A Different Perspective on Presentation Slides
Why everyone should consider having a separate live presentation slide deck
Presenting live or virtual to investors or industry peers involves telling a story. Slide presentations for live events are useful to support the discussion but should not replace you as the speaker. A recent article in Harvard Business Review discusses the importance of stage presence, even in the absence of a presentation.
You secured a spot to pitch a group of venture investors at a breakfast meeting in hopes of finally finishing your capital raise. After a brief introduction by the event host, you put up your first slide and start discussing the great things about your company. The audience of investors appears interested but slowly you notice more of them picking up their phones to check email.
What Just Happened?
Your first slide included several bullet points on what your company does and why you will dominate the marketplace. You are also a bit nervous so defaulted to reading each bullet point word-for-word from the slide. Most people read a slide faster than you can read it to them, so just about everyone in the room read through your bullet points and made a snap decision regarding interest in your company. You lost your audience before getting past the first slide.
Stage presence and presentation dynamics are important for all presentations, especially when raising capital. Harvard Business Review published a recent study which asked almost 2,000 people to pick the winner of a venture pitch competition by watching only silent videos with no slides. Important point here is those in the study saw only the presenter and did not hear the audio or have slides for reference. Those in the study were highly successful in identifying winners of the pitch competition, demonstrating the importance of capturing your audience with the right mix of energy and stage presence.
Two Slide Decks
We coach companies to consider creating two slide decks. The first is the presentation deck providing background support for live presentations. The second is an informational deck which can stand alone and includes more details on the company, financials, and industry research. We will discuss the informational deck in a later post as below we provide an outline of a presentation deck.
The Presentation Slide Deck
Most live or group venture capital presentations last for 5-7 minutes so we recommend a presentation deck with six slides. The number seems small, but the goal is for investors to focus on what you say and not reading the slides. Remember the Harvard Business Review study relied on silent videos with no supporting slides.
Slide 1: The Problem
Outline in a few words (no bullet point lists) or pictures the problem you are trying to solve. It could be a single sentence or one picture. Remember your slides are supporting material as you lead the audience through the presentation. The focus should be on you, not your slides.
Slide 2: Solution
Once we outline the problem, lead investors directly to the solution. If you discuss other aspects of the business after presenting a problem, investors begin to mentally hypothesize about the solution and stop paying attention to your presentation. Worst case is an investor thinks of a different solution than your idea, making it even more challenging to convince them of your value. The goal remains to guide investors along a path you want them to follow, so be careful to not let them wander off and develop their own solutions.
Slide 3: Why Now and What Goes Right
Discuss market size and why now is the time for your solution. Maybe technology caught up to the concept or costs of production have declined to make the solution viable. Also discuss why your company is best positioned to capture market share or grow based on a first mover advantage. Use this as the time to paint a positive image for investors of what your company can accomplish.
Slide 4: What Goes Wrong
As an investor, tell me what you think might go wrong. Otherwise, I will come up with my own worst-case scenarios, which usually are a lot worse than reality. Presenting your company allows you a chance to describe potential problems and then demonstrate your plans to avoid or solve the issues. Let investors know you understand the risks and are already planning ways to mitigate the challenges.
Slide 5: Why We Are Your Team
Once you have discussed the problem, solution, benefits, and what could go wrong, let the investors know why you and your team are the right choice to pull everything together. Consider sketches of key team members and spend a few seconds outlining how each compliments the group and why this combination of individuals is key to your success.
Slide 6: How To Join Us
Discuss the capital raise or specific requests of the investor group. Sometimes it can be helpful to outline a few requests in addition to an investment if there are specific areas requiring additional help or key introductions. Most investors tend to have some level of involvement with their portfolio companies, so outlining a few areas of non-monetary involvement can get them thinking about ways to further leverage their networks to bring additional value.
Presenting in front of an audience is about building stage presence and telling a story about your company. The use of a slide presentation should be for support and not dominate the presentation. When planning for a live presentation, consider the above points to maintain the audience focus on you and not your slides.