An effective presentation deck is critical for any startup. Studies have shown that companies that present at major conferences get 3x the funding of those that don’t. It can be the difference between getting investors and not getting investors, or getting a job and not getting the job.
But it’s not just about getting funded; a well-designed presentation will help you tell your story and build rapport with your audience — one high-quality slide at a time. So here are 7 tricks for you to follow for designing your next amazing presentation!
1. Keep Your Pitch Deck Simple
The goal is to sell yourself as quickly as possible. When designing a presentation, less is more. So don’t overcomplicate things by putting together an 80-page monstrosity that no one will read through to the end. That’s why it’s best to keep your slides simple and uncluttered with big, readable fonts in the recommended 9pt (or 10pt for Asian languages).
2. Be Unique and Different
You may think you’re saving time by following the same old blueprint as every other person who has ever created a great presentation, but in reality, you’ll be doing yourself a huge disservice because everyone else is going to blend in with the crowd. Make yours stand out! Try playing around with colors and layouts until you find something that suits you. You can check out online design platforms like Venngage for beautifully designed presentation deck templates that are readily available for you to use, or customize to fit your branding.
3. Use Pictures, Not Words
The beauty of presentations or pitch decks is the ability to add images. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words, right? Don’t write long sentences when you can use an image instead to get your point across. You should also aim for a 1/3-2⁄3 text to image ratio so that the information isn’t overwhelming and it’s easy on the eyes.
If using pictures isn’t enough “oomph” for you, then try adding animation effects to spice things up. Animated GIFs are not only cool but they’ll help grab your audience’s attention better than plain photos will! Just be careful not to overdo it with too many moving elements because nobody likes getting motion sickness from watching a slideshow.
4. Be Consistent
Consistency is key because it shows that you’re serious about what you’re presenting and that it’s not just a bunch of random thoughts that were thrown together without any rhyme or reason. Keep the fonts, colors, images, and layouts consistent throughout your presentation to show people that you’ve got a system for how you organize your projects: It also makes editing much easier when you keep things uniform throughout.
5. Don’t Be Afraid of White Space
Most people have heard the saying “less is more” so many times in their life that they tend to ignore it when designing a presentation, but too much text on one slide will only lead to chaos! It’s best to err on the side of caution when you’re dealing with white space because it gives your designs some breathing room, especially if you have a lot of information to cram onto one page. That said, don’t forget about balancing between font size, font color, and background color in order to create enough contrast for your audience to be able to read everything easily. Finally, always remember that using animations sparing is better than not using them at all.
6. Like Several Pitch Deck Examples, learn to Delete, Delete, Then Delete Some More
A great way to learn how to design a presentation deck is by doing the exact opposite of what we just mentioned in tip number six: Give yourself permission to delete, delete and then delete some more! Just because you spent three hours creating that one slide doesn’t mean it’s useful or even relevant anymore since your business model could have changed. Allow yourself to be fluid with your time management so you can trim down the fat until only the essentials remain. This will show everyone else that you’re capable of getting right to the point instead of bogging them down with too much information.
7. Include A Call-To-Action
Since you’ll probably be posting your slides on the internet for everyone to see, make sure there’s a call to action at the end of it! This doesn’t mean you have to spam people with requests; Rather, focus on what you want your audience to do such as signing up for a mailing list or registering themselves for an upcoming webinar. You can also include social media buttons so viewers can easily share your presentations online and show their friends and family just how awesome it is! Again, just don’t overdo it because nobody likes being manipulated into doing something they don’t want.
Here’s some advice for design newbies
Finding designing your presentation deck a little challenging? Turn to Venngage for a list of customizable pitch deck templates as well as Venngage infographics you can add to your presentations for a more dynamic visual!
That’s all folks! Follow these tips to help you make designing a presentation deck easier so you can spend more time stressing about other things that matter most!