HOW TO DELIVER A WINNING PITCH DECK

HOW TO DELIVER A WINNING PITCH DECK

Introduction

Do you know how to deliver a winning pitch deck? The process may sometimes seem easy, but many little details need your attention. This article will cover all you need to know on how to deliver a winning pitch deck.

John has been searching for a breakthrough for a long time. Luckily, a friend connected him with someone who wishes to invest in his business ideas.

It was a long-awaited answered prayer for John, and he could not hide his excitement. First, however, this person has asked him to prepare and deliver a pitch deck to convince them to plug into the investment.

What is a pitch deck? A pitch deck is a written document that a person writes and presents to potential clients/investors, hoping to convince them to do business or have a partnership. Therefore, you know that you cannot joke around with it.

Research shows that a pitch deck is not a one-size-fits-all. Instead, it would be best if you constantly tweaked it to suit your audience. In this case, to serve the investor, that needs the presentation.

It is not the first time John has heard about a pitch deck, but he has never written or delivered one. Instead, he always hoped to convince people through talking alone.

Now, he is seeking to know how to deliver a winning pitch deck. Are you like John? Do you wish to understand how to deliver a winning pitch deck? Then continue reading this article. Below are some tips that will help you have a winning pitch deck

Always include facts

When you are writing a pitch deck, you always need to include facts. It serves as the difference between a regular and winning pitch deck.

Your potential client or investor may wish to verify whatever information you include in the pitch deck. Now, imagine they decide to crosscheck the data and see that it is false or does not exist? What does that say about your personality and integrity?

In such a case, they will no longer want to do business with you as they will take it that you are not trustworthy. Business partners only want to work with someone they can trust. Thus, you must ensure not to create any chance for them to feel that you have a questionable character.

Some people feel that using verified information is for only academic research papers. But you’re mistaken as it goes further.

If you tell your investor/client that only 5% of their competitors are vital, ensure it is correct. You should never falsify information because you want your presentation to be bulky.

So, if you have not started checking for information, facts, and figures related to their industry, you should start now!

Use catchy elements like gifs

Undoubtedly, humans have a fickle attention span. Therefore, research shows that a typical human attention span is now 8 seconds. So, now that you have this information, how do you plan to sustain or hold the attention of your investor or client while presenting your pitch deck?

It is why we always advise and suggest that you add catchy elements in your presentation. Some of these catchy elements could be gifs, shorts videos, pictures, etc. What matters is that they convey whatever information you are trying to pass.

Yes, you should always have these catchy elements. However, they must always sync with your content. You do not want a situation where your client cannot understand the details and your content.

A winning pitch deck leaves the investor hooked and interested while you are talking. However, if your client starts checking their watch, it seems that you are not doing something right. In this case, they are getting tired and cannot wait for you to wrap up the presentation.

Any catchy element that you are infusing should live up to its name. You should not use an image that is in black and white or a dull shade. Everything needs to be vibrant and upbeat.

PowerPoint presentation is best

By default, anyone familiar with presentations would know that Microsoft PowerPoint is the best to know. So, it is what you should use when you want to deliver a winning pitch deck.

Now, you may be wondering how it differs from other applications. For example, we get people asking, ‘why can’t I use Microsoft Word for the presentation?’

It is how it was built. The developers did not create Microsoft Word for presentation purposes, so it does not have those aesthetics. You may feel that they do not matter, but it goes a long and might even be a scoring point to convincing your client or investor.

With PowerPoint, you have already designed slides, and you can set them to change as you are presenting automatically. So, everyone would agree that you cannot get such with an application like Microsoft Word.

Interestingly, when they created PowerPoint in 1987, it was called Presenter. Gradually, it has become the default presentation application, and research shows a global number of about 35 million PowerPoint presentations daily. Also, it says that PowerPoint has about 500million users.

Some people may want to seem different and decide to use another application. However, if you go down this route, it will be to your disadvantage. Therefore, you should always use PowerPoint if you want to deliver a winning pitch deck.

Pay attention to the organizational structure of your content

Now, let us talk about your body of work. For a pitch deck, it is the content that you are presenting to clients and investors.

If you want to have a winning pitch deck, it is best to ensure synergy in presenting all aspects. It is why we say that you should pay attention to the organizational structure of your content.

You need to have some information in your content; otherwise, it would be useless and a waste of time.

One of such information is:

• Market analysis: What niche or industry are you selling to your investor? Why is it a good idea for them to put money into this industry? What are the problems in this industry, and what solutions do you have for them?

These are some questions that you have to analyze when putting together content for your pitch deck. If your content doesn’t answer these questions, it does not qualify as a winning pitch deck.

So, for the market analysis, we suggest that you always do a SWOT analysis.

S – Strength

W- Weakness

O- Opportunities

T – Threats

There is nothing wrong with boasting about your strengths, as it sets you apart from competitors. Your pitch deck should always highlight these high points and how they come in handy. It may be the convincing factor in the entire scenario.

Whatever, no one should deceive you that you do not have weaknesses. Anything that has pros would also have cons. Recall we said that you should always be truthful in your pitch deck. A client will always appreciate when you come clean and state out weaknesses and ways to work on them efficiently.

