Slidegenius, Inc.
CALL NOW (858) 926-7332

Month: June 2014

Wait a minute... You found this secret page?! You are a GENIUS!
Now, SLIDE down and you just might find what you were looking for!

Webinar PowerPoint Tips: Creating a Pitch Deck that Speaks through the Screen

Posted on by Rick E

In today’s world, distance is no longer an issue when it comes to effective communication. With web conferences or webinars, you no longer have to hop on a plane to sit in meetings with those in another time zone.

But there’s more to webinars than just talking in front of a webcam, especially if you want to share crucial information or leave a lasting impression. It’s important that you enhance your audience’s experience with a webinar pitch deck.

When you’re presenting in front a live audience, you’re physically available to command their attention. Your pitch deck slides serve a secondary purpose. However, when you’re presenting online, your webinar pitch deck is the main attraction.

With that in mind, consider these specific tips to make sure that your webinar pitch deck speaks through the computer screen.

Sequence: What your webinar pitch deck should contain

It’s important that your webinar pitch deck follows a structure with a logical flow. Begin with a quick introduction, delve in the main body of your topic, and end with a concise conclusion.

  • Introduction – Include slides introducing yourself and other presenters in the webinar. Include a picture and relevant credentials so your audience can feel like they’re not just talking to a computer screen. It’s also useful if you can include a slide that explains the logistics of your webinar.
  • Body – The body of your webinar pitch deck will depend on the topic you’re discussing. Whatever it is, keep your discussion clear but brief. Stick to discussing only one point at a time. There are plenty of ways to arrange the body of your webinar pitch deck, just make sure that each point is structured into main segments.
  • Conclusion – The conclusion of your webinar pitch deck should be short and sweet. Don’t drag it out by repeating everything you said before. Instead, create a slide that summarizes your main points. To encourage your audience to participate in a discussion, include an action plan or a call-to-action question.

Design: What your webinar pitch deck should look like

Your webinar pitch deck should be efficiently designed for online sharing. Lags on your pitch deck look unprofessional and can be frustrating for your audience.

Opt for a simpler, sleeker design. As always, avoid using too much text and bullet points. Most importantly, avoid using huge picture files, videos, and animations which might cause problems for connectivity. This doesn’t mean you should go completely without graphics. Just make sure the file sizes aren’t too large or are compressed before sharing. 

Consider the following when designing your webinar pitch deck:

  • When explaining something that requires several steps, consider making use of “build” slides. This is a type of animation that allows you to reveal a slide bit by bit as you talk.
  • Make use of PowerPoint’s SmartArt graphics to illustrate key points without having to use complicated images.
  • For your the background of your slides, opt for a solid color or gradient effect. Lower quality images might not be big enough to fill the entire background. And if you resize them, your background will look distorted and pixelated.

Reference

“Reduce the File Size of a Picture.” Office Support. Accessed June 30, 2014.

Featured Image: Ministerio TIC Colombia via Flickr

How to Illustrate Data in Financial Pitch Deck Presentations

Posted on by Rick E

We previously covered tips for designing financial pitch deck presentations. We mentioned then that you should take the time to curate the data you have on hand, and choose only the ones that will help move your story forward. At the same time, you can’t just present this data as it is. Majority of the population are inclined towards visual learning, and chances are, your audience members are, too.

Make use of visual tools to enhance your pitch deck. Present the data in your financial pitch deck through charts, graphs, and other illustrations. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses suited for the type of data you’re presenting.

Choosing how you’ll present the information will depend on its complexity and what it represents. In this post, we’ve come up with a guide explaining the basic ways you can showcase data in your slides.

Here are a few tips on the types of visual data you can use to spice up your slides:

Graphs

For a financial pitch deck, graphs are best used to show trends and patterns in your data. It’s a great way to illustrate how your market performance has improved throughout time or how the sales of products under your brand compare with each other. There are two common types of bar graphs:

Line Graph

  • Line graphs: Use this type of graph for illustrating changes in your data throughout time, like growth or decline in finances.

