13 Pitch Deck Design Tips for Creating the Perfect Startup Pitch

Summary

This video script offers 13 tips for creating an impressive pitch deck to captivate investors. It emphasizes the importance of visual hierarchy, data visualization, storytelling, and emotional appeal. The speaker introduces customizable templates from Vis Me, highlighting the need for consistency, creativity, and understanding the audience. The key is to present information concisely and engagingly, with a focus on clarity and branding.

Takeaways

• 📊 Maximize first impressions with a strong pitch deck design, crucial for engaging investors.
• 🎨 Consider the visual hierarchy in design, including colors, fonts, elements, sizes, and alignment.
• 📈 Transform data into compelling visualizations to make it more understandable and persuasive.
• 👀 Use a minimalistic approach with a few dominant colors to draw attention and convey passion.
• 💖 Appeal to investors' emotions by incorporating storytelling, quotes, and imagery.
• 🚀 Add motion to your pitch deck to elevate the presentation and keep the audience engaged.
• 🔍 Ensure font colors have high contrast with the background for readability.
• 🎨 Maintain branding consistency in pitch decks with appropriate color schemes.
• 🤯 Get creative but avoid overdoing it with too many colors or fonts; focus on standing out with interactive elements.
• 👥 Understand your audience to tailor the pitch deck's design to their preferences and tastes.
• 📈 Use a variety of charts and data visualizations from platforms like Visme to effectively communicate information.
• 🌟 Incorporate shapes and consistent design elements to create a unique and memorable pitch deck.
• 📝 Keep the pitch deck concise, ideally no more than 19 slides, and ensure information is not overwhelming.
• 📝 Use templates for visual consistency and to streamline the slide creation process.
• 🎭 Each slide should follow a theme for a cohesive and professional presentation.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of a pitch deck according to the script?

The main purpose of a pitch deck is to make a strong first impression on investors, effectively communicate your business ideas, and secure funding.

What are the key elements to consider when designing a pitch deck?

Key elements include visual hierarchy, colors, fonts, elements, sizes, spacing, and alignment, all of which should align with the message you want to convey.

Why is data visualization important in a pitch deck?

Data visualization is important because it turns lists of numbers into clear, understandable charts or graphs, making it easier for investors to grasp the information without having to piece it together themselves.

How can storytelling be used in a pitch deck to appeal to investors' emotions?

Storytelling can be used by sharing personal anecdotes, incorporating tweets or quotes, and using imagery through static images or videos to create an emotional connection and make the pitch more engaging.

What is the recommended approach to using colors in a pitch deck?

The recommended approach is to use two or three colors throughout the entire pitch deck with strong contrast, ensuring that the text is easy to read against the background.

Why is consistency in branding important in a pitch deck?

Consistency in branding is important because it reinforces the company's identity and makes the pitch deck recognizable and memorable to investors.

What are some creative ways to make a pitch deck stand out?

Creative ways include using interactive charts, adding animated characters or audio, and incorporating gifts or unique design elements that align with the pitch's theme.

How can understanding the audience affect the design of a pitch deck?

Understanding the audience helps tailor the pitch deck's design to match their preferences, whether they prefer loud and colorful designs or simple and straightforward ones.

What is the recommended maximum number of slides for a pitch deck?

The recommended maximum number of slides for a pitch deck is 19, to ensure brevity and maintain the audience's attention.

How can templates help in maintaining visual consistency throughout a pitch deck?

Templates help by providing a uniform design from beginning to end, with consistent colors, fonts, and themes, making it easier to create slides that look cohesive.

What is the final tip provided in the script for creating an effective pitch deck?

The final tip is to keep the pitch deck clean, organized, and consistent, as professionalism can be compromised without these elements.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Crafting a Compelling Pitch Deck

This paragraph introduces the importance of a strong pitch deck for impressing investors during a big tech pitch. It emphasizes the need for a visually appealing and organized presentation to make a lasting first impression. The speaker promises to share 13 tips to enhance the pitch deck, highlighting the significance of visual hierarchy, color choices, and data visualization. The use of a minimal color palette and the importance of turning numbers into clear data visualizations are discussed. The paragraph also touches on the need to appeal to investors' emotions through storytelling and imagery, while ensuring readability and consistency with the brand's identity.

05:05

🎨 Enhancing Pitch Decks with Creativity and Audience Understanding

The second paragraph delves into the creative aspects of pitch deck design, cautioning against overuse of colors and fonts that may detract from the message. It stresses the importance of understanding the audience's preferences and tailoring the presentation's style accordingly. The paragraph suggests various creative techniques such as using charts, flow diagrams, timelines, and shapes to maintain visual consistency and stand out. It also recommends incorporating images and testimonials to add a human element and leverage social proof. The speaker advises keeping the pitch deck concise, using templates for visual consistency, and following a theme throughout the presentation to project professionalism.

Keywords

💡Pitch Deck

A pitch deck is a visual presentation tool used by entrepreneurs to communicate and sell their business idea to potential investors. It's a critical component in securing funding and is often the first impression an investor gets of a business. In the video, the pitch deck is the central focus, with advice on how to design it effectively to 'wow' investors.

