Designing a presentation?
Whether you’re starting a business or scaling up, you may find yourself in need of funding. If this is the case, creating a dialed-in pitch deck to present to investors is vital.
In sales and marketing, a pitch deck should be designed to embody your brand and emphasize the opportunity you present. Meaning, this is the first step towards sealing the deal.
A proper pitch deck requires a combination of strategy and creativity.
Every entrepreneur knows that building or managing a business is already a huge responsibility.
With so many moving parts, creating a PowerPoint presentation can be tedious and detailed work that you may not have the time to manage.
Luckily, it’s 2021.
In today’s day and age, it’s possible to hire professional designers and strategists to help you craft the perfect pitch deck that will boost your business.
However, hiring a presentation designer to represent your business is no easy task.
Let’s dive into what it takes to create the perfect presentation and some helpful tips on how to hire the right person for the job!
Before we hire someone to write a pitch deck for us, it is important to know what a pitch deck is!
Professional presentations development and design by Launch Module Media.
What types of investment can a pitch deck be used for?
An investor presentation, or pitch deck, can be an entrepreneur’s number one lever to upgrade their business. It is designed to persuade and engage investors. Generally, it can be used for the following purposes:
Raising money for a new startup or funding a project
Startup founders know that any business built from the ground up usually needs to raise capital. A pitch deck is commonly used to introduce the brand, its products, team skills, and the industry demand that it can solve.
Designing an investor deck for a startup is absolutely crucial.
This is a brand’s chance to leave your potential investor’s first impression. The message can drive a whole investment decision. When done right, the design can help achieve the capital you need to launch your business.
Pitch presentations can also be used for securing funding for both profitable and non-profit projects. A pitch deck’s main purpose is to motivate people into supporting what you’re presenting, no matter the topic.
Selling a new product or service
Starting a venture is, of course, a huge challenge, and innovating new offerings is a huge portion of is a vital part of growing a business, starting a venture, or simply selling a product/service.
This is why entrepreneurs need to present a compelling pitch deck design that introduces their new products or services to the market. The investor presentation will justify why the new offerings are needed, how to use them, and how they can sell to customers.
Ready to get your Pitch Deck working for you?
When do you need a pitch deck?
You will need a pitch deck ready when you’re building a business, finding co-founders, seeking funding, or applying to an accelerator program. In these cases, your target audiences are possible investors and partners that you need to attract at first glance.
You are seeking after decision-makers who do not spend too much time over-analyzing your ideas, meaning, if you are wasting their time you are also wasting your time. This is why you need an engaging pitch deck that contains high-level information laid out strategically in a visually comprehensive way.
Now that we know what a pitch deck is, let’s go over some defining principles that will structure a perfect deck!
Elements of a professional business presentation template.
What are the main principles of presentation design?
Like most things in life, a presentation should be simple, brief, and concise.
The presentation should be designed with intent. Always avoid fluff as it must be straightforward and made to close deals.
It is possible to design a pitch presentation on your own, there are ready-to-use pitch deck templates all over the web and of course, great content across our website.
However, there are several turning points that can make or break a presentation anywhere from designing the structure to putting together the content.
Here are some important elements in designing a presentation:
Take note and get ready to apply the following principles that will create the message you have been trying to get across!
Employing a visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is the design structure and elements that are to be used and prioritized in each slide of your pitch deck.
This is based on how people technically process visual information in a certain order.
Employing the visual hierarchy will help make your PowerPoint presentation visually appealing. It makes information on your deck easy to understand and will help avoid overwhelming your audience.
Using a strong visual hierarchy will organize design elements in the following ways:
Size – Adjust the size of the elements in a presentation, use text and images to emphasize important ideas by identifying main key points from supporting knowledge.
Color – Jazz up your theme by using complementary colors and adjusting contrast, temperature, saturation, and tones to add variations without using too many shades. Make it pop!
Alignment – Elements that are unaligned can distract your viewer while properly patterned ones help visualize a flow of ideas. Modify alignments based on purpose.
Font Size and Styles – Use a typeface that reflects your brand and fits the mood of the idea. Font sizes should also be adjusted based on the importance of the thought it conveys.
Whitespaces – A Whitespace helps draw attention to certain elements it surrounds. Blank spaces, despite seeming null, must be strategically used for presentations to effectively deliver your message.
Inspire your investors or customers with a custom-designed presentation.
Theme and Layout
The foundation of a great presentation is built on its theme and layout. Focus on these two principles as they are your presentation’s backbone.
Theme – A pitch deck should revolve around a single theme. Along with incorporating the visual hierarchy, the color schemes and other design elements will help the project tie together.
The slides should embody your brand and support one another resulting in a cohesive sense and goal.
Your theme includes the colors that you use, which should have a purpose and a function. Colors trigger psychological factors, which you should use to your business’ advantage
Layout – Presentations should have a simple, uniform, and functional layout that supports the theme.
A well-organized layout compliments the information in your presentation, giving it a flow and an overall visual impact. This will effectively guide your audience to a specific point.
Fine Tuning
A defining characteristic of creating an industry-standard pitch deck is fine detail.