Vertical Bar Graph Horizontal Bar Graph

  • Bar graphs: Bar graphs are perfect for showing comparisons in the data. Make use of vertical bar graphs if you’re comparing less than 8 different sets of data. Otherwise, go with a horizontal bar graph. This helps compress the information without making it look confusing.

Pie Charts

Pie Chart

Make use of pie charts if you’d like to illustrate how different numbers correspond to a whole. For example, a pie chart can easily show how your finances are distributed. There are variations of the pie chart, like the donut, or wheel. While this also has a similar function to the pie chart, it’s a matter of preference what you feel would be more effective in conveying your points.

Flowcharts

Sample Flowchart
Image from Wikimedia Commons

You can use a flowchart to explain how your data was gathered, or any other important process that is pertinent to your financial pitch deck presentation. A flowchart visualizes steps or procedures through a progression of shapes.

Other Illustrations

There are other types of diagrams you can make use of in visualizing your data. This abundance of types can be narrowed to two of the more common kinds:

Venn Diagram

  • Venn diagrams: Used to showcase the relationship between different sets of data.

Sample SlideGenius design with map

  • Maps: If you want to show data that corresponds to a specific location. This is great for illustrating statistics gathered from market surveys and the like.
Data is definitely an important element of financial pitch deck presentations. When translating numbers into illustrations, take note of these pointers and consider the rules of pitch deck design.

Reference

“Present your data in a doughnut chart.” Office Blogs. Accessed June 20, 2014.

How to Create an Investment Pitch Deck that Seals the Deal

Posted on by Rick E

Pitches are essential to raising capital for your company. A pitch deck presentation showcasing your core message helps you create a favorable impression. Forgo bombarding potential investors with endless bullet points and tables of data. Your investment pitch deck should be quick, unique, and engaging. Most importantly, it should reflect the story you’re trying to sell.
Consider these 4 tips when making an investment pitch deck:

1. Make a positive impression with the first slide

The title slide of your investment PowerPoint should convey the key message of your brand and presentation

When potential investors see your pitch deck flashed on the screen, the first slide should encourage them to say, “This looks interesting.”

The usual first slide contains only the following: company name, logo, and the presenter’s information. This isn’t enough to make a positive first impression. Aside from the given, the first slide should have visuals that reflect the main characteristics of  your brand. It should also include something that represents the main concept of your pitch deck.

2. Short and steady wins the race

The rest of your investment pitch deck should be brief and concise. Business guru Guy Kawasaki suggests that you limit your entire pitch deck to only 10 slides. While you shouldn’t take this as a hard-and-fast rule, it’s a great guide to keep in mind.

By limiting yourself to roughly 10 slides, you’ll be mindful to only include the most essential parts of your business plan. According to Kawasaki, these are the ten topics you should cover in your investment pitch deck:

  • Problem
  • Your solution
  • Business model
  • Underlying magic/technology
  • Marketing and sales
  • Competition
  • Team
  • Projections and milestones
  • Status and timeline
  • Summary and call to action

3. Show, don’t tell

Investment PowerPoint slides
Check out our portfolio to see these slides in action.

Utilize the technology available to you and incorporate multimedia elements to your investment pitch deck.

Use pictures, videos, or animations to demonstrate the idea you’re pitching. Your audience will find it engaging. They’ll be able to grasp your concepts better, becoming more likely to put their money behind it.

4. Be passionate and driven about your story

Potential investors won’t believe in what you’re presenting if you’re half-hearted about it yourself. There should be a powerful story at the heart of your investment pitch deck.

And this story is something that you should truly care about. As best-selling author Carmine Gallo said, passion is among the top factors that ultimately influences investment decisions.

Conclusion

Following these steps, your investment pitch deck will definitely give you leverage. But if you still feel unsure, you can consider consulting with us.

Our team of professional pitch deck experts will ensure that your slides are helping you put the best foot forward with a great pitch deck design.

References

Gallo, Carmine. “5 Must-Have Presentation Tips For Pitching To Angel Investors.” Forbes. Accessed June 19, 2014.
“The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.” Guy Kawasaki. December 30, 2005. Accessed June 19, 2014.

