May 2014

The First Slide: What It Needs to Be and What It Has to Do

Posted on May 28, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

If you want to maximize your slide pitches to establish better brand recall, start at the very beginning – the first slide. Naturally, it is the first thing that your audience will see even before you say a word. So design it in a way that stands out from the rest of your slides. It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your pitch ends.

It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your pitch ends.

What your First Slide Needs to BE

As you prepare you pitch deck, it’s important that you develop a first slide that will generate interest in support of everything you are about to say. It should have a visual element that features key aspects of your organization that is consistent with the key concept of your pitch.

It could be a photo or graphic image that stimulates people’s curiosity. As this is an excellent opportunity to draw attention to your business, make sure to make the most of it. When people come in the room and see your first slide, they should be compelled to want to be interested in you what you have to say.

However, it doesn’t always have to be flashy to pique the audience’s interests while informing them of your brand. According to business guru Guy Kawasaki, in his famous 10-20-30 rule, your first slide should often be the Title Slide, which contains your company name, address, your name and position in the company, your email, and work cell number.

Details like these may be straight to the point, but if you’re presenting to a crowd of busy VCs and investors, this is enough visual stimulus to let them in on your brand.

What your First Slide Needs to DO

With the right amount of texts and graphics, your first slide can communicate much more than what it appears to relate to the audience. Your audience should be able to digest the information you are sharing quickly and precisely. They should get an idea about your business even before you start to talk about what you have to offer.

It is important that each slide in your pitch deck be well-designed and engaging. The first slide, however, is crucial in igniting the spark that will make people want to hear what you have to say and get to know more about your business. Design it right and it can help you set the stage for an awesome and successful presentation.

The Final Word

Ultimately, while the first slide isn’t the entire pitch deck itself, it’s still an introduction to the rest of your pitch. In the same way that you need to make a good first impression through your physical appearance and speech, you’ll need a deck to match.

Start your pitch right with a winning opening slide. Impress people from the get-go. Don’t let any opportunity pass.

Reference

“The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch.” Guy Kawasaki. Accessed May 28, 2014.

Three Mistakes to Avoid in Making Your Elevator Pitch

Posted on May 22, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

An elevator pitch is a short but persuasive speech that aims to spark interest in what your business does. It is also used to generate interest in a particular project, concept, or product. Ideally, an elevator pitch shouldn’t last longer than a short elevator ride (about 30-45 seconds).

With that very small window of opportunity, it may seem hard to get a pitch right. There are several ways Entrepreneur contributor Dwight Peters provides on perfecting an elevator pitch. It would also help, however, to be aware of the most common elevator pitch mistakes.

Apart from avoiding such mistakes, you’d be able to project a more confident front once you finally make your pitch. So, let’s get started with these three mistakes:

Focusing on Yourself

While your professional success can be a good thing, talking about it for too long would only alienate your audience. It will make you sound like an arrogant know-it-all who believes he’s better than them.

Don’t lose sight of your main goal, which is to establish a connection with your listeners. Remember that like any human being, they’re mostly interested in how you can help them, not amaze them with your numerous credentials. You can establish this much-needed connection by linking what you do with an existing need or problem. A good problem slide can help you explain this part.

When you explain to your audience what it is that you do, do not be too general in your approach. It is best to be specific. It will make your elevator pitch as relevant as possible.

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Using Technical Lingo

In making your pitch relevant, see to it that you avoid jargons and buzzwords that only you or someone in your industry understands. Otherwise, you will only succeed in creating a communication gap between you and your audience. As a result, you will lose their attention quickly.

Remember, the goal of the elevator pitch is not to show how extensive your vocabulary is. Using words a potential investor or customer don’t understand will not impress them. It will only backfire on you.

Bragging about Your Company

Similar to talking too much about yourself, people aren’t that interested in hearing you brag about your company. While presenting your product or service’s unique features may be essential in highlighting your advantage over the competition, your audience won’t speculate on the process you use to get results.

Ultimately, the only thing that matters to them is what’s in it for them. So focus more on explaining the benefits that you offer, not on your process of doing things.

With these things out in the open, you can now focus better on the right steps to take. Keep in mind, though, that there are still some challenges that you might encounter. But as long as you position your business as the one who can provide the best solution to a pressing need, you are off to a good start.

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Reference

Peters, Dwight. “6 Tips for Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch.” Entrepreneur. August 27, 2013. Accessed May 22, 2014.

