Professional Business Plan Writers Share Their 5 Top Tips for a Winning Pitch Deck

A pitch deck is a powerful opportunity to get relevant parties interested in your business plan.   You may use the pitch deck to attract potential investors, funders, partners, team members and others.   Professional Business Plan Writers have seen the best and worst of these slide presentations.  These are some of their top tips for producing a compelling, successful pitch deck.

1. Tell a Story

Your pitch deck is not simply a summary of your business plan.  It should act as a teaser to get people interested in the full business plan.  This is one of the main issues professional business plan writers see with a Pitch Deck.  They often become a point by point summary, instead of weaving together the elements of the business plan to tell the story of the business proposition to capture interest.

2. Keep it Short

Your pitch deck should be no longer than 15 slides and the presentation should take no more than 15-30 minutes, or a minute or two per slide.  In fact, many professional Business Plan Writers subscribe to famous marketing specialist Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 approach.  Although it also deals with font size – no less than 30 point font – he suggests no more than 10 slides and a 20 minute presentation time.  The length should be somewhere within this ballpark.  If you can’t explain your business concept that concisely, you’re not ready to present it in pitch deck format to outside parties yet. 

3. Standalone Deck

Your pitch deck should be able to stand on its own.  The best professional Business Plan writers will tell you that your deck should be able to convey your business plan and concept without you being there to present it.   Many times, your audience will request to see the pitch deck ahead of time, or will want to review the deck prior to agreeing to a meeting.   Make sure your deck can do the talking without you.

4. Ask for the Money

This seems obvious but, professional business plan writers consistently see entrepreneurs forgetting to actually make the ask in their pitch deck.   What do you want?   The entire purpose of the pitch deck is to get your potential lender, investor, partner, etc. on board.   Make it clear what you are expecting from your audience and don’t be afraid to explicitly ask for it!

5. Share as a PDF

Sending a pitch deck and having it appear differently than you intended can make a big difference to how it’s perceived.  Professional business plan writers recommend you lock in fonts, formatting, images and other elements by sharing your Pitch Deck in a PDF format.  That way, regardless what device is being used to view your deck, it is seen by your audience in the way you intended it.

In the end, you want to keep the pitch deck simple and remember its purpose.  Your business plan is your opportunity to cover every single detail and answer all foreseeable questions.  Your pitch deck on the other hand is simply the avenue to piquing the interest of your audience.   Think of it this way: your pitch deck is to your business plan what a trailer is to a movie.   If you follow this mindset and apply the tips above from Professional Business Plan Writers, you will be well on your way to creating a winning pitch deck.