Technology PowerPoint: Developing a Killer Pitch Deck for Your Video Game

Posted on by Rick E

Just like a traditional sales proposal, a video game pitch includes a summary that highlights a game’s selling points to a prospective publisher.

It details how profitable the game would be if ever the publisher agrees to develop or fund it. For an independent game developer pitching a game idea to an established publisher, a technology pitch deck can help communicate any concept more effectively.

Select the X Meets Y Formula

To grab your prospect’s attention, creating a very short version of your pitch would be a great idea. It gives you a way to set the stage for a longer concept pitch.

The best shortcut for this would be the formula:  X meets Y. For example, Warcraft is Dune II meets The Lord of the Rings. Got it? Another example: Max Payne, which is any John Woo film meets The Matrix. Mash-ups of well-known properties or genres may be a bit unimaginative, but it allows your audience to grasp your idea much faster.

If you can’t explain the concept quickly, your prospect might assume that your game isn’t ready yet for primetime and reject your proposal. A short pitch offers a great way for you to explain what your game is all about.

Level Up with Visuals

Technology pitch deck presentations work best when they feature graphics and imagery.

When pitching to gaming companies, we can’t stress enough how important visual aids are. Compared to the way it handles textual data, our brain processes graphic information way faster.

Additionally, people in the industry are visual thinkers and communicators. When you use visual aids, you are speaking their language and thus, giving your idea a chance to be assessed in a better light.

It would be great if you can come up with a professionally produced pre-production art to accompany your technology pitch deck slides. It creates the impression that you put so much thought into your proposal.

technology-powerpoint

Structure Your Proposal

While it is great to prepare a short pitch, it also pays to have a more detailed proposal handy. It should include all important details about your game.

The following are some of the information that you shouldn’t forget:

The High Concept – Pretty much like an elevator pitch, the high concept explains your idea as accurate as possible in a short sentence. Take note of the following gaming high concepts and learn:

  • Minecraft: Construct a 3D world with other players.
  • Unreal world: Survival game set in the Iron Age.
  • Super Mario: A platform game with a surreal world setting.
  • Sonic: A fast-paced platform game that features a fast hedgehog
  • Pacman: Navigate a maze while grabbing all the dots and avoiding bad guys.
  • Angry Birds: Slingshot birds at enemy pigs in this physics-based game.

Genre – The concept of genre in the gaming industry often has more to do with a game’s position in the shelves than its design or story. In general, a game’s genre is classified based on their type of gameplay.

Some of the most common video game genres are the following:

  • Adventure – Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider
  • Strategy – Warcraft, Age of Empires
  • Role Playing Game (RPG) – Diablo, Final Fantasy
  • Shooter – Doom, Half-Life
  • Platformer – Super Mario Bros. Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Fighting – Street Fighter, Tekken

Other elements that you should include in your game technology pitch deck are the in-game story, setting, target audience, hardware platforms, marketing, and risk analysis. You should also tackle the gameplay description and features. If there’s still time, focus on the mechanics to show how players will interact with the game. You can start by describing the story to capture attention.

Then, shift your focus on what makes your gameplay different from other games of its kind.

Pitching a video game idea is not all fun and games. So be sure that you practice. A lot. For the win.

Four Elements of a Successful Pitch

Posted on by Rick E

What makes a successful pitch? When delivering a pritch, being a strong and confident speaker can help in engaging the audience.

The quality of your slides – the content and overall design – is another matter. You also have to consider other elements such as the venue and its effect on your delivery.

If it’s your first time to deliver a pitch, it’s okay to feel nervous. To help you overcome the jitters and ensure the success of your pitch, here are some tips that you may want to keep in mind:

Quality Content

Regardless of your topic, avoid making its scope too broad. Try to be specific by focusing on three or four important points. It would be great to tackle them in such a way that the first point flows logically to the next and so on.

Make sure that your information is clear and logical. Present what your audience is expecting to learn and stick to your agenda. In case they want to know more about your topic, they will ask for sure. Just be prepared for their questions, though.

