James Schiro, the former CEO of Zurich Financial Services, favours a limit of "three slides, three points".
You really can't manage more than three of four things at the most, but I like to see it in three slides, "he said. "I hate PowerPoint presentations. If you're running a business, you ought to be able to stand up there and tell me about your business without referring to a big slide deck. When you're speaking, people should focus on you and focus on the message. They can't walk away remembering a whole bunch of different things."
In short, simplifying the complex is Job One for CEOs. They are paid to create order out of chaos, to indentify three to five things employees need of focus on, rather than 20 things that will send people off in different directions.