To say that people have limited attention spans these days is an understatement. In fact, I’ll just be happy if you make it to the end of this blog. Between emails, texts, phone calls, FaceTimes, the tv, news, social media and everything else begging for our attention on a daily basis, it’s no wonder. As a result, our ability to retain information has declined significantly. But one thing that people remember is a great story, whether it’s one your friend told you or an episode of your favorite tv show.
Stories have the ability to connect us with the things we care about. And in marketing, a pitch deck, if done well, is an opportunity to bring your work to life and show off your experience through a great story. So how do you make sure you do that?
For starters, make sure you lead with your value statement so others know what they will get from working with you, rather than immediately talking about yourself. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and say “Hey, want to hear about me?” would you? People don’t want to be talked at; they want to be engaged with. To do that effectively, your story – or pitch deck – needs to be compelling, different, simple, and connected to your audience and the things they’re feeling.
With those four things in mind, you’ll want to create an outline based on the following steps:
- Problem statement: start by acknowledging the problem your customer is facing or the pain points they’re feeling.
- Opportunity: once you know the problem(s) you’ll see where the opportunity is.
- Value statement and benefits: What’s in it for them? What will they get out of working with you? This is what people care about!
- Approach: How do you do what you do?
- Services: What do you actually do?
- Differentiators: What sets you apart from the competition?
Once you’ve gone through these steps, you’ll be able to derive your main positioning and messaging that will ultimately help you tell your story in your pitch deck. With all of this context, you’ll want to create a beautiful deck design that’s both on brand (but stands out) and connects with your target audience. The slides should be simple with more graphics than text, as you can save the specifics and detail for the appendix.
Now that you’ve completed your pitch deck – a beautiful, informative tool to help you tell your story – you should develop a short, sweet and compelling elevator pitch to go with it. Remember, people want to be engaged and have a conversation; they don’t want to be spoken at. Last, but certainly not least: rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. And as always, if you need help creating and crafting the perfect pitch deck, Sublime Designs Media is here to help, just reach out at [email protected].