Universal Pitch Deck The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
CREATIVE ACES Marketing “Decks” for Small Business Marketing
July 2012
INTRO
UNIVERSAL PITCH DECK Adapt The Investor Pitch Deck As Your Own Twelve slides* is all you need to succinctly outline your own presentation or ebook. Regardless of your business, niche market or service, this structure can serve as your own outline if you’re presenting to investors or potential new clients. This is the same outline that has been used by companies seeking investments from venture capitalists, angel investors and the same structure used by publicly traded companies when they report quarterly earnings to Wall Street investors. The content changes but the structure has, essentially, remained the same for decades. Why? It’s simple, concise, it addresses key issues investors use when evaluating companies. I’ve designed numerous presentations for publicly traded companies, IPO roadshows, special situations/ announcements, quarterly earnings and more. Only the design and content distinguish one company from another. As a graphic designer in the business-to-business, specializing in financial communications, the approach for each presentation (this structure could easily be published as an ebook or whitepaper) was HOW this document would correlate with the overall marketing of the company.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
[Typical] Structure of an Investor/Shareholder Pitch Deck 1. Overview 2. The Problem 3. The Solution 4. Opportunity and Market 5. Technology 6. Unique Competitive Advantage 7. Competitive Landscape 8. Market Strategy 9. Financial Road map 10. The Management Team 11. Current Status 12. Summary
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Title Company name Logo Ticker (if public) Tagline Website Nothing else.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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OVERVIEW Do this last, it is the “attention grabber.� Make it concise and strong.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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THE PROBLEM What is the problem that your services/product will solve? If more than one, keep it clear and simple. Why have customers contacted you in the past? What situation is causing a problem for your niche market?
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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THE SOLUTION Describe your business, be concise. Include compelling benefits, accompany with a defining graphic that illustrates your product or service. This is a critical point, you either have your audience hooked by now or you’ve lost ‘em.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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the opportunity Quick synopsis of market. Include size and growth of market for the next several years; focusing on niche or segments of your market and percentage you’ll dominate.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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technology HOW you/your company will deliver products and services to the client? This is your value proposition. Before and after diagrams from case studies, partners essential to the process, etc.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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Unique competitive advantage This is also called your “unique selling proposition.� Team, relationships, new insights, expertise. What makes these special? Why should your customers care?
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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Competitive landscape Who are your direct competitors? What differentiates you/your company? Everyone has competitor, so ask yourself, again, “why do my customers work with me?�
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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“Go To” Market Strategy How and what do customers buy? This is your ideal customer profile and how you’ve crafted your marketing plan to address those key problems.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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Financial road map This slide is best implemented for those seeking funding. A deep understanding of the business model and financial projections for ~ 5 years out. Revenue and expense analysis, capital investments, more. Be prepared for questions. No doubt this is the most critical slide in any investor pitch deck! For those not seeking funding, this slide can be used as an exercise to establish projections for revenue and expenses; key to pricing your product/services.
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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Current status What have you already accomplished? Next steps?
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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The team Emphasize what YOU bring to the table; relevant accomplishments, etc. Who’s on the team, strategic partners? How do all team members contribute?
Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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Summary Summarize your THREE strongest points; distilled down to memorable sound bites. Solicit feedback and interaction, “Q&A�. What is your CALL TO ACTION? How obtain more information? Now, go back and rewrite the Overview slide/page.
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Creative aces
About
Creative Aces is a design and publishing firm specializing in designing visual communications that enhance your company and its story. Creating innovative solutions for all aspects of a marketing mix including brochures, direct mail, corporate ID, advertising, e-books, annual reports and web designs.
12 SLIDES. THAT’S IT. UNIVERSAL PITCH DECK Thirteen if you include the Title slide, a slide that should be up on the screen when your audience enters the room. The real work is preparing the content to be concise, direct and informative. Loading a slide with bullet after bullet of copy that you’re going to read to your audience is counterproductive. Key elements are logo, corporate color palette, existing image library including product shots, graphics/charts that can be created to visualize data, emphasizing select points visually and, of course, overall flow of the document.
Visit us at www.creativeaces.com or contact joann@creativeaces.com
The slides should RE-ENFORCE your message, you’re the one delivering the presentation the audience should be focused on YOU.
Like the idea of doing an ebook like this instead of a boring old white paper? I’m standing by.
The content of this 12-slide structure could be expanded into a well-written ebook/whitepaper. Greater depth of the topic to serve as a “thought leadership” piece with insights for investors, clients, potential clients and community.
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* Guy Kawasaki’s infamous presentation rule is “10 slides. 20 minutes. 30 point font.” Universal Pitch Deck, The Ultimate 12-Slide Structure For Any Presentation
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