💡Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy refers to the arrangement or grouping of elements in a design to guide the viewer's eye through the content in a logical sequence. It's essential in pitch decks to ensure that the most important information is noticed first. The video mentions the importance of considering visual hierarchy in terms of colors, fonts, elements, sizes, and alignment.

💡Data Visualization

Data visualization is the graphical representation of information and data. It helps to analyze and understand large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. In the context of the video, turning lists of numbers into charts or graphs is highlighted as a way to make data more accessible and persuasive to investors.

💡Branding

Branding is the process of creating a unique name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product or service from others. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistent branding in a pitch deck, including the use of specific colors associated with the brand, to create a cohesive and recognizable identity.

💡Creativity

Creativity in this context refers to the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, and patterns to create meaningful new ideas, forms, and interpretations. The video encourages getting creative with pitch decks to stand out, suggesting the use of unique fonts, interactive charts, or even animated characters to differentiate from typical presentations.

💡Audience

Understanding the audience is crucial for effective communication. The video script talks about tailoring the pitch to the audience's preferences and expectations, whether they prefer a loud and colorful presentation or a simple and straightforward one.

💡Consistency

Consistency in design refers to the uniformity of elements throughout a pitch deck, such as colors, fonts, and themes. The video stresses the importance of maintaining visual consistency to ensure a professional and cohesive presentation.

💡Templates

Templates are pre-designed layouts that can be used as a starting point for creating presentations, documents, or other materials. The video introduces various templates available in Visme that can be customized to fit the specific needs of a pitch deck, making the design process more efficient.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of telling stories to engage an audience and make information more relatable and memorable. The video suggests using storytelling techniques, such as sharing personal anecdotes or incorporating quotes, to appeal to investors' emotions and make a pitch more compelling.

💡Imagery

Imagery in a pitch deck refers to the use of images, either static or dynamic, to enhance the visual appeal and convey information more effectively. The video mentions the impact of using imagery, such as photos of the team at work, to add a human element and make the presentation more engaging.

💡Testimonials

Testimonials are positive feedback or endorsements from customers or clients. They serve as social proof of the value and effectiveness of a product or service. The video encourages using testimonials in pitch decks as a persuasive tool, highlighting their power in influencing potential investors.

Highlights

Maximizing chances of securing investors with a strong pitch deck design.

Importance of first impressions in pitching to investors.

13 tips to create an impactful pitch deck with design templates available in Visme.

Visual hierarchy in pitch deck design including colors, fonts, elements, and spacing.

Purposeful design decisions aligning with the message conveyed.

Minimalist design approach using white, blue, and red to grab attention.

Transforming data into compelling visualizations for better audience understanding.

Appealing to investor emotions beyond just presenting numbers.

Using storytelling, tweets, quotes, and imagery to connect with investors.

Incorporating motion in pitch decks to enhance presentations.

Ensuring high readability by avoiding font colors that blend into the background.

Maintaining a simple and consistent color scheme throughout the pitch deck.

Aligning pitch deck design with brand identity for a cohesive look.

Customizing Visme templates to fit brand colors and preferences.

Balancing creativity with simplicity to avoid overwhelming investors.

Understanding the audience's preferences to tailor the pitch deck's design.

Using a variety of charts and data visualizations for clarity and impact.

Incorporating shapes and consistent design elements for visual appeal.

Adding images and testimonials to humanize the pitch and build trust.

Keeping pitch decks concise with no more than 19 slides.

Utilizing templates for visual consistency and ease of slide creation.

Maintaining a clean, organized, and consistent pitch deck for professionalism.

