You are the presenter, not the PowerPoint
The moment you stand up, you must speak to your audience. PowerPoint is for you; it is not for the audience. PowerPoint is a medium to reinforce key concepts you want to convey. Do not read your PowerPoint, as people do not like it at all. If you are an expert on the topic you want to talk about and you are passionate about that topic, or if your PowerPoint does not work, you still have a lot to discuss and share about a fantastic business opportunity. Never lose sight of this fact. Your PowerPoint is not running the show, and you are not the assistant of the PowerPoint deck. It is your show and your presentation. The slides are simply an enhancement. Focus on this strategy, and your slides will undoubtedly help you and not hurt you the way they do for many entrepreneurs.
Avoid unnecessary details
Do not try to explain everything about your business, every feature of the product, or every element of engineering. Nobody will give you money for that. They may throw all the information in the trash can.
Use visuals in the PowerPoint
Understand the power of visuals because the audience worldwide does not remember the text; they remember the visuals. For example, if you have a drug treating all problems of any disease, using an image or picture will be much more memorable and eye-catching than any text.
Show your Passion
You must show your passion and give investors a legitimate, accurate and honest reason for why you are passionate about this business. You cannot talk about just making money. You must show how much you care about this business. There are many difficulties in any new business. There are days when you are not making money and may get frustrated; you have bills to pay, somebody quits, or somebody does not fulfill a promise. You will easily quit if you don’t have a real passion for this business. If you are intelligent, talented and well-educated, there will be many job opportunities waiting for you. So, the investors are always interested in knowing how much you are committed to the project. They will not invest in your project if they sense that you may move to another better opportunity or job. Give them the feeling that no matter what happens, you are committed to this business every up and down. Investors don’t expect you to say all that, but they want this sense from your presentation.
Share Your Story Behind the Motivation
The investors are also interested in hearing your personal story behind the motivation for this project. Why do you want to spend your time and energy on this project? Why among all the business ideas or products you select this one? If you are launching a new miraculous baldness cure treatment, you can share your story that you got bald at an early age and people picked on you and made you feel sad. You were emotionally motivated to do this kind of business. Although it does not have to be that dramatic, the investors want to know your story behind choosing this product for the business. If you have even five minutes to talk, tell people why you got into this business. Why do you care about it? What motivated you to put your time, energy, effort, and money into getting this going. If you do not explain this, you will seem like a business consultant going through PowerPoint slides.
Investors often say NO
Following the above guidelines, you will be able to give a fantastic investment pitch to your investors. It is not a matter of luck at this point. You prepared for this presentation. There is a process, and you have independent validation from your own eyes and from other family, friends, and colleagues that you are giving your best presentation. No matter how good your presentation is, the investor often says no. That is fine because at least you know it is not because you gave a poor presentation or because they did not understand what you were talking about. It just didn’t hit the profile of what they were looking for.
Get feedback from the listeners
Whether you are an entrepreneur seeking money, politicians, or leaders in civic life, great speakers use every single speech they give as a mini focus group to make the following speech even better. Now, if someone comes up to you and says it was an excellent presentation, I loved it, my partners and I will draw out term sheets and contact you; you will know your speech worked and it remained successful. But if someone says it was an excellent presentation, but we don’t think it entirely meets our investment profile, thank you, and I wish you good luck. You don’t know what that means. They might think these people are losers, their ideas are awful, and they will never make any money. You don’t know what they are thinking, but it is not the investor’s job to be your presentation coach. To answer them, thank them politely for their time and ask them what they liked about your presentation and how it could have been improved. Listen to both the answers. There may be a question whose answers you would like to add to your next presentation. Maybe they will say, “I still don’t understand your marketplace” Use that point of objection in your next presentation. It does not mean you go to that same person and start explaining and convincing them again. However, understand that if this investor had a concern that you did not address, others would have. Modify your next presentation, adding that concern.
Record Your Speech And Listen
A speech should grow and develop does not mean it goes longer, but it must get refined. Your prototype should get better, as well as your product and business pitch. Record your investment pitch presentation and listen to it afterward. Maybe at the 12th minute, an investor interrupted you to ask a question, and this was something you may have told in the second minute of your presentation. This is the way the investors think. Often comedians do the same; they audio record and listen to their show to see where the laughs come from. Which jokes work and which ones do not. You must look for the points of questions, agreements and concerns that can improve your speech and be the start of your successful business.
Conclusion
It is crucial to understand that you are the presenter of the presentation, not the PowerPoint. Use it as an enhancement. Avoid the unnecessary details of the product and add the key elements of an investment pitch presentation. Use your PowerPoint visuals to leave a better image in the audience’s minds. Show your passion for the business because only money cannot be the base on which you can build a business. Share your story behind the motivation of this business. Investors don’t need to say yes despite your excellent presentation. If you get feedback from listeners about your speech, you record your speech and you listen to your speech, you will present a much better presentation next time.