This video is part four of a five part series. Watch part five or view the whole series.
In the video settings, you can select subtitles for English, Español, Français, and Português. Video transcripts for all five of the videos are available in English [PDF – 178KB], Español [PDF – 195KB], Français [PDF – 179KB], and Português [PDF – 194KB].
Transcript:
So far, we’ve covered what defines a pitch, the differences between an elevator and formal pitch, and speaking with confidence when presenting your pitch.
Now, let’s talk about slides and visuals and why they can help you create a more professional pitch and convey the brand identity you want to establish. Let me share some basic tips to consider when creating your slide deck.
Use big fonts and bold colors that are easy to read and won’t put too much strain on the viewer’s eyes. Try not to use more than ten slides. A typical investor pitch is between two and four minutes, so you won’t want your deck to be too long.
Next, let’s talk about the visuals. You never want to present a slide that looks like a spreadsheet with row after row of text in columns. There is no narrative or empathetic way for your audience to understand what the story is by looking at this.
Here’s a more organized slide with less text. Although it’s better, it’s still not clear what you are trying to say. There might be useful information here about your teleworkers for example. But while you could be explaining important details, the audience is ignoring you because they’re trying to interpret and analyze what this data suggests.
Slides that rely heavily on text are just not visually appealing and waste valuable time on the part of your audience to try and figure out what point you’re making.
Since the slide deck is a secondary supplement to what the presenter is saying, illustrating the point is best. Limited text, a large, clear statistic, and a simple image. This slide makes it much easier for the audience to understand the presenter’s narrative and see where this pitch is going.
Consider these tips when crafting your slide deck. Generally speaking, it is really important to always be thinking about your digital footprint and how your brand is represented on your website, social media platforms, and advertisements. You will want to make sure this is evident in your pitch. Does everything look sleek, simple, and professional? Is all of the spelling and grammar correct? Everything you do makes a statement so be very attentive to how your brand is perceived.
Coming up we’ll be talking about crafting your pitch to fit your audience.
Visit https://ylai.state.gov/entrepreneurship/ to find your voice and take the next step.
Nick has developed hundreds of entrepreneurs through his work as a Program Manager and Facilitator with 3 Day Startup, a Austin-based nonprofit that runs immersive entrepreneurship programs for students and community members at 150 institutions in 35 countries. His founder experience spans from a medtech venture that graduated from the nationally-ranked The Brandery accelerator–to music video production and digital strategy companies. He holds a BA from Miami University of Ohio.