Designing a ‘How It Works’ Slide That Works

Posted on May 20, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Do you find it difficult to explain to someone how a product, service, or process works? If your business involves selling new products or you’re constantly introducing new service features, then you’ll need an easy way to explain things. This is where the “How It Works” slides come in.

Explaining how certain things work is one of the most common uses of pitch deck slides. Done right, a “how it works” pitch deck can be effective for product demos, process flow illustrations, or pitching a business idea. To help you get started out, here are some ways you can make this type of slide work:

Lay it out

Pitch deck has several types of slide layouts. The default type comes with two boxes: The text box at the top, which is for the title of the slide, and the middle box, which is a multipurpose placeholder for text, graphics, or any content types.

For this purpose, however, you may choose the blank layout type and then simply insert the content that you need. Or better yet, as with the above slide, choose the Title Only template before putting all the other elements. To enhance the effect of your slide, feel free to choose from the Shapes and SmartArt Graphics.

Be consistent with colors

This one is pretty basic although there are still those who take it for granted. Buffer‘s Leonhard Widrich writes about how color schemes can affect our perception of a brand. The more recognizable colors have effectively been associated with specific brands, while those that were more difficult to point out didn’t have such a good color combination.

Similarly, pitch deck slides should have similar color schemes as they can affect the overall impact of your message.

Using varying combinations for different slides can confuse your audience. So for best results, make the color scheme of your How It Works slide consistent with the rest of your deck. This also applies to the slide itself. Looking at the above sample, you’ll notice that the color of the iVoteLIVE logo is consistent with that of the template. Apart from that, most of the imagery (i.e., photos and graphics) have similar shades of colors. This makes the slide pleasant to look at.

Take it easy with texts

This is another common concern and when it comes to How It Works slides, we can’t stress enough its importance. The purpose of slides is to describe visually something you can’t explain verbally. Why spend 15 minutes explaining a new feature, when a couple of images will take you just a few seconds, right?

If you’re going to include some texts, make sure not to mix up the fonts and font sizes just for the heck of it. Otherwise, your slide will appear visually confusing. Take a look at the sample again. While the format of the texts describing the consumers is different from the texts indicating the features (iVoteLive computer interface, Live Program Broadcasts), they still work because each group has specific purpose.

In short, they are not randomly mixed up.

The Takeaway: Engage with imagery

In general, images can make it easier for people to understand and remember ideas. So use relevant imagery instead of text in parts where you think a visual element would work better. When using images, though, be sure that they are of appropriate quality.

For scanned images, the ideal resolution is between 150 dpi (when precise color reproduction is not required) and 300 dpi (if you need higher quality images).

As much as possible, do not take images from the Internet as they usually of a very low quality and might pixelate when projected on a screen.

Reference

Widrich, Leonhard. “Why Is Facebook Blue? The Science of Colors in Marketing.” The Huffington Post. January 16, 2014. Accessed May 20, 2014.

Jazz Up Your Sales Presentation With a Label Tag Created in PowerPoint

Posted on May 15, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Using images to represent ideas is one of the best ways to enhance PowerPoint presentations. A product label tag, for example, is great in designing your deck during a sales presentation. According to Entrepreneur, in such presentations, it’s essential to establish your identity and address your customers’ needs.

If ever you need a tag to back up your points and differentiate yourself from the competition, you can always search for custom images of these tags on the Internet and tweak them to your advantage.

Or better yet, create one that you can easily customize using the Shape functionality in PowerPoint. This tutorial will show you how to do it using the Shape and Text tools in PowerPoint 2010.

Drawing the Frame

First, assuming that your PowerPoint is already open, create a new, blank slide. Then, draw the label using the Rectangular shape with a rounded border. You can find this in the Insert tab under Shapes.

After this, select the Oval shape from the Shapes option to create a small circular shape. Put this near the top portion of the rectangle to serve as the label’s tag hole.

Filling with Color

Fill the circle with the same color as that of the slide background. Do this by right-clicking on the shape and selecting the Format Shape option. Click Fill and then select Slide background fill.

To give the label some depth, you may want to fill it with gradient color. To do this, click Fill from the Format Shape option and select Gradient fill. Depending on your preference, you may adjust the Gradient type, direction, color, brightness, and other qualities.

Final Details

To create the label’s string, select the curve line from the Shapes option. Draw a line from the small circle and then click twice until you reach the label’s border. You may manipulate the string to give it a more natural look. Simply click on it and drag any of the visible points accordingly.

