INVESTOR PRESENTATION | Part II: It’s All in the Details

When meeting with investors, you most likely put on professional attire in an effort to put your best foot forward. So why shouldn’t your pitchbook do the same?

As a potential investor’s first impression of your company, you should put time and effort into developing a visually captivating pitchbook. Rather than viewing a well-designed presentation as simply a marketing tool, consider your pitchbook as a source of differentiation and route to higher profits1.

Below are our tips on the key elements of pitchbook design, including the cover page, consistent branding, color, typography, imagery, slide composition, and visual creativity.

Cover

We’re often told “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but in reality, the cover page is your very first sales pitch to investors.

In order to maximize your impact on investors, make sure the cover of your deck:

• Is eye-catching and draws attention
• Establishes you as an authority
• Differentiates your brand
• Makes a strong impression

The cover is the first page of your “story”. Important elements are:

• Company logo as a key visual element
• Presentation title
• Optional subtitle, used as a brief summary of the presentation
• Date – make sure to frequently update the presentation with accurate figures

Consistent Branding

Presentation slides should embody your company’s brand, which includes the logo, typography, color palette, and imagery, and should be consistent with the visual design of your brand collateral (website, marketing materials, etc.)

Companies whose brands are consistently presented are three to four times more likely to enjoy excellent brand visibility than those with inconsistent brand presentations2.

Color

People subconsciously attach attributes to different colors3, so consider how colors affect mood and emotion. The psychological properties of your color palette can dictate investors’ perception of your pitch.

Choose a palette that supports your corporate identity and expresses your brand voice. Primary colors should match your logo and secondary colors can be used for exhibits.

Colors should be easy on the eyes, and text should contrast sharply with the slide background color to ensure legibility.

Typography

Typography, the arrangement of text in balance with other content elements, should convey your major points of information in an aesthetically pleasing way.

• • Use corporate fonts, if available, and use a max of two fonts throughout the whole presentation.

• Choose an optimal font combination: Serif font (Times New Roman, Garamond, Minion) + Sans serif font (e.g. Helvetica, Futura, Gotham) always complement each other.

• • Adjust font sizes, line lengths, line spacing, letter spacing and kerning of your slide information to maximize visual appeal and promote legibility.

• Use a hierarchy of font sizes and styles for titles and headings, subheadings, bullets, and footers. This will keep your slides tidy and consistent, and help viewers focus on the most important points.
• Contrast header and body typography, to draw attention to your headline.

Imagery

Consistent brand imagery differentiates your company from competitors and helps to develop your unique visual voice. Choose professional images that are impactful, relevant, and help tell your story to investors.

Slide Composition

Space

• Don’t use every inch of space on a slide. Less is more, and wise use of white space is a powerful way to direct readers to important key points.

Alignment

• Set default margins for slides, and keep your content within them.
• Carefully align elements on slides to make your presentation look clean and organized.

Balance

• Thoughtfully set the sizes of different objects on each slide – creating a balance is effective in keeping viewers’ attention and provides more impact.

Visual Creativity

Incorporating visuals throughout your pitchbook is a great way to ease text-heavy slides. Use graphics to break up blocks of text and better engage your audience.

Create eye-catching charts, tables, icons, and infographics that are formatted in alignment with the rest of your presentation’s visual identity. Visualized financial figures will capture viewers’ attention and make information more digestible.

Use company values to drive your visual identity. If your presentation’s design is true to the image you want for your company, it will fit the tone of your accompanying verbal pitch.

Visual brand details are subtle yet powerful tools to enhance your investor presentation. We’ve learned from our experience in creating over pitchbooks that consistency in design strengthens the overall presentation and minimizes distractions to your verbal pitch. To learn more about our work, view our client portfolio here or contact us.