# How to Give a Lightning Talk: 5 Minutes, One Point, No Filler

A lightning talk is a short talk, often 5 minutes, so it has room for exactly one point: say it in the first 20 seconds, back it with one example or demo, and end on what the audience should try. If the slides auto-advance, as in the Ignite format of 20 slides at 15 seconds each, script each slide to about 35 words and rehearse with the timer running until the slides and your words land together.

By the Speaking Coach team at Sodhera Intelligence. Updated 2026-10-22. Source: https://www.orecci.com/speaking-coach/presentations/lightning-talk/

## What makes a lightning talk different

Lightning talks are short talks, usually around 5 minutes, often given in a row at a meetup or a conference session. Some events let you click through your own slides; some use a fixed format where slides advance on their own. Either way, the time is strict, and the next speaker is waiting.

That means there's no warm-up, no agenda slide and no "a bit about me". You have time for **one point**, made well.

## Pick one point you can say in a sentence

| Too big for 5 minutes | Lightning-talk sized |
| --- | --- |
| "Testing best practices" | "Write the test before you fix the bug, and here's the bug that taught me why" |
| "Remote work" | "Our team replaced one weekly meeting with a written update, and here's what we lost" |
| "Accessibility" | "Try navigating your own site with only a keyboard for five minutes" |
| "My open source project" | "One feature in my project that solves a problem you probably have" |

(Made-up examples.) If your point needs a "first, second, third", it's probably a 20-minute talk.

## A structure for 5 minutes

| Time | Part | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 0:00–0:20 | The point | State it plainly: "Write the test before you fix the bug." |
| 0:20–1:00 | Why you care | The moment that taught you this |
| 1:00–3:30 | The example | The story, demo or evidence, in detail |
| 3:30–4:30 | What the audience can do | One action they can take this week |
| 4:30–5:00 | The point again | Repeat it, plus where to find you or the code |

In 5 minutes you'll speak roughly 650–750 words at a typical pace. Aim lower, around 600, so you're never rushing. The [speech length calculator](/speaking-coach/tools/speech-length-calculator/) will convert your draft. For timed talks without auto-advancing slides, the [5-minute presentation guide](/speaking-coach/presentations/5-minute-presentation/) goes deeper on what to cut.

## Auto-advancing slides

In the Ignite format, every talk has 20 slides that advance automatically every 15 seconds, for exactly 5 minutes. PechaKucha is a related fixed-slide format; see [the glossary entry](/speaking-coach/glossary/pecha-kucha/). These formats change how you prepare:

- **Each slide gets about 35–40 words** at a typical pace. Write them per slide.
- **Make slides visual.** A photo, a word, a number. There's no time for anyone to read a paragraph.
- **Use two slides for one idea** when you need 30 seconds on it. Repeat the image or show it building up.
- **Don't fight the slides.** If one moves on before you finish, drop the rest of that sentence and start the next slide's line. Trying to catch up makes you fall further behind.
- **Write a "bridge" word for each slide change**, the first word you'll say when it appears. It keeps you in sync.

A slide-by-slide plan, made-up, for a talk on testing:

| Slides | Seconds | What you say |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 0–15 | The point: write the test before you fix the bug |
| 2–4 | 15–60 | The night a fixed bug came back, three times |
| 5–12 | 60–180 | What happened, step by step, with screenshots |
| 13–17 | 180–255 | How to do it on Monday: three small habits |
| 18–20 | 255–300 | The point again, and a link |

## Rehearsal

A lightning talk needs more rehearsal per minute than any other talk, because there's no slack.

1. **Write the talk out**, then say it with a timer. Cut to under 5 minutes.
2. **Run it at least five times out loud**, timed. For auto-advance, run it with the slides set to advance automatically.
3. **Memorise the first and last lines** word for word. They're where nerves are worst and where time is tightest.
4. **Know the middle as a sequence of beats**, one per slide or section.
5. **Record one run** and listen for filler words. In five minutes, a habit of "so, um" at every slide change is very noticeable.

Speaking Coach's feedback shows your pace in words per minute, filler words and long pauses after each run, and "Retry this moment" lets you redo the part that dragged.

## On the day

- **Load your slides early** and check the format the organisers need, such as PDF or a specific aspect ratio.
- **Know your exit line**, so you finish cleanly even if you're cut off.
- **Skip thanking everyone at the start.** The host introduced you. Start with your point.
- **End by saying "Thank you", then stop.** The applause is the handoff to the next speaker.

## Mistakes to avoid

| Mistake | Why it hurts | Instead |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A 20-minute talk squeezed into 5 | You rush and nothing lands | One point, one example |
| An agenda slide | Wastes 15 seconds you don't have | Start with the point |
| Text-heavy slides | The audience reads instead of listening | One image or phrase per slide |
| Chasing auto-advancing slides | You speed up and fall further behind | Drop the sentence, move on |
| No call to action | It's forgotten by the next talk | End with one thing to try |

## Questions people ask

### How long is a lightning talk?

Usually around 5 minutes, though some events use 3 to 10. The Ignite format is exactly 5 minutes.

### How many slides for a lightning talk?

If slides auto-advance, the format sets it, such as 20 in Ignite. If you control them, 5 to 10 is plenty.

### How many words is a 5-minute lightning talk?

About 650–750 at a typical pace. Write around 600 so you have room to breathe.

### What's a good topic for a lightning talk?

One idea you can state in a sentence and back with one strong example from your own experience: a lesson, a tool, a mistake.

### What if I lose sync with auto-advancing slides?

Let the unfinished sentence go and start the next slide's line. The audience won't know what you skipped.

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