Lastly, you’ll have to group all the shapes in a single label. Select all the elements and then right click on the label. Next, click on Group (and the other Group option that will appear) and

Next, click on Group (and the other Group option that will appear) and Voila! You now have your very own product label tag that you can use for your sales presentation. For added impact, think about adding some text inside the tags.

Conclusion

An impressive deck is often eye-catching and unique, but more importantly, it should always be there to support you when you need to pitch to the crowd. Experiment with PowerPoint and add a tag to your slides. It’s simple and interesting. With just a few clicks using the Shapes tool, you’ll already have a tag-shaped image that you can spice up with text or gradients for depth.

Having trouble with your deck design? Our SlideGenius experts are always ready to help. Contact us today for a free quote!

Reference

“Making Sales Presentations.” Entrepreneur. February 24, 2013. Accessed May 15, 2014.

About SlideGenius

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Why We Are Different: Creating A Slide That Highlights Your Competitive Edge

Posted on May 15, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Today, most mainstream markets are becoming more and more saturated and difficult to penetrate, especially for budding entrepreneurs. This leads to companies and brands simply imitating each other in terms of features and benefits. But for those in these precarious market situations, customers have heard it all, and they’re not that impressed.

Defining your competitive edge can help establish your unique position in the market. With clearly defined benefits and features, your customers will know what really makes you a cut above the competitors and what steps you need to take to maintain that position.

Here’s how you can craft a slide stating your specific advantages:

Say it Fast

The “Why We Are Different” slide is a common fixture in corporate profile pitch decks.

Ironically, many organizations use the same strategy in describing the things that differentiate them from the crowd: They use bullet points. Enumerating your best qualities isn’t exactly the best way to present your competitive edge. If you can say it one sentence, the stronger your impact will be.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll be leaving out important details from your slide. It only means compressing the important points in one non-highfaluting and simple-to-understand sentence. Since we’re talking about customers who are tired of hearing the same things over and over, a brief but enlightening slide is a breath of fresh air for their tired gaze. Try to be as concise as possible in your slide. Don’t go off on tangent unless necessary.

Back it Up

Another effective way to describe your edge over the competition is this: Don’t make it about the competition.

Make it client-driven. You can do this by identifying your customer base and describing the solution to their problem.

For most of your customers, you are the ideal provider not because of flashy advertising or due to popular choice, but because you are able to address their needs and challenges. In an interview with LoyalBlocks’ Ido Gaver, Kevin Daum enumerates the ways you can back up your statements and show your sincerity.

Show people that their loyalty to you has perks — whether it’s in terms of addressing them personally, or giving them perks like promos and freebies. Build and maintain your competitive edge on that opportunity.

Say it Loud

Now that you have an idea of what your competitive edge really is, it’s time to declare it to the world using your slide. You don’t need to use big, highfalutin words.

Simple words would be enough, as long as they sound sincere, not condescending and inappropriate. Use images to support your text. Make sure they are relevant and do not detract from what you want to say. An effective slide that aims to set you apart from the competition will only succeed if you bring together strategic techniques to the table.

Reference

Daum, Kevin. “7 Great Ways to Build Customer Loyalty.” Inc.com. January 13, 2014. Accessed May 15, 2014.

Why We Are Different: Highlighting Your Competitive Edge

Posted on May 15, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Today, most mainstream markets are becoming more saturated and difficult to penetrate, especially for budding entrepreneurs. This leads to companies and brands simply imitating each other in terms of features and benefits. But for those in these precarious market situations, customers have heard it all, and they’re not that impressed.

Get hundreds of pitch deck slides for free.

Sign up for your free account today.

Here’s how you can craft a slide stating your specific advantages:

Say it Fast

The “Why We Are Different” slide is a common fixture in corporate profile pitch decks.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll be leaving out important details from your slide. It only means compressing the important points in one non-highfalutin and simple-to-understand sentence. Since we’re talking about customers who are tired of hearing the same things over and over, a brief but enlightening slide is a breath of fresh air for their tired gaze. Try to be as concise as possible in your slide. Don’t go off on tangent unless necessary.

Back it Up

Another effective way to describe your edge over the competition is this: Don’t make it about the competition.

Make it client-driven. You can do this by identifying your customer base and describing the solution to their problem.

Show people that their loyalty to you has perks—whether it’s in terms of addressing them personally, or giving them perks like promos and freebies. Build and maintain your competitive edge on that opportunity.

Say it Loud

Now that you have an idea of what your competitive edge really is, it’s time to declare it to the world using your slide. You don’t need to use big, highfalutin words.

