Step 1. Define Structure and Create Content

A pitch deck is a presentation. And in order to create a successful presentation, structure and content are needed. There are a lot of sources on the internet which detail what elements should be included in a pitch deck. If one is short on time, I recommend reading this guide; especially Chapter 2: Elements. Another great, more detailed resource is the book Get Backed. Putting a generous amount time and effort into studying the art of raising capital is necessary for those who really want to succeed.

First, outline the overall structure for your future pitch deck, as explained in the previous guide. Then it’s time to write content for each element. This is a good framework to base your content creation process on:

Title (e.g. Traction)

(e.g. Traction) Core Message: “We sold 90 unique tours and activities and earned $25,920 gross revenue within 6 months of the product beta launch!”

“We sold 90 unique tours and activities and earned $25,920 gross revenue within 6 months of the product beta launch!” 1–3 sentences with further explanation or supporting evidence: “$288 average transaction value; 20% repeat travel customers; $25 customer acquisition cost”

You should write content in bullet-points with a logical format and keep the amount of text as short as possible. Once you finish your writing, study it carefully. Ask yourself: How important is it to keep this particular item on the slide? Would the slide content still make sense without it? This process will cut down on unnecessary information that dilutes the power of your message.

Take a look at the structure and content design for Kangarooo’s pitch deck. I laid out the core elements for Kangarooo pitch deck and filled each one with relevant content. Here is the result: http://bit.ly/kangarooo_deck_content.

Step 2. Develop Presentation Style and Template

To turn the core content into a design magic, an overall presentation theme is needed. A few key rules help the pitch deck look nice and clean. First, download this small, but super handy PowerPoint template that I’ve created for you: http://bit.ly/pd_template. Now, we will customize the settings for the main elements of each theme in the presentation, namely colors, fonts, and slide layouts.

Colors

Open the first slide of the template. Insert your logo on the left or just type your company name if you don’t have one.

Next, fill the first two squares on the right with the main colors of your brand. If you don’t have any branding or need some extra colors, use this tool to get them https://www.materialpalette.com. Keep the third square black since this color will be for the text. For those who don’t have any branding yet — congratulations, you just created a basic one!

After this you need to apply your brand colors to the whole template. Copy the color codes of your main and accent colors and then go to View → Slide Master → Colors → Customize Colors. Change Accent 1 and Accent 2 to your colors, click Save, and Close Master.

Fonts

Simple and reliable is best for this element. Just use Arial as the default font. It isn’t overly fancy, and it is well designed, super readable, and already installed on your Mac or Windows. The template you just downloaded already uses it so no action is required here.

Slide Layouts

Slide layout consists of the design and placement of different elements on the slide. In this template that is: Title, Core Message, Further Explanation and Footer.

A Footer usually includes the company name or logo, confidential mark, and page number. The template we’re customizing now features the most used slide layouts in pitch deck design. The only thing you need to do is replace Company Name with your own company name in the footer section. To do this, go to View → Slide Master and edit the footer of the first big slide, then close Master.

Congratulations, you just created your company presentation template!

Step 3. Design Your Pitch Deck

Finally some real design work for you! First, visualize the content using the presentation template along with a few common types of visual information.

Icons and Pictures

Icons are one of the simplest ways to represent something visually. They are used in almost every aspect of life — from city navigation to website design. And of course they work great in pitch decks too!

Pictures are a slightly more difficult element. They are also a great way to illustrate something; but oftentimes it is not easy to find a good picture. Most of them will look too stocky or unnatural. If you can’t support your slides with natural, relevant photography — it’s just better to use icons.

One way to find icons is with https://thenounproject.com. This website has a massive collection of icons and it’s free to use if you’re willing to include contribution links on each slide. I recommend just paying the $10 monthly fee and downloading any unlimited number of icons without any distracting links. You can also change the color of an icon and don’t need any additional software. To find pictures, use https://www.shutterstock.com (paid options) and https://unsplash.com (free).

Most Suitable For: The Problem, The Solution, Business Model, Customer Acquisition, Team, The Ask