Engaging Slide Design

Use appropriate colors when designing your slides. Avoid too many color combinations to maintain a clean and professional look.

The same goes for the text. Keep it to a minimum by aiming for one point for each slide. Be sure that the text is large enough to be read even by people at the back of the room.

To enhance readability, the slide’s background color and the text should have great contrast. Resist the urge to use fancy fonts. Plain and simple font types would do for better readability.

Don’t forget to use images. You can always use pictures or graphics to enhance your pitch decks, not to decorate the slides but to support your points. So make sure to use relevant and high-quality images.

Prepared Venue

When it comes to the venue, some variables can either enhance or reduce the impact of your pitch. If possible, visit the place in advance and check for the following:

Is the pitch going to be held indoors?
Will it be in a hall or a boardroom?
Will it be darkened?
Is the room carpeted? Or will the sound bounce off bare floors, instead?

To further get the feel of the place and be more confident on the big day, you may want to rehearse your pitch in the actual venue.

Impressive Delivery

Your delivery can make or break your pitch. Make sure you have practiced your speech and the timing of your slides.

If possible, practice in front of a colleague and ask them to give genuine feedback. Recording your pitch deck using the record function in PowerPoint is also a great idea.

It can help you hear how you actually sound. If you notice anything off with your pitch or enunciation, make the necessary adjustments.

A Shot in the Arm: How to Improve Your Healthcare Pitch Deck

Posted on by Rick E

Pitch deck presentations are as useful in the medical and healthcare industry as much as in other fields. Whether in the academe or private practice, medical practitioners use healthcare pitch deck for various pitch purposes. Physicians, for example, may be asked to present to interns as part of a lecture or to peers in seminars. They may even present to members of the community in a volunteer program. There’s only one problem, though. Most physicians and residents are not born presenters. Because of that, they tend to turn a pitch into a note-taking and outlining exercise. They simply pick from the default slide designs without adding an ounce of design creativity.

When tasked to give a talk in front of your colleagues or potential patients in a community, the success of your healthcare pitch deck depends on two factors. These are: your ability to communicate your message clearly and the way you capture your audience’s attention. You can achieve them by keeping the following tips in mind:

Organize your pitch deck

Flesh out the specific topics that you need to discuss. Determine at least three important points and then use these points to fill up each of you slides. As much as possible, limit it to one point per slide. This will keep your slides from looking cluttered while improving readability.

Healthcare

Make it visual

Admittedly, healthcare pitch deck presentations are not exactly the most exciting type of pitches out there. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t do something about it. To make your slides more appealing visually, try to use minimal text and more images. You can pick any images you like, as long as they are relevant to your topic and of high quality. This means that you should stay away from random, pixelated, and blurred clip art.

healthcare-powerpoint

Practice, practice, and more practice

The best public speakers are usually not born with all the necessary pitching skills. Many of them are able to engage audiences, maintain attention, and present valuable information because of hours and hours of practice. Apart from practicing your delivery, you should also practice the way you intend to use your healthcare pitch deck slides. Take note of every timing and every pause. Remember, your pitch deck is merely a tool. How you wield your tool can make a difference in achieving  pitch success as a medical lecturer/trainer.

Numbers Abound: Tips for Designing Financial Pitch Deck Presentations

Posted on by Rick E

Designing financial pitch deck presentations is a balancing act.

As the presenter, it’s easier to simply copy data from spreadsheets and paste them onto slides. But your audience might find the barrage of numbers overwhelming and hard to understand.

On the flip side, you can try to engage bored audience members with graphics and slide transitions. But use too much and your financial pitch deck might end up looking ill-designed and uninspired.

How do you find the balance between ‘too much information’ and ‘too many distractions’?

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re preparing a financial pitch deck presentation.

Identify the financial data that moves your narrative forward

A financial pitch deck presentation shouldn’t just be about showing off balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements, or market reports.

Consider these questions: What is the story that your audience came to hear? What is the narrative behind your pitch? Are you presenting the story of your company’s successful attempt to meet market challenges? Or are you talking about the promising growth of a start-up client company?

Think of the data you have as details in a story. Identify the scenario and decide which of your data is the most crucial to your story and the audience.