Download free pitch deck templates now.

Get professionally designed pitch deck slides weekly.

Putting Together a Powerful Company Mission

Posted on May 14, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

A company’s mission statement defines your organization’s primary purpose. Basically, its purpose is to describe the reason of its existence. Mission statements are usually limited to one paragraph, but if you can explain it in only a few sentences, the better. All you have to mention are some key aspects such as your company’s objectives and what it hopes to accomplish.

If you are making a pitch to potential investors or introducing your company in a trade exhibit, your pitch deck slides should include your mission statement. Think of it as your chance to establish your organization’s identity and credibility, a chance to explain who you are.

What’s it For?

Consider your mission statement as the driving force behind your company’s aspirations, shaping both your internal corporate culture and your target market’s perception of your brand or company name.

Before you start drafting a mission statement, you need to know yourself — and your intended customers. According to Success Design‘s Mandy Porta, determining your target market involves a thorough survey not only of the people you’re aiming to sell your product or service to, but also of the market situation as a whole. Is there a gap in the market that you can address? Who will be willing to buy your products? What is the competition doing, and how can you do it better?

Once you’ve gotten past this preliminary self-examination, you’ll have a better grasp of who you are as a company.

Writing the Mission Statement

Developing a strong mission statement would take some time. You can’t just string together some big words and call it your mission. You and your team should discuss it among yourselves to ensure that every word truly represents who you are as a company.

Before putting anything on your pitch deck slide, here are a few questions that you should ask:

What do we do?
Why did we start this business?
What do we offer to the market?
Who are our clients?
How do we treat our clients?
What image does our business convey to the market?

Conclusion

One of the expected outcomes of answering those questions is that you would be able to identify your company’s winning solution. This refers to the concept that makes you stand out from the competition.

It is the thing that drives customers to your doorstep. Identifying that winning solution will also lead you to determine your standards of success. Combining your winning solution and your standards of success will enable you to reach to a measurable goal or a mission.

Choose your words carefully. Put everything into paper (or slide) once you have a clear and concise statement of that mission.

References

Porta, Mandy. “How to Define Your Target Market.” Inc.com. June 22, 2010. Accessed May 14, 2014.

Pitchbook Design: How to Make it Work

Posted on May 8, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

A pitch book is a valuable tool that investment bankers, asset managers, and financial advisors use to present an investment opportunity. Its main purpose is to focus the attention of prospective investors on a number of key points. After the meeting, the pitch book may also serve as a “leave behind” document that prospects will use for reference.

Although they’re usually printed out, pitch books work perfectly well as slide decks. Regardless of the platform, your pitchbook should be accurate and well-organized in presenting information.

There really isn’t one exact way to make a pitch book although there are some basic things that firms should keep in mind. For starters, you need to identify your key points and your audience. But aside from those, another important thing to consider is design.

Design’s Role

According to gyroVoice‘s Adam Swann, design is a key component simply because humans – no matter how high they are in the corporate ladder – are generally influenced by appearances. You’ll see this in trade shows. Booths with striking marketing collaterals and demo stations mostly outshine those with better yet poorly marketed products.

Pitch books should also be as attention-grabbing although a bit more professional. Below are key elements that will make your pitchbook – and your firm – look attractive to prospects:

Appropriate Colors

A well-designed pitchbook leaves a lasting impression. Using the right colors can help you achieve that. It also doesn’t hurt that colors stimulate the mind better than plain black-and-white. Just consider your choices carefully to keep your slides or pages from looking unprofessional. The best thing to do is use the ones that are consistent with your logo and other branding initiatives.

Just consider your choices carefully to keep your slides or pages from looking unprofessional. The best thing to do is use the ones that are consistent with your logo and other branding initiatives.

Eye-catching Graphics

Pitch books tend to get a bit text-heavy or too technical what with all the financial facts and figures. You can engage your audience better by including relevant graphics or imagery. Apart from helping your prospects identify with what you have to say, this strategy allows you to highlight your key points with ease. Avoid overdoing it, though, so you won’t distract your audience.

Apart from helping your prospects identify with what you have to say, this strategy allows you to highlight your key points with ease. Avoid overdoing it, though, so you won’t distract your audience.

Proper Length

Let’s be honest. It’s possible that prospective investors won’t read your pitch book word for word. They’ll read even less during a live pitch. The ideal length would be between 10-20 slides, each with a word count of 125 or less. Make it as concise as possible.

