations are boring.” From poor image choices to lengthy bullet points we have talked about the many ways a presentation can go wrong. We’ve joked around in past and said that “99% of presentations suck”. Unfortunately, we were not that far off from the truth! What’s also true is that creating and delivering a presentation that engages hearts and minds does take work and creativity. But the results are clearly worth it (as seen in #1 above).

3.) People understand the importance of awesome design — 91% agree that they would feel more confident if they knew their presentation was beautifully designed. We think people feel this way because people know that a nice looking slide deck automatically takes things to the next level. It shows an audience your character, your attention to detail, organization skills, creativity, and so much more. Who wouldn’t feel confident knowing they have checked all those boxes before even opening their mouth during the presentation?

4.) Public speaking is scary — 31% agree that public speaking scares them. I’m surprised that this was not higher. The fear of presenting is very real among professionals in corporate America today, so much so that that many people are desperate to avoid it. Perhaps the survey audience was more comfortable at public speaking than the average person? Perhaps there is some different interpretation of what scary is? It’s interesting to note that 68% percent said that they felt they were “good” or “outstanding” at public speaking so the data could be pointing in that direction.

5.) PowerPoint is still very much king — When we asked people what presentation software they primarily use 89% said they use PowerPoint. That’s a HUGE market share percentage! Seriously its very rare that you see cards so stacked for one particular brand over another. The second biggest was Keynote (4%), followed by Prezi (3%), Google Slides (3%), and “other” (1%).

6.) People use PowerPoint because its familiar, easy, and many don’t have a choice — When we asked people why they liked PowerPoint the results were crystal clear. People use ppt because it’s what they have always used (73%), it’s easy to use (59%) … (since they have been using it for so long), and because many don’t have a choice (43%). PowerPoint is simply the industry standard and it’s what most people in almost every organization use (remember the 89% market share in #5 above). Going against the grain with a different presentation tool is difficult (if not impossible) for people. This means that competitors like Prezi have a tough uphill battle to climb. As one respondent mentioned, “I have found PowerPoint provides all I need, so I have not bothered to check out the others.”

7.) People may be slightly better at designing slides than public speaking — It was interesting to see from the survey data that people are slightly better at designing a presentation (77% say they are good or outstanding) vs. public speaking (68% say that are good or outstanding).

8.) The hardest parts of creating a presentation include crafting a compelling story, designing a creative layout, finding and using great visuals, and condensing information — Presentations are tough. We already knew that. But what we never quantified is what aspects were more difficult than others. It was interesting to see what came to the top of the list … storytelling 46%, designing compelling layouts (45%), incorporating visuals (41%), and condensing info (38%). It was also interesting to see what fell to the bottom of the list like “using PowerPoint properly” (6%) and finding attractive fonts (7%).

9.) 79% spend at least one hour practicing their presentation – While there seemed to be a range in how much time people spent practicing, 79% put in at least 1 hour. 22% spent 5+ hours in practice mode. Impressive! Our motto at Presentation Panda is simply to practice until you know your info so well you could give your talk in your sleep. If that means spending 8+ hours practicing then so be it!

10.) And finally … most people put a lot of effort into their presentations – People know that a lot is on the line with a presentation and that’s why 88% of people put “quite a bit” or “a huge amount” of effort into their presentations.

Conclusion

I hope that you found these presentation stats eye-opening.

What statistic do you find most interesting?

I’d love to know which presentation stat you find most interesting and what it tells you about presentations. Also, if you have any ideas about future surveys or burning questions you want to ask, then please drop a comment below and let me know.

I want to keep this post constantly firing with new stats!

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the survey … you guys rock! And to everyone reading this article you rock too!

If you liked this post and infographic, please share it! It does take a lot of effort to create these and the shares are much appreciated.

Also, do you have a friend that is currently creating a new presentation and could benefit from learning about these cool survey stats on presentations? If so, send them a link to this blog post right now. I’m sure, they will return the favor to you one day!

Hungry for information on related topics? Here are a few suggested posts:

10 Essential PowerPoint Hacks for More Exciting Presentations

PowerPoint vs. Prezi – What’s the Difference?

10 Reasons Why Some Say PowerPoint Kicks Prezi’s Butt

10 Reasons Your PowerPoint Sucks … And How You Can Make Your Presentation Amazing!