Illustrate numbers through diagrams, charts, and graphs

Once you’ve decided on the most important data, you can begin to translate numbers into illustrations. Doing so will help your audience follow patterns and trends that might otherwise seem confusing.

Visualize your data through diagrams, charts, and graphs. It’s also a great way to condense useful information into one slide. Data that spans several years can be summarized into a bar graph.

A financial PowerPoint slide designed by Slide Genius

Keep text to a minimum

Don’t be tempted to explain your illustrations with ten bullet points each. Instead, according to presentation trainer Dave Paradi, what you can do is to write sentences or ‘headlines’ that summarizes key points in the data.

It’s important to keep the text in your financial pitch deck slides to a minimum. Long-winded paragraphs analyzing your pie charts can prove to be just as overwhelming as the numbers you’ve worked to condense.

Remember: it’s your job to expound on the data you’re presenting. You can’t just let your pitch deck slides do the talking.

Opt for a design that matches content and context

With over 500 million users, most people are probably tired of seeing generic pitch deck templates again and again. Instead of using default templates, get creative by customizing your financial pitch deck slides.

Opt for a design that matches your content and the context of your pitch. For example, you can use color schemes that match your client’s logo if you’re presenting about their financial statements.

Here are a few other things to remember:

1. Font Type & Size

Choose font types that are easy to read. You don’t always have to go for the classic Arial or Times New Roman, but try to avoid blocky and ornate fonts unless they’re big enough to read. Venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki explains that the general rule for font size is 30 points or greater. This font size is readable for most audiences, which makes it safest to use.

2. Contrasting Backgrounds & Colors

The color of your background should contrast with everything else on your slides—from font colors to the colors you use in your graphs. You can’t go wrong with using a dark blue background and white text (like Steve Jobs). You can also opt for a white background with black text. This option is easier to see in a bright room, so you won’t have to dim too many lights during your pitch.

For a time-saving, optimized financial pitches, consider working with professional pitch deck designers. pitchdeck.com has an extensive portfolio of financial pitch deck presentations.

References

“The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.” Guy Kawasaki. December 30, 2005. Accessed June 16, 2014.
Paradi, David. “Presenting Financial Data: Put Your Numbers on a Diet.” Presentation Xpert. Accessed June 16, 2014.

4 Steps to Mastering the Elevator Pitch

Posted on by Rick E

The idea behind the elevator pitch is said to have originated from businessmen who needed to pitch proposals to prospective investors as quickly as possible.

Incidentally, it also gives the investors a chance to turn down ideas promptly (especially those that are not that good or do not match their investment profile). The fast paced delivery indeed works well for both parties. If you have a plan to acquire funds from a potential investor, mastering the art of the elevator pitch will definitely work to your advantage.

In his Forbes article, Rick Frasch already provides the eight mistakes entrepreneurs need to avoid in their elevator pitch. Now here are four tips from us on how to get it right:

1. Establish your story

Set aside a time to write your story, preferably without interruptions. When you write, visualize that you’re telling the story to a family member or a close friend. This can help you put your mind at ease.

Write anything relevant to your ideas. Don’t forget to silence your inner critic and not edit just yet.

2. Let it sit for some time

Once you are done with your pitch’s rough draft, go and do something else. You may want to go for a walk or drive around the neighborhood.

The idea is to let the story sit for a day or two so you’ll have a fresh perspective when you read and work on it again.

3. Polish your hook

Start editing down your story to its barest essential. Your goal is to craft a killer 60-second elevator pitch. While you’re at it, think about adding a good hook.

The hook is the part that will let you jumpstart your pitch. It should be about 15 seconds long. This is important because those 15 seconds are your only chance to convince your prospect to listen to the rest of the pitch.

Add an element of curiosity to your hook. You may choose to start with engaging phrases such as “What if…” or “Picture this…” At this point, you should have you prospect intrigued.

4. Explain what’s in it for them

Now that you have the attention of your prospective investor, it’s time to key in on engaging the audience. Persuade your listeners into actually investing by explaining how your idea can bring in profits. P

Prove that there’s a market for it and that your solution is something that customers would be willing to pay for. Close your pitch by creating a sense of urgency.