As you go further in your content, do not forget to highlight all the opportunities beneficial to your potential client and investor. It is common knowledge that no one likes to waste money. Thus, these opportunities let them know that you will be putting their money to good use.

Who/what are the possible threats that one would encounter during this business or in the industry? It would help if you also talked about them and state ways to overcome these hurdles.

Once these are in your content, you are on the right path to delivering a winning pitch deck. The insights you get from market analysis aid in formulating the game plan to surpassing your competitors.

• Use the clients’ elements for design: Recall when we earlier mentioned that a pitch deck is not a one-size-fits-all. One of the ways you can always tweak it can be by infusing the design elements of your client. You can do this by using their fonts or color. It appeals to them emotionally, showing that you pay attention to their details.

Understandably, this may seem like a bit of detail that does not matter. However, it assists in providing an effective organizational structure.

• Introduce your creative strategy: There are so many innovative strategies out there, and you need to pick the ones that help sell your idea or solve the problem. However, you should ensure that any creative process you decide to use should always be engaging.

After putting in all the details from your market and SWOT analysis, the next step is to introduce your solution creatively– a creative strategy. We cannot overemphasize the importance of creativity when it concerns delivering a winning pitch deck.

Your creative strategy could be visuals, scripts, or other engagement ideas. What matters is that it should be catchy to get attention and solve problems.

Make use of storytelling

How are you presenting this content to your audience? Recall that humans have a fickle attention span. It is why you should infuse the use of storytelling.

When you give them real-life scenarios, it makes your presentation more relatable and gets them less bored. However, you need to understand that it is not their first time listening to a proposal, and it may probably not be the last time. So, you need to do yours in a way that sets you apart from others.

You will not be out of place if you decide to dramatize some parts. The goal is to get them hooked and talking. If you want to deliver a winning pitch deck, you need to ensure that your presentation leaves a mark that they will not forget in a long time.

Storytelling is one of the biggest influencers in any presentation. We can verify this claim with the research of Jeremy Hsu in 2008, who says that storytelling engages the brain more than logical facts.

Include testimonials

There is also a need to include testimonials, especially if you are trying to get your client to invest in a product you are selling. The testimonials will help them believe that your product is effective. It also goes to show that people are willing to buy and try out this product.

The same way you will not store water in a basket is how investors do not like to waste money. So, these testimonials always come in handy.

It is easy to get written testimonials from people, but it is usually not always convincing. If possible, try getting video testimonials and add these videos to your content presentation.

Remember, it is always best not to leave any loopholes.

Keep it short

We do not want to generalize or put a specific number to how long your slides should be when presenting a pitch deck. However, it is always best to keep it short and straightforward.

Keeping it short also ties to the attention span of a typical human. Some people say that it is easy to get an idea of something in the first five minutes of someone talking. So, you do not want to talk for hours and lose their attention.

Ensure that you cut off any unnecessary information during your presentations. It is also best to strive for instant understanding. For example, when writing the content of your pitch deck, ensure to project it in a way that people easily understand as they read through it.

Be prepared to answer questions

It should be unimaginable to think that you will finish a presentation without getting questions. If there are no questions, it would either be that you did not do a good job, or they are uninterested.

Now, if you have put in the work, you should also be fully prepared with answers to any of their possible questions. So, it is not out of place to present your pitch deck first to some trusted friends to get an idea of the questions to expect.

The aim is to ensure that you are not caught off-guard by any of the questions that they may ask.

Always include your financial slide

One of the reasons you present a pitch deck to a client or investor is that you want funds. Therefore, the idea of delivering a winning pitch deck is to win their pockets as well.

So, it would not make sense if your financial slide is not a part of the presentation. It can be the last slide that ends the pitch deck.

It is wrong to wait for the investor to ask before you present a financial slide. When you include your financial projections, they get an idea of funding and correlate it with your content.

Be confident

One of the top and best ingredients for delivering a winning pitch deck is your confidence! You might be pitching the same product with another person, but your confidence will be your booster.

If you are not confident about what you are selling, how do you intend to convince your investors?

You can boost your confidence by presenting in front of a mirror or your friends before meeting the investors. Understandably, growing confidence is a gradual process. But we are sure that you can get it if you put your mind to it.

FAQs

Here are some of the frequently asked questions that people have concerning how to deliver a winning pitch deck

What makes a good pitch presentation?

The content of a pitch is what makes a good pitch presentation. You can understand and know how to structure your content by reading the section about organizational structure.

Your body of work is what you are selling to investors. So, if it is not rich enough, the investors will not take the partnership to the next level.

The aim of having rich content does not mean that it should be packed with meaningless data. On the contrary, it can be concise and still be rich enough.

How do you deliver a winning pitch deck?

You can deliver a winning pitch deck by following all the steps and procedures highlighted above.

Be like John and take the bull by the horn instead of being scared when asked to deliver a pitch deck.

When your content, design, and other elements come together beautifully, you are going to have a winning pitch deck.

Conclusion

If you do all these steps rightfully, you will be closing numerous contracts and deals in no time.

The goal of delivering a winning pitch deck should no longer be a scary thought. Instead, you should be the one coaching others.

If you have found this article helpful, do well to share it with others and drop a comment.

Always remember that we are rooting for you!