Slide Timing & Pacing

Control presentation pacing with timed slides, per-slide duration overrides, and a visual pacing timer.

Overview

Deckyard’s timing system helps you deliver presentations at the right pace. It supports two modes:

Auto-advance - Slides advance automatically on a timer (great for kiosks, Pecha Kucha, Ignite)
Pacing timer - A visual countdown that keeps you on track while you advance slides manually

Both modes support per-slide duration overrides, so individual slides can have longer or shorter timers than the deck default.

Enabling Timed Slides

Open your presentation in the editor
Click the gear icon to open Deck settings
Check Enable timed slides in the auto-advance section
Set your default seconds per slide (1—300)
Choose a timer behavior (auto-advance or pacing timer)

Deck settings showing auto-advance, theme, transition, and timing options

The total deck time is shown at the bottom of the section and updates live as you change settings.

Timer Modes

Auto-Advance

In auto-advance mode, slides move forward automatically when the timer expires:

A countdown bar fills at the bottom of the slide
When it reaches 100%, the next slide appears
On the last slide, the timer stops (or loops back to the first slide if looping is enabled)
Press A to pause/resume during your presentation

Best for:

Unattended displays and kiosks
Pecha Kucha (20 slides x 20 seconds)
Ignite talks (20 slides x 15 seconds)
Trade show loops

Pacing Timer

In pacing mode, the timer is visual-only — you still advance slides manually:

A countdown bar fills at the bottom of the slide
When it reaches 100%, the bar turns red and a brief “Time’s up” hint appears
The timer keeps running past 100% so you can see how far over you are
You advance to the next slide whenever you’re ready, which resets the timer
Press A to pause/resume the timer

Best for:

Conference talks with a time limit
Rehearsing presentation pacing
Any talk where you want timing guidance without losing control

Choosing a Mode

	Auto-advance	Pacing timer
Slides advance	Automatically	Manually (you press next)
Timer at 100%	Advances to next slide	Bar turns red, keeps running
Loop option	Available	Hidden (not applicable)
Share viewer	Audiences see auto-advance	No timer shown to audience
Best for	Kiosks, timed formats	Live talks, rehearsals

Per-Slide Duration

By default, every slide uses the deck-level timer (e.g. 20 seconds). You can override this for individual slides:

Select a slide in the editor
A Slide duration (seconds) input appears between the header and the form fields (only visible when timed slides are enabled)
Enter a value between 1 and 300
Leave the field empty to use the deck default

The placeholder shows the current deck default so you can always see what “empty” means.

Use Cases

Title slides - Set a short duration (5s) since they’re just an intro
Complex diagrams - Set a longer duration (60s) to give more explanation time
Video slides - Match the duration to the video length
Q&A slides - Set a long duration or use pacing mode to stay flexible

How It Works

Per-slide durations are stored as slide.duration alongside existing slide properties like notes and visibility
When no override is set, the deck default is used
The total deck time in settings accounts for all per-slide overrides
The progress area in presenter mode shows the total calculated time

Presenter View

When presenting with timed slides enabled:

Progress Bar

A thin bar at the bottom of the slide shows countdown progress:

Blue (normal) - Timer counting down
Dimmed - Timer is paused
Red with pulse (pacing mode only) - Timer has expired, you’re in overtime

You can toggle the bar’s visibility in deck settings with the Show countdown bar checkbox.

Controls

Press A to pause/resume the timer
The toolbar button reflects the current mode:
- Auto-advance: Pause auto / Resume auto
- Pacing timer: Pause timer / Resume timer

Total Time Display

When timed slides are enabled, the presenter progress area shows the total deck time:

3 / 10 · 6m 40s

This updates as you navigate through slides.

How timing works for audiences viewing via share links:

Auto-advance mode - Audiences see the same auto-advance behavior with per-slide durations. Slides advance automatically.
Pacing mode - No timer is shown to the audience. Pacing is a presenter-only feature since the audience doesn’t need to see your countdown.

Settings Reference

Deck-Level Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Enable timed slides	Turn timing on/off	Off
Seconds per slide	Default duration for all slides	20
Timer behavior	Auto-advance or Pacing timer	Auto-advance
Loop	Restart from first slide after last (auto-advance only)	Off
Show countdown bar	Display the progress bar during presentation	On

Per-Slide Setting

Setting	Description	Default
Slide duration	Override for this slide (1—300 seconds)	Empty (uses deck default)

Tips

Rehearse first - Use pacing mode to find the right timing for each slide before committing to auto-advance
Start with the deck default - Only add per-slide overrides where the default truly doesn’t fit
Pecha Kucha format - Set to 20 seconds, auto-advance, 20 slides. The format enforces tight storytelling.
Ignite format - Set to 15 seconds, auto-advance, 20 slides
The A key is your friend - It pauses/resumes in both modes, useful when audience questions interrupt your flow
Overtime is not a failure - In pacing mode, going slightly over on a slide is normal. The red bar helps you self-correct on the next one.

Keyboard Reference

Shortcut	Action
`A`	Pause/resume timer
`Right`, `Space`	Next slide (resets timer)
`Left`	Previous slide (resets timer)