Whether your product is only available during the Holidays or you’re racing with a rival in filing a patent, use urgency to motivate, not force people to invest.

The Final Word

Spend enough time practicing your pitch. Time yourself as your practice. Make sure that you can say whatever you need to say within the 60-second limit.

The key to a great elevator pitch is not just to pitch in a rapid-fire approach. Even if you can’t deliver a mile a minute speech, you would still be able to impress your audience.

And most importantly, memorize your lines. If you’re using a pitch deck presentation, do not read from the slides. Investors can sense if you’re not ready and just winging it, so practice extensively to perfect that pitch.

Reference

Frasch, Rick. “8 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Pitching To Investors.” Forbes. Accessed June 10, 2014.

Why Sales Pitches Turn Into Failures of Epic Proportions

Posted on by Rick E

After countless cold calls and follow-ups, you’re finally given an opportunity to visit a prospect and do a sales pitch in person.

But as luck would have it, you flubbed and the pitch was unsuccessful. When sales pitches fail, it’s likely that the presenter committed one of these mistakes:

Sharing too much information

Why it’s a mistake: We now live in a society where almost everyone is compelled to share what’s on their mind (through tweets and status updates). In spite of that, it still pays to show some restraint. When doing a pitch, sales people tend to share so much information in hopes of creating rapport with the audience.

That’s a valid point, sure. Prospective customers, however, are more interested in learning about the benefit of using your product than its history or the materials used to assemble it. This means that your solution slide should clearly how you intend to solve your market’s particular problem.

What you should do: List three value propositions that appeal to your prospects and relevant to your solution. Emphasize the unique value of your solution.

From your slides, your audience should be able to understand that your company alone can deliver the best (perhaps, only) solution. Remember to use simple texts and visual examples.

pitchdeck.com Blog Module One

We redesign pitch deck presentations.

Get your free quote now.

get a free quote

Failing to set yourself apart from the competition

Why it’s a mistake: Choosing between brands can be hard. If you fail to differentiate yourself from your competitors, you are missing the opportunity to make things easier for your prospects. The goal of your pitch is to make people decide in your favor – not to confuse them even further.

What you should do: Design a slide that summarizes the things that you do better than your rivals. Point out the problems that only you can solve. You may support your claim by using testimonials that focus on how your solution works.

Using the wrong point of view

Why it’s a mistake: By WRONG point of view, we mean YOURS. Don’t make the pitch all about you or your business. No matter how long you’ve been in business or how many office locations you have around the world, the only thing that your prospects have in mind is, “What’s in it for ME?

What you should do: Put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Present from their point of view by being aware of their needs and wants.

This would involve doing a bit of research about their background and interests, which, we assume, you’ve already done during the planning stage.

Making a sales pitch can be very challenging. Not a few stories have been told about pitch disasters and dejected presenters. Mistakes could happen, but this doesn’t mean they are impossible to overcome. Knowing these mistakes is half the battle.

Reference

“Conducting Market Research.” Entrepreneur. 2010. Accessed June 02, 2014.

pitchdeck.com Blog Module Three

Get hundreds of pitch deck slides for free.

Sign up for your free account today.

Sign Up now

Featured image by Steve Snodgrass from flickr.com

  • We Have Diverse Industry Experience

  • Technology, Software & Media Technology

    tech icon

  • Investment, Real Estate & Finance

    Investment Icon

  • Hospitality, Marketing & Entertainment

    marketing icon

  • Healthcare, Biotech & Pharma

    pharma icon

  • Automotive, Aerospace & Transportation

    automotive icon

  • Apparel, Retail, Food & Beverage

    apparel icon

  • Oil, Gas & Energy

    energy icon

  • Speaking Training & Education

    speaking icon

  • Startups & Pitch Decks

    pitchdeck icon

  • Agriculture, Construction & Security

    agriculture icon

  • Insurance & Manufacturing

    insurance icon

  • Business, Service & Logistics

    logistics icon