Entrepreneurs and start up company owners put in a lot of time for crafting a pitch deck. Pitch deck presentations can make or break an investment opportunity. What some presentations are missing are stories. If you want your new business or product to really connect with an audience, use these storytelling tips to drive home your message.
Storytelling Tips for Pitch Deck Presentations
There are many compelling reasons to include a story in a pitch deck. It creates an emotional connection for your audience. It also allows you to introduce yourself or your company. Finding the right place to start structuring your story can be challenging. The technology blog TechRepublic lays out the storytelling techniques that you can use in your next presentation.
Your story needs likable and relatable characters.
Create a character that your audience will root for. This character can be in a hypothetical situation or based on a real story. TechRepublic recommends the more relatable, the better. “The listener will find a Rosie the Riveter-type character, with a real name and personality, far more engaging than a Level 3 Shift Manager, or worse yet, ‘key stakeholders in the production management process.’” Give pitch deck presentations a hero that will win over the hearts of your audience. This will increase their chances of remembering your company long after the presentation is over.
Your story should take the listener on a journey.
Every story has a beginning, middle and end. This is no different for pitch deck presentations. TechRepublic says create a conflict for your character to be in so that there’s an element of drama to your presentation. The character should be able to overcome this problem with your solution. “The fairy godmother might be a new HR application or cloud infrastructure, and ‘living happily ever after’ might be a more effective and productive salesperson who ultimately drives increased revenue.”
Your story should appeal to listeners’ emotions and reasoning abilities.
Be conversational with your writing to keep your audience on board. Your audience will easily zone out if you get too nitty gritty in the details. But if you use your story to explain a complex problem facing your industry, your audience will be invested. Include conversations that everyday professional would have to help your audience understand their struggle.
The last takeaway from this article is an important one. Don’t think your presentation is better off without a story. “If storytelling techniques initially strike you as unimportant or beneath the ‘serious’ discussions IT leaders should be engaging in, consider how many times you’ve seen good, fact-based materials that have been poorly presented, and ultimately ignored.” Strong data is only a small piece of the puzzle. You need a compelling story to create the impact. These storytelling tips for pitch deck presentations will help you leave a lasting impression, which in turn will help your business succeed.
Related posts from the Ethos3 blog:
Free Pitch Deck Template to Enhance Your Presentation
Presentation Design Principles for Your Investor Pitch Decks