Are you a budding entrepreneur looking for growth opportunities and not sure of how to build a winning pitch deck? Here’s all you need to know…

You happen to meet your potential client at a recent summit you attended. After listening to your elevator speech, the prospect is piqued by your product and wants to take this forward. (Check out our blog on What is an Elevator Pitch for a Business) So, he asks you to present your project to his leadership team. While you’ve landed a great opportunity, are you not quite sure of delivering a powerful presentation? Let’s see how to build a great pitch deck, a sales deck or a product deck.

What is a pitch deck?

A pitch deck is a brief presentation. It is often built using PowerPoint, Keynote, etc. It gives a quick overview of your business or project plan. 

What is the ideal number of slides?

Ideally, a pitch deck should contain 8-12 slides. 

Should the slides be text only or visuals only?

There are two kinds of decks. The first has a lot of text.  Such decks are often used in emails.

The second has mostly visuals. These are the most preferred for presentations. 

Now, let’s understand the 12 main components of a pitch deck.

1. Introduction: This slides describes who you are and why you are here. Keep this short and sweet. 
2. Team: Describe the talent behind the project and explain their roles in brief.
3. Problem: Elucidate the problem you want to solve. The problem should be relatable and not a complex one that your audience finds difficult to understand. Address just one problem. 
4. Advantages: Here, you explain why and how your solution is different and what makes it special.
5. Solution: Describe your solution to the problem. Keep it concise and clear. This is an important slide. If you explain your solution right, you make your case!  Avoid statements like you being the only one doing this, you being the clear leader, etc. Make sure your idea stands out. Do not repeat what others have said. 
6. Product: Now, explain how your product or service actually works. Quote some real-life scenarios or instances. 
7. Traction: This slide should describe the revenues, metrics, etc., and depict the measurable set of customers. Hence, proving the potential. You can show month over month growth of your business. 
8. Market: Here, you should describe the target market you’re going to operate in. If you are not very clear, at least predict your target market. You can include a graph that shows the market growth in the past and predict the possible results. Remember to include the sources of your research. 
9. Competition: This slide should describe the other competitors in your industry. You can show diagrams and contrast between your competitors. You can explain how your solution is better than theirs and how you plan to tackle the competition.
10. Business model:  Describe your business model, i.e., how you are planning to make a profit and probably show a schedule when you expect your revenues to start. You should be able to project for a minimum of 3 years. Some investors may ask for even 5 years’ projections. 
11. Investment: In this slide, you should explain your planned budget and what kind of investment you expect. 
12. Contact: Mention your contact information and the quickest way to reach you. 

Now that you know the major components of a pitch deck, document your data, find the right tool that best suits you, and get started! 

Before you get started, remember the three main aspects of a powerful pitch. A winning pitch deck must be: 

1. Clear and simple
2. Compelling
3. Easy to act on

When you work on a pitch deck, remember to not do the following.

• Do not use too many bullet points 
• Keep it short and relevant
• While you are presenting, do not read word by word from your script
• Don’t create a text-rich, picture-poor presentation
• Don’t use small fonts, and most importantly, 
• Don’t go unprepared. 

Take a look at some of our product decks. In case you need help in building a powerful corporate/sales deck, reach out to us at info@cbnew.test

Sources:

https://pitchdeck.improvepresentation.com/what-is-a-pitch-deck

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrocremades/2018/03/02/how-to-create-a-pitch-deck/#f7509c556c06

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/deck-marketing-64930.html#:~:text=A%20sales%20deck%20is%20a,%2Dbehind%22%20for%20your%20clients.