Your pitch deck should have one goal: funding.
But with such a crowded marketplace, how can you stand out and leave an impression?
There’s a fine line between a pitch deck with just enough information to keep them interested, without overloading them with facts and figures that they can’t take it all in.
Optimal pitch deck designs are based on 20 slides, so the question is, how can you make the most out of them?
Here are eight pitch deck design tips to get you noticed.
No matter if you start from scratch or you use a template, be consistent with your theme. All your slides must be within the same color scheme.
The design elements like page numbers, headers and footers must also be consistent in terms of style and font.
Trim your pitch deck down to a handful of slide types that suit the content. This ensures the design remains consistent from start to finish.
Simple templates work well in this regard. For example, those with dark text on lighter backgrounds make it easy to read what’s on the slide and if you decide to make printouts for a more hands-on approach.
Your brand should be a prominent part of pitch deck design. The brand should start to stick with your audience throughout the presentation.
By the time you’re in the room with potential investors, you should already have a logo or watermark established.
Branding also includes having a list of keywords that you want associated with your business.
These should all be used in your pitch deck. If you use a template, ensure it makes use of your color scheme and branding material.
Don’t leave it until the final slide to reveal the brand. It should not be left as a ‘surprise’ to your audience. Leverage your brand throughout the presentation so your ideas, slogans, values, etc all leave a mark on the people in the room.
Make them fall in love with your brand as early as possible.
Pitch decks are full of facts, figures and other heavy content.
Charts are a great way to simplify them. They make it easy to visualize what you’re saying, meaning that they can understand it quicker and more efficiently - all that works in your favor.
For example, if you’re highlighting a certain statistic, instead of presenting a text element, create a pie chart to emphasize your point.
Charts take little time and effort to create. Of course, just make sure that you’ve labelled the axis/sectors/etc clearly and correctly.
Not every slide requires an image. If it feels like the slides are getting a bit repetitive, it’s best to avoid them.
For the slides that do deserve an image, make sure that you put a lot of effort into finding some high-quality, original images. Place them strategically throughout the presentation for optimal pitch deck design.
Avoid stock images at all cost - they do not resemble your brand, team, product or service in any way.
Original images are very engaging. They also last longer in the memory or your audience compared to blocks of text.
For businesses that don’t have a very visual offering, you’re going to need to get creative. Take photos of your team in action, or create a unique diagram.
Use small icon illustrations to organize a complex idea and help your presentation flow. For example, use them to group interesting stats together, or to break up the copy for better engagement.
Of course, the icons must match the overall theme of the pitch deck design.
When things get technical and complicated, your audience must be able to follow what you’re saying or they’ll get lost.
For example, consider using a tiled layout style to help break down the information and make it easier to understand.
Smaller snippets allow you to display lots of important information on a single slide. As such you don’t have to waste space on later slides for other facts and figures.
Couple the tiles with blocks or color, or include some illustrations and icons to help differentiate between the content pieces.
Many companies like to show images of their team within their pitch deck. If you plan on doing the same, then you must invest in professional headshots.
This ensures all the photos are consistent and show to your audience and investors that they’re doing business with a serious brand.
The shots don’t have to be boring. The best headshots represent the brand you’re trying to come across as. Don’t be afraid to include some personality in there if it fits within the overall style.
That said, you should also consider the people you’re presenting to. What photos appeal to them the most? Put yourself in their shoes. That will go a long way to developing the best headshots and team photos.
Finally, include lots of contrast in your pitch deck.
Templates with similar color or contrast may look excellent on the screen, but when it comes to printing them out or projecting, they can be very tough to make out.
Balance the pitch deck design with readability. After all, if they can’t read what’s on the slides, then all it’s going to do is show that you didn’t prepare well enough. Your audience must understand everything on the pitch deck.
