We’ve compiled the most commonly mentioned pitch deck tips and best practices to help you take your investor pitch deck to the next level. An effective pitch deck should allow you to fully customise it to suit your company’s needs and generally speaking, a template should contain minimalist aesthetics to make the content the focal point.
In today’s digital age, it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd. When looking to impress potential investors, you need to know what they’re looking for and how to frame your company’s story.
Let’s talk about our top investor pitch deck tips
- What is a pitch deck?
- Pitch deck best practices
- Business pitch deck design tips
- Use the free pitch deck template from Brixx
What is a pitch deck?
In short, a pitch deck is a brief yet informative set of visually appealing slides created within a software program. Also known as a startup pitch deck, investor pitch deck, or slide pitch deck, this visual document provides investors with essential information about a business or business plan. This information may include fundraising needs, target market metrics, financial goals, and more.
Generally, a pitch deck is a pitch presentation for entrepreneurs or businesses to provide an overview of their company or startup to potential investors. These investors typically include venture capitalists or angel investors.
A pitch deck can be a critical tool in raising funds for a business yet it’s only the first step in the process.
Pitch deck best practices
A common mistake that startups or businesses make is that they design their pitch deck for themselves, not their audiences. There are a few key takeaways that have become best practice when creating pitch decks and we’ve compiled them for you below.
Remember to consider your audience
Whether you’re pitching to an angel investor group or a VC, it is key to be able to design your pitch deck for your audience. Think of what they may be looking for, do some research on the other companies they fund, etc.
Focus your message
Keep only to what you need to convey. This is not the time for long-winded tales.
Give your audience the right information
Too often, we want to convey every last detail of what we know. However, to a potential investor, a wall of text can be terrifying or overwhelming. Knowing what to include where will help you form a solid foundation. We have an investor pitch deck template that goes over what you should be including in your business pitch deck.
Tell a story with your data
Numbers are without question the most important aspect of your startup pitch deck. However, If you can create an emotional connection or tell a story with your data by putting yourself in potential investors’ shoes. Use storytelling and graphics to create emotion and showcase your product or service in action.
Get straight to the point
In general, there is a simple set of rules to live by when creating an investor pitch deck.
Short, simple, honest.
- Keep your pitch deck short
- The longer your pitch deck, the higher the chance of losing your audience halfway through. Grab their attention and hook them from the get-go.
- Stick to simplicity
- The more information on a slide, the more opportunity to lose them. Keep your pitch deck slides simple and visually stimulating.
- Be honest and honourable
- From financial projections to team roles, ensure that you have not fudged the details or have forgotten to include something important.
Make sure it looks good
Design plays an important role in the success of your pitch deck presentation. We go over pitch deck best practices for the design side of things in the next section.
Utilise a pitch deck template
Instead of beginning your business pitch deck from scratch, take advantage of the vast number of pitch deck templates available on the web. Learn more about how to choose a template.
Business pitch deck design tips
The goal of your pitch deck’s design should make your content easy to read. In order to adhere to best practices and design an effective pitch deck, you should:
- Simplify complex concepts
- Focus on key information
- Provide supporting documents where necessary.
Your design should communicate the message clearly
To stay on the safe side, using a minimalist design and colour scheme can help your message stand out. By combining your design with colour psychology, even your colour palette alone can be used to your advantage.
Use visuals for the data
The importance of data visualisation cannot be stressed enough. By utilising charts and diagrams, investors can more easily take in complex data.
Leverage emotion
Connection, success, power…whatever it may be…your pitch deck should convey more than just the facts. By creating some sort of emotional spark, your pitch deck can truly stand out.
Use a clear font colour
Too often, people try to make their presentations “fancy” and forget that people need to be able to clearly read the information on the page. Be sure to choose a typography and font size that is easily digestible.
Align your pitch deck with your branding
Maintaining a consistent brand image can be a subtle yet powerful way to use visuals to your advantage. Not only does this help link your brand to the product or service offering but it showcases your professionalism.
Think of your audience’s taste
Be sure to tweak any pitch deck template you may use to your audience’s preferences starting with picking one that aligns best with them.
Make your deck design consistent
Keep design elements like your header, footer and style icons consistent. This can be the difference between potential investors thinking you’re investment-worthy or not detail-oriented enough to pick up on such inconsistencies.
Contrast is key
Whether in your imagery, font, footers, icons, or other, design with contrast in mind.
Showcase your superstar team
Use professional headshots of your team and be sure to convey their importance to show investors who they’re investing in.
Use the free pitch deck template from Brixx
If you haven’t yet, take a look at the free pitch deck template we’ve designed. Available for free download, our template follows pitch deck best practices while helping you easily convey the most important aspects of your business plan. Here at Brixx, we have the tools you need to create effective financial projections for your pitch decks and business plans.