Try not to include so much detail – that is what the appendix is for. And for better flow, introduce only one concept or topic per slide.

Conclusion

Your pitch book’s job is to show your firm’s philosophies, successes, and advantages over the competition. It is also important that you design it well.

You have to assume that your prospects see hundreds of pitchbooks every year. So if yours isn’t well-organized and fails to get to the point, they’ll lose interest quickly. But with a well-designed pitchbook, you’ll be able to stand out and leave a good impression.

References

“Choosing the Right Colors for Your PowerPoint Design.” SlideGenius, Inc. June 3, 2014. Accessed
Swann, Adam. “Welcome to the Era of Design.” Forbes. May 3, 2012. Accessed May 8, 2014.

Make The Most of Your Email Pitch

Posted on May 6, 2014May 3, 2023 by Rick E

Social media interaction may be the “in” thing these days but email still remains a great way to reach prospective customers. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a secret to everyone. So expect tough competition for inbox space whenever you send an email pitch.

To keep your email from landing in the junk folder or being labeled spam, think about giving your email strategy a makeover. You can do this by following these tips:

Create a Good Impression

You can always send hundreds of emails to a prospective client at any given time. It is better, however, to think that you only have one chance to deliver your pitch. This way, you wouldn’t slack off but rather, work hard on making a good first impression on your prospect. Failing to make an impression puts you at risk of losing not only that sale, but also the chance to secure future deals with them.

Engage your prospects better by opening with a question or a scenario and ending with a strong call to action. Whatever it is that you want to say, remember to be clear and persuasive. And as with delivering business pitches in person, the pitch you send over the Web should be short, relevant, and direct to the point.

You may also want to highlight the benefits of using your products or services. Just remember to appeal to the emotion instead of simply spewing facts.

Don’t Pressure Your Audience

Your email pitch doesn’t have to pressure the reader into making a purchase right there and then. Instead, it should draw attention to some important points to promote future conversation. A good pitch compels prospects to say “tell me more,” not forces them to hand over their money.

The purpose of sending an email pitch is to generate some kind of response. So when you write your email, make sure that your goals are clear. Do you want your prospects to fill up a query form? Or you want them to visit your shop?

Regardless of your goals, do not pressure your prospects into buying immediately. Here’s a trick: Whenever a sentence you are writing starts to sound too “sales-like,” consider changing or removing it altogether.

Be Personal but Professional

Sending generic emails is a waste of time. People nowadays don’t take too kindly to receiving correspondences that are straight out of a sales template. Make sure to customize your emails according to a specific prospect. This may take more time but it can certainly help improve your response rate.

Potential clients deserve information that is relevant to them. Success Design‘s Mandy Porta suggests that you do your homework and know what exactly these prospects are looking for. Define your customer base, but also look at your competition.

Don’t rely on canned messages. Make your sales pitch fresh, relevant, and directed to the targeted audience specifically. This means everything – from handouts to copy – should be client specific.

Email is a useful tool for reaching your target audience. As long as you do it right, your email pitch can make a difference in establishing a strong relationship with your customers.

Reference

Porta, Mandy. “How to Define Your Target Market.” Inc.com. June 22, 2010. Accessed May 6, 2014.
Nations, Daniel. “Serious Question: What Exactly Is Social Media?” About.com. Accessed May 6, 2014.

Fortune 500

Mid Market

Small Business

Startups

Agency Partners

Robert H.

Gregor S.

What your First Slide Needs to BE

What your First Slide Needs to DO

The Final Word

Reference

Focusing on Yourself

We redesign pitch deck presentations.

Get your free quote now.

Using Technical Lingo

Bragging about Your Company

Download free pitch deck templates now.

Reference

Lay it out

Be consistent with colors

Take it easy with texts

The Takeaway: Engage with imagery

Reference

Drawing the Frame

Filling with Color

Final Details

Conclusion

Reference

Say it Fast

Back it Up

Say it Loud

Reference

Get hundreds of pitch deck slides for free.

Sign up for your free account today.

Say it Fast

Back it Up

Say it Loud

Download free pitch deck templates now.

What’s it For?

Writing the Mission Statement

Conclusion

References

Design’s Role

Appropriate Colors

Eye-catching Graphics

Proper Length

Conclusion

References

Create a Good Impression

Don’t Pressure Your Audience

Be Personal but Professional

Email is a useful tool for reaching your target audience. As long as you do it right, your email pitch can make a difference in establishing a strong relationship with your customers.

Reference

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