5 tips for acing a business pitch deck

Category : Entrepreneurship Program | Sub Category : Posted on 2022-06-09 13:06:52

---

A pitch deck is every business’s first impression more like your resume when you have a job interview. Your pitch deck is also your key to getting the investment you need to give life to your business. In this article we’ll be going through different tips that can help you fine tune your pitch deck if you want to become a successful entrepreneur and what’s most important is the overall impression you leave when you pitch.

Consider your audience

Your audience directly influences how you should prepare your message. Whether you are pitching your startup or crafting promotional materials, you must know your audience! 

Getting up in front of an audience is difficult enough, but it is even worse if you are derailed before your presentation begins.  When you know your audience, you can tailor your content to speak to them, anticipate their questions, and deliver a proactive presentation.

Center your message

Once you’ve identified your audience and investors to pitch, you need to make sure you have one clear message. This should be a key take-away that you want investors to remember when you’re done. Your message should clearly communicate what problem are your customers struggling with? And how does your product or service solve that? Investors really want you to demonstrate that you truly understand the problem you want to solve with your business and why your solution is going to be valuable and better than the current way that this is done.

Use actual numbers and data to tell a story

Always remember the main function of numbers in your pitch - they're meant to prove the story you're telling about your market and your startup. In other words - data is evidence. It doesn't tell a story entirely on its own, and needs to be interpreted. To that end, there's data other than your immediate business financials that you can consider when pitching. This may include things like sales, revenue, expenses, and user growth.

Keep it short and precise

Limit your timeYou must focus on how much time you are spending on this presentation. Time is an essential commodity, and you need to respect it when you run a business. You and your investors both value time. So, when you pitch an idea to them, make sure it is short and to the point.

It is advised that you set a time limit and inform your investors about it in advance. This will help you create a structure during your pitch. Your investor might give you a specific amount of time to pitch your idea. If you stick to the time limit and finish your presentation a minute or two before the said time, you leave a good impression on them. 

Ten minutes is the ideal time to pitch a great idea. Make your presentation short, precise, and impactful so that you can blow their minds away in a matter of a few minutes. After that, you can allow a few extra minutes for questions if you wish to. In this time, you will also learn whether your investor is interested or not, so pay close attention to their reaction.

Use a good looking design

Your pitch deck design is what your investors are going to be looking at while you present, and the right design will actually strengthen your message and get you one step closer to walking out of the door with the investment you need.

When it comes to design, you want to:

• Use consistent branding to get investors comfortable and connected with your logo and brand identity

• Use images that are relevant, and help you tell your story not just the ones you think look best

How you present matters, and in all cases it leaves investors with an impression – positive, negative or neutral. You don’t have to be a master of sales and public speaking, but you do need to be genuine, inspiring and convincing and you can do that by telling a compelling story and listening and responding to your audience.

Search