Detailing a presentation should be visual, fewer words should be used to avoid boring your audience. We recommend using high-quality images and other visual representations like charts, graphs, and icons.
Animations, where appropriate, can really help fine-tune your presentation.
When used properly, such elements will come together and make your deck simpler yet more persuasive.
Now that we know what it takes to create a solid, business-defining pitch deck, let’s see if you need to outsource it!
Working with a professional presentation designer.
How much should a pitch deck design cost?
There are various ways to find expert assistance in creating your pitch deck.
Some agencies offer design services while there are one-stop-shops that provide both design and content services.
On average, professional teams charge $3000-$8000, depending on project size. At this price range, you are guaranteed to have a well-crafted and effective pitch deck that will draw investors in.
Cost factoring is always important. The deciding price of outsourcing your presentation and hiring the right agency to do so varies.
Check out these tips to get a better understanding of how much a pitch deck design should cost!
How big is your business?
Some professional presentation design service providers will base the price range on what stage your business is at. Pitch decks for startups and small companies with not much to cite on their document are often offered a lower cost compared to companies within the mid-market and for Fortune 500 companies.
Bigger companies need more sophisticated content and design. This requires a whole lot of work in order to organize their presentation in a simpler way.
How much information can you provide?
If you already have an existing pitch deck and need some help beefing it up, a presentation designer can likely offer assistance at a lower price compared to hiring the agency to create one from scratch. If you have a pitch deck template ready with all the content laid out properly, you can also consult a graphic designer about the theme and the color scheme you want to use.
Otherwise, you can hire a PowerPoint designer, a design team, or an agency that provides comprehensive service. The price for services may increase depending on how much work they have to put in to produce to create your presentation.
How much help do you need?
As mentioned, you have the option to hire different kinds of professionals to assist you depending on your needs. In this day and age, you can easily hire a creative director, a graphic designer, or a whole team of expert pitch deck designers and creators.
Some agencies also offer a range of services anywhere from creating a logo to providing expert advice, assistance, and feedback to help entrepreneurs know what to put in their pitch book and how they can present themselves better. The more assistance you need, of course, the more chances that the price will go up.
One-time deal or long-term maintenance for your pitch deck?
A pitch deck can be a one-time project, but if you are starting or growing your company, you might need to revise and update your pitch deck from time to time.
Depending on the stage you are in, you might need to customize and produce various versions of your pitch deck.
With this, it is an option to establish a long-term partnership with a design team.
Of course, long-term partnerships tend to cost more, but it helps you save plenty of time since you’ll be working with a team that already knows your brand and story, and you don’t have to explain everything over and over again.
Finding the right presentation design team.
Narrow down the list by considering these 2 factors:
Ask yourself the right questions!
How much can you invest in your presentation?
Prior to choosing a presentation designer, contractor, or agency, decide what resources you are able to allocate for creating your deck. Look for service providers that offer design services within the price range you set.
After all, your pitch deck is among your investments and an expenses for your company, so it should be well thought out.
Who can help you present your brand, company, and ideas best?
Always take the contractor’s or agency’s professional background and experience into account while planning who to hire and look for talent similar to yours. Check out their portfolios, testimonials, and the results that the pitch decks and pitchbooks (investment banking) they have created have brought them.
It is a best practice to entrust the creation of your pitch deck to those with accumulated expertise and experience.
Where To Start?
The creation, hiring, and delivery of a brand new presentation can be overwhelming. Use these next tips to hit the ground running!
Schedule a Consultation Call
Create a list of specialists, contractors, and agencies and book a call to get an understanding of where they can help you. Go through their previous work with a microscope, compare costs, and try to get a sense of what makes the most sense.
While discussing your needs, tell them about your vision and how you want to present your company using your pitch deck. Some will also offer a quote of the services you might need along with the costs as well. Take note of their propositions, list everything for consideration, and evaluate. Afterward, you can pick and choose what is best for you and your company.
The right designers will be enthusiastic about bringing your idea to life.
Align on Goals
Congrats! You found the right designer to help you create the perfect presentation.
The next step is calibrating your goals with your designer. Discuss the style and designs you prefer, as well as the important points that you want to highlight in your pitch deck. Let them know how you visualize them.
It is your brand and business, so it is important to have your deck customized and personalized.
If you’re working on a certain timeframe, make sure to let them know as well. Along with this, ask for their input on how they are planning to complete the project. See if this fits with your needs and consider their insights as well. This will ensure that you will have a complete pitch deck or pitch book that will serve its purpose: to attract investors, inform partners and shareholders, or produce sales.
Ready to get your Pitch Deck working for you?
Making it perfect
Make room for improvement and allocate time to check your presentation designers’ first draft before finalizing things.
Look at your presentation as if you are an investor.
Finally, coordinate with your presentation designer to fine-tune your presentation to get it over the finish line.
It is very rare for a designer to get a perfect pitch deck with a single draft. At Launch Module, we offer unlimited revisions to our presentations. No one we know of offers this.
If you’d like to talk with our experts about hiring a presentation designer, simply submit your information via the form below.
About the author
Leslie Morales is the CEO of Launch Module and a Certified High Performance Coach. Learn more about Leslie and her team on our About Us page.
