How to make your pitch deck work: 7 tips

My name is Efim, 31 y.o., I am an entreprenuer. In my life I have prepared dozens of pith decks, performed a hundred times and each time with an updated presentation. I have raised a total of $2.5 million in investments, graduated from several accelerators, including 500, and I want to share with you how to create presentations for speeches. Prepared a set of 7 recommendations. I hope you find it useful. It will be very cool if you write your questions.

Be simple

Entrepreneurs try to think about and explain every part of a project. But if it’s simpler for investors, that’s a good thing. A short, to-the-point presentation is always better than a long one with a lot of background information.

Avoid Lists

They are boring and don’t say anything about the subject.

Use sans serif fonts and less plain text. Big pictures, graphs, and infographics will fill your story with meaning and help investors connect with your ideas on an emotional level.

Tell a story

Don’t just go by the facts. Tell the story of how people use your product and how their lives got better. History that makes an investor feel something is a sure sign that you’ve hit the bull’s-eye.

Be brief

Your performing time will be limited. The limits differs. It may be from 30 seconds (in an eleverator) to 15 minutes on scene. The average length of a pitch is 2 to 5 minutes. This is more than enough to show how your idea works.

Ask for money

People often forget (or are too embarrassed) to say how much money they need from investors.

A slide about money that is the main point of your paper. Make sure to say what the money will be used for. Diagrams, pictures, and infographics can help you.

Prepare a PDF

Don’t send a copy in PPT or Keynote before the meeting; always send it in PDF. So the audience will see the presentation as it was intended: with the right fonts, graphics in the right order, and a strong style. Cut the file down to 5–8 MB at most.

Pitch deck for performance ≠ memo for reading

These are two different documents! I suggest adding additional slides about technology, marketing, and money to the memo. If you send a memo, make sure it can be read without your words = and more text.

So to summarise:

1. Keep it simple

2. Avoid bullet lists

3. Tell a story

4. Ask for money

5. Be brief

6. Prepare a PDF

7. A memo for reading is not a pitch for your show!

Good luck for more, and follow me on Linkedin, let’s stay in touch!