How to Make a Presentation for Investors: AI Tips, Templates and Winning Slides
In the world of business, there isn’t much that comes with more pressure than having to present to current or potential investors. There is a lot riding on one relatively brief moment, and your presentation can make or break any deal that isn’t bonded through anything more than money.
We don’t mean to put the pressure on you even more. After all, you’re here to figure out how to make a winning PowerPoint presentation for investors. That’s something we can help with. At Twistly, we have PowerPoint experts that have seen it all. We’ve taken that knowledge and put it into an AI-powered add-in for PowerPoint that can assist you along the way. We also offer a PowerPoint writing service if you want a more personal touch.
What is the Goal of Your Investor Presentation?
But we aren’t just here to make a sales pitch. We want to help. So, the first thing you’ll want to do is to seriously consider what the goal of your investor presentation is. What do you want to get out of it? More importantly, what do your investors (or potential investors) want to get out of it?
For the latter, investors are usually looking for clarity, return on investment and a presentation that instills confidence in your team or product. But at the end of the day, you’re not just selling a product, you’re selling potential.
There is also the matter of fundraising stages. Different fundraising stages may require a different tone. A seed pitch, for example, might focus more on vision and team, while a Series A pitch needs proof of traction and revenue models.
Where tools like Twistly come in is helping you tweak your slides to perfectly meet your presentation goals. If you’re more of a numbers person than a wordsmith, AI can be a helpful tool when it comes to putting a story to the numbers.
Key Slides Every Investor Pitch Deck Should Include
Though each presentation may vary, and you’ll want your presentation to reflect your brand, there are generally some slides you’ll want to include (or at least have a good reason not to include). Those include the following.
- Problem Statement: What’s the problem your business or product solves?
- Your Solution: What is the solution to the problem you want investors to invest in?
- Market Opportunity: What’s the size of your market? How many people might use your product?
- Business Model: How does your business make money? Can it reliably make money in the future? Include pricing, sales channels and revenue streams.
- Traction and Milestones: Show growth.
- Financial Projects: Show the numbers that will make investors feel confident there will be a return on their investment.
- Highlight Your Team: Show investors you’re a team they can trust.
- Ask and Use of Funds: How much money are you asking for? How will the funds be used?
If you’re a busy founder, you probably have the answers to these questions in your head already. AI can help you form these thoughts into impactful slides.
[Read more: How to Create an Employee Training Presentation With AI]
How to Design Your Slides for Potential Investors
Another area where AI can help, especially if you’re more of a numbers person like we mentioned above, is with slide design. In fact, PowerPoint has a number of themes you can try that are free to use. If you’re looking for something more modern and professional, we’ve developed several templates that can rise to the occasion of an investor presentation.
Either way, when it comes to this kind of a presentation, simplicity is key. No one is there to have fun and “ooh” or “aah” at your clever slide animations. At the end of the day, it’s all about the data.
That doesn’t mean visuals aren’t important, though. When it’s helpful, include charts and graphs that tell the story of that data, whether it’s showing your company’s sales growth or outlining how you’ll use investor funds over the next few years. That said, don’t use old clipart from 1998 or a bunch of unnecessary images. Use graphs whenever possible to make the numbers easier to understand, but otherwise, feel comfortable relying on short snippets of text to get your message across.
Lastly, keep things consistent. Again, it’s all about the numbers, so you don’t want anything that is going to be a distraction. The font, colors, branding, etc. should remain consistent from one slide to the next.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Investor Presentations
Now that you have some idea of what to do, let’s run through a few things you want to try not to do. These are some commonly seen mistakes when presenting to investors.
- Overloading slides with text: Makes you look disorganized.
- Unrealistic financials: Investors know the game.
- No clear story arc: A bunch of slides is not the same as a compelling pitch.
- Reading slides word-for-word: Kills engagement.
- Slides that only make sense with your narration: They should work on their own, too.
Again, with AI, a lot of this work can be done for you. Instead of worrying about hitting on or avoiding the points above, AI can help you craft your slide text using the data you provide.
In fact, the Twistly add-in can make a full PowerPoint presentation in just a few minutes using a ton of different file types, whether it’s a PDF of your business model or just a random collection of data points in a Word doc. Plus, it can help you feel better on presentation day with AI-generated speaker notes. You’ll never have to be left in the dark about what to say or fumble through your words.
If AI isn’t your thing, we get it. That’s why we also have experts on hand who can give you that personal touch you’re looking for. Let us know some details about your upcoming project and we can get to work creating the perfect PowerPoint that will leave investors impressed and earn you the funds your business needs.