Transcripts

big pitch tech coming up and want to

maximize your chances of locking in

investors we can help you only have one

chance to make a first impression while

investors sit in front of you

eager to dip their hands into new stakes

it's up to you to wow them you feel

strong about your ideas your content is

fresh and creative business plan is

ready and structure is organized you've

never felt better about your product and

you're ready to make a final push for

funding the one thing that you may not

have is a strong pitch deck design

that's what we're here for

hello world unlike plugger here with

visby the digital platform that can turn

your pitch deck dreams into reality over

the next few minutes I'm going to share

13 tips that are guaranteed to WoW your

investors the best part all of the tips

include design templates that are

available in viz me right now shall we

from the moment you begin designing your

pitch deck you should be thinking about

the visual hierarchy I'm talking the

colors fonts elements sizes spacing

alignment if you're unfamiliar check out

our video on the twelve visual hierarchy

principles that all designers should

know nonetheless you want to ensure that

every decision you make when it comes

your design has a purpose why that font

why those colors these decisions should

fall in line with your message

our first template example takes a

minimal approach using just white blue

and that popping red for color why that

red red demands attention and elicits

passion in action

turning lists of numbers into beautiful

data visualizations is key when it comes

to informing or even persuading an

audience what do I mean well rather than

pull up a spreadsheet show the

differences in data with charts or

graphs viewers will see the difference

more clearly rather than have to piece

it together themselves we've put out a

video on these several ways you can use

data visualizations in your professional

life and if you're not sure where to

begin on building one viz me can help

with a huge selection of data

visualizations just like these okay so

you've hooked to the fish aka the

investors and they're interested after

you showed them the numbers now you must

reel them in but how it's time to tug at

their heartstrings a little bit numbers

can only get you so far before you need

to appeal to their emotions this

template here uses a variety of methods

you can share a story incorporate tweets

or quotes and you should definitely

include imagery through static images or

even videos to really bring it to life

bringing a motion into a pitch deck is

one of the best ways to take your

presentation to the next level this may

go unsaid but too many times have we

seen font colors that blend in with the

background color in a presentation

they're difficult to read don't get too

fancy when deciding your colors stick to

two or three throughout the entire pitch

deck and make sure there's strong

contrast between them hey dark text

should fall on a light background and

vice versa just like we see here in this

great example the same goes for your

font as well keep it simple and easy to

read nobody's going to say no because

your font was simple and clean but they

might if it's bizarre and sloppy

with any newsletter or email from a

major company the design fits their

branding target we'll use their strong

red Starbucks sticks with Green and

Twitter would be surrounded by blue all

of your presentations in public material

should be the same especially for a

pitch deck if your brand is say blue and

yellow use blue and yellow don't go

overboard and start using reds and

greens or other colors stay consistent

to your branding all the VIS Me's

templates are fully customizable

while this example uses shades of purple

they could easily be changed to blue or

yellow or whatever color fits your needs

I bring our next tip with a touch of

caution get creative yes show potential

investors what's between those ears and

how you're different from past pitch

decks that they've already seen however

don't fall back on those ridiculous

fonts and ten different colors that I've

already mentioned there are other ways

to stand out maybe you include gifts

maybe you add interactive charts like we

see with this template here or maybe we

even add animated characters or audio to

your pitch deck there's endless options

to get creative and I'll actually share

even more of these here shortly

understanding your audience is key

everything from their wants needs

lifestyle you name it if you're pitching

to someone who is more old-school a

design like this might not be your best

bet

considering it was aimed at Millennials

when it was being designed your content

can be the same but have two very

different looks depending on who you're

talking to what's going to click with

your audience loud and colorful or

simple and straight to the point

consider who you're talking to in their

tastes before stepping in front of them

okay back on the topic of getting

creative let's look at a couple great

ways to do so in turn locking your

viewers in first try adding charts I

know I mentioned this already but

emphasizing is key to get a point across

bhisma has over 30 types of charts to

select from and they're already made for

you all you have to do is plug in your

own data one of those charts is this

flow chart here right next to me and if

it's not what you're looking for that's

fine

maybe this timeline here is more your

style here it's used to show the growth

of a company and the milestones reached

over time you could use it for the same

thing including the times your grand

idea came to mind in the evolution to

where it is now still not doing it for

you well this visit template here uses

shapes in its design which is a great

way to stand out and rather than using

triangles in one slide circles in the

next squares in another they use

triangles throughout the entire pitch

deck smart when it comes to maintaining

visual consistency take some time to

think about it and draw some inspiration

from the world around you going back to

something I mentioned earlier adding

images to your pitch deck is a great way

to draw motion and really bring a pitch

deck to life really these images don't

even need to be in the forefront as they

can make for powerful background images

choose photos that you feel will make

the biggest impact one idea use photos

of your teammates hard at work adding a

human element to a design and a pitch

deck can be incredibly impactful to a

viewer

if you have positive testimonials

regarding your idea already use them

recommendations and reviews are

incredibly strong persuasion tools think

about it do you go to a new restaurant

without looking up reviews or hearing a

recommendation from a friend

personally I don't vis me has templates

where you can easily embed tweets or

other quotes from users use this to your

advantage

one thing about pitch decks they have to

be brief no more than 19 slides okay one

way to combat this is by fitting a few

mini slides in to one this template here

allows us to do just that I get it

sometimes your information is pretty

complex however you must try to compress

that information into the most pertinent

bits of information and lay them out

like so it's important that your

information isn't overwhelming and is

easily digestible you don't want to lose

if you are halfway through your pitch

deck and templates like this are sure to

help have I mentioned consistency yet I

think I may have a time or two and

here's another a big bonus of using a

template is the visual consistency from

beginning to end the overall look of the

slide it doesn't vary much from slide to

slide and you don't have to start fresh

every single time you create a new slide

which actually brings me to my last tip

you should have noticed that all of our

templates have individual themes now

this doesn't mean that each slide

features the same exact design because

that would be terribly boring and dry up

very quickly instead our templates

follow a theme throughout each slide

colors remain mostly identical fonts are

the same images are consistent in data

visualizations follow the same idea I

cannot emphasize enough keeping your

pitch deck clean organized and

consistent your professionalism can go

right out the window if you don't follow

that one simple rule and with that my

work here is done in yours

it's just beginning if you haven't

learned bismi is your home for pre-built

templates and they're waiting for you

right now and vis me calm if you have

any further questions our channel can

likely assist you

we're always here to help making videos

on everything in presentation and design

feel free to share below what you

learned in the comments we'll hope to

catch you again soon and until then I'm

Mike plugger with viz me helping you

make information beautiful

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