Cogent advice offered on how to develop effective pitch decks
The tips come courtesy of David Gardner, Founder of Cofounders Capital in Cary, NC.
David Gardner, Founder of Cofounders Capital in Cary, NC, and a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire, authored a recent column that we thought had some solid advice for those developing pitch decks.
- First and foremost, he writes, “A great deck tells a story with a logical progression starting with a clearly stated mission statement.”
- Next, Gardner advises, “I ask teams to start each slide with a complete and concise sentence that clearly states the point that slide is making. When the slide title states, ‘This product will save you money in three ways’ and then lists those three bullet points below the title, everyone knows exactly what that slide is about.
- His third point was that deck preparers need to “keep in mind that the more you say, the less important everything you say becomes.”
- Point 4 was dismissing the belief that a person will always be delivering that deck in person and providing the clarifying commentary necessary on each slide. “This is a dangerous assumption,” Gardner notes. “Start with the assumption that your readers will have nothing but the slides before them from which to derive everything you want them to know.”
- Finally, he offers some concluding cogent advice: “End your deck with a recap summation of the entire deck in case your audience was texting during a section or missed the significance of a point. This quick repetition will also aid in their retention. Do not waste a lot of time discussing product features.”
The full article can be found here.
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