Everything You Should Know About Creating a Compelling Pitch Deck

Posted on: March 8, 2021 4:39 pm

A pitch deck is a presentation or proposal that startups and entrepreneurs prepare for raising funds from investors. In general, they prepare a pitch deck using either Microsoft PowerPoint or Keynote. 

On average, a standard business pitch deck consists of a minimum of 10 slides and not more than 19 slides. However, the number of slides can vary depending on the startups’ requirements. 

As described in an article published in Forbes, startups need at least two different versions of a business pitch deck, including a text-heavy pitch deck and a visual-based pitch deck. 

Text-Heavy Pitch Deck

As the name suggests, a text-heavy pitch deck focuses on providing textual information rather than visuals. It contains detailed information, and so it cannot be presented in a room full of investors. If entrepreneurs try to pitch this version of the pitch deck to the investors, it could be boring and ineffective. Therefore, they send a text-heavy pitch deck via email to the investors. 

Through a textual pitch deck, investors can get detailed information about a business, its objectives, future plans, etc. 

Visual-Based Pitch Deck

Visual-Based pitch deck is absolutely opposite to a text-heavy pitch deck. It contains a visual representation of important information and data. It is prepared by the entrepreneurs using infographics, pictures, bullet points, and other graphic design elements.  

The entrepreneurs prepare this version of the pitch deck to pitch to investors their business proposal face-to-face. This pitch deck’s version is much more important than a text-heavy pitch deck. 

Three Key Points to Design a Compelling Business Pitch Deck 

A pitch deck must grab the investors’ attention, and for that, it must be: 

Clear and Simple

While creating your business presentation deck design, keep the delivery of the message clear and simple so that investors can easily understand it. If you add hard-to-understand words and sentences in your pitch deck, it won’t work for you. Use the most commonly used simple yet powerful words; it will definitely work for you. 

Compelling

A business pitch deck must be compelling enough to grab investors’ attention and engage them with the proposal you want to offer. To make your business pitch deck compelling, you must add attractive visuals, present the data in an organized and attractive way, and highlight the major points. Apart from this, using infographics, pictures of your business environment, and other graphic elements can be a great addition to your business pitch deck. 

East to Act-On

Your business pitch deck must be impressive enough to influence the decision-making of the investors. It would be useful to highlight what benefits you are going to provide the investors and how your business will successfully dominate the market in the upcoming years. 

The Slides Your Pitch Deck Must Have 

Problem

A slide covering the problem must be at the beginning of your business pitch deck after the introductory slides. This slide usually contains an actual problem (a painful problem) that you will be going to focus on. The problem must relate to real-life issues and easy to understand.  

In this slide, you need to comprehensively describe the problem, its consequences, major effects, and negative possibilities. You also need to describe that no one is taking this issue seriously except yours. It would be impressive for grabbing investors’ attention as a commoner. 

The Solution

The solution slide must be right next to the problem slide to create a sequence. It must be concise and clear. In this slide, you need to effectively describe what you aim to solve. This is the problem that you mentioned in the problem slide. You can also describe your plans and strategies to cope with the problem in this slide. It would be impressive for investors. 

The Market Scope

In this slide, you need to describe your startup’s market scope comprehensively. It is one of the most crucial slides of your pitch deck as it influences the decision-making of investors. Therefore, You can describe it well with an attractive visual representation of market stats and data. 

Competition

In the competition slide, you need to comprehensively explain your planning and strategies to face the competition and come out as a winner. This slide also plays a crucial role in influencing the decision-making of investors. 

Product or/and Service

The product slide contains your product pictures, information, and services. It must involve the benefits and usage of products. 

Growth Rate

If you represent your startup through your pitch deck, you need to explain your business’s expected growth rate using other related companies and the market’s stats. On the other hand, if you represent your established business, you need to show your company’s month-over-month growth rate. 

The Team

In the team slide, you need to introduce your whole team, including board members, the CEO, and other prominent members of your company. Add a complete portfolio of each team member and explain their roles in your company. It would be helpful for investors to know the faces behind your company. 

Finance

Finance must be a conclusion slide in your pitch deck. In this slide, you need to explain to investors how much fund you want to raise and how the fundraising process will go on. Make sure you keep all the information in this slide clear and concise so that investors can easily understand what you actually want from them. 

These eight slides are a must for your business proposal. However, you can add more slides in your presentation, depending on your business requirements and preferences.