Purpose of corporate slide decks
In a corporate setting, people use a collection of slides called a corporate deck, presentation deck, or slide deck to present information or ideas. Corporate slide decks are often used in business meetings, conferences, or sales pitches to represent key points or data visually. Corporate slide decks contain slides with text, images, charts, graphs, and other design elements to enhance the message effectively.
Corporate Slide Decks
It provides an overview of a company’s business, products, services, and financial information. These slide decks summarize the company’s key information and are presented during meetings, pitches, or investor presentations.
The purpose of a slide deck is to visually enhance a presentation and help the presenter convey information in a clear and organized manner. Slide decks typically comprise text, images, and other visual elements supporting the main points discussed in a series of slides. This helps in better audience engagement and creating a positive impact for your business presentations.
With this basic introduction to corporate slide decks, let us move to designing corporate slide decks as more professional and engaging.
Designing corporate slide decks
Creating a corporate deck involves several key steps:
- Determine your target audience and the purpose of the deck.
- Gather relevant information and data to include in the presentation.
- Organize the content clearly and logically, using visuals and graphics to enhance understanding.
- Practice and refine your presentation to ensure it is engaging and impactful.
Corporate Slide Decks – Content Generation
The length of a corporate deck can vary depending on the content and purpose of the presentation. However, keeping it concise and focused is generally recommended, with around 10-20 slides. The key is to provide enough information to communicate your message effectively but not overwhelm your audience with excessive slides.
Slide deck format refers to the layout and structure of a presentation made using slides. It typically involves creating slides containing text, images, and other visual elements to convey information or tell a story. The format may include a title slide, an introduction, main points or sections, supporting details, and a conclusion. Slide decks are commonly used in business presentations, educational settings, and conferences.
Structuring the corporate slide decks involve following some of the best design rules. We shall see two design rules that aim to keep your corporate slide decks concise and focused.
Some design rules to deliver concise corporate slide decks
Corporate slide decks are typically used in business settings to convey information, data, or ideas to an audience. Slides may include text, images, charts, graphs, and other visual elements.
The golden rule of slide design is to keep it simple and avoid clutter. Less is more when it comes to creating effective and impactful slides. Focus on critical points, use minimal text, and incorporate visuals to enhance your message. The 10-20-30 rule is a guideline for creating effective presentations. A presentation should have no more than 10 slides, last 20 minutes, and use a font size of at least 30 points.
20 seconds rule is often recommended to keep presentations concise, engaging, and easy to follow. 20 seconds per slide refers to the presentation format known as PechaKucha. In PechaKucha, presenters are limited to 20 slides, and each slide is shown for exactly 20 seconds before automatically advancing to the next slide. This format of 20 slides for 20 seconds is designed to keep presentations concise and focused.
Pitch Deck are important for the growth of startups. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a business professional, chances are you’ll need to deliver a pitch at some point of time. Considering the purpose, audience, delivery method, and objectives, there can be varied business pitches to suit each of the business needs.
Corporate Slide Decks – Startup Pitch
Before discussing on business pitches, let us try to understand how to create a slide deck in 5 simple steps.
5️⃣ expert-recommended steps for developing a persuasive slide deck
1. Construct your presentation around your narrative
2. Leverage pre-designed templates
3. Prioritize design elements
4. Incorporate high-quality visuals
5. Make your Slide Deck concise and easy
Let us see the common business pitches that are vital to business growth. Each of these business pitches applies to a specific type of business action, and you have to identify the right kind of business pitch and tailor your slide deck accordingly.
5 types of business pitches for business growth
Business pitches are great tools for effectively communicating your ideas to the intended audience. Before you begin creating your own business presentation, you’ll need to identify and try to answer the following questions.
- Who is the pitch intended for?
- What is the purpose of the pitch?
- Is the pitch happening face-to-face or remotely?
Once you have answered these questions, it will be easier to identify your pitch type and design your business pitch that resonates with your audience’s mindset. A business pitch aimed at answering the audience queries beforehand goes a long way in reaching and inspiring your target audience.
1️⃣ The investor pitch
Investor Pitch – Corporate Slide Decks
An investor pitch is a crucial step in raising funds for a startup. It typically occurs in the early stages of seeking investment from potential investors. During an investor pitch, entrepreneurs present their business idea and aim to convince investors to invest in their venture. A well-prepared slide deck is essential for effectively conveying the business concept, value proposition, revenue plan, and financial breakdown to potential investors.
2️⃣ The elevator pitch
Elevator Pitch – Corporate Slide Decks
The elevator pitch is a brief and concise presentation that can be delivered within a short period of time. It is an one-minute opportunity to effectively communicate your business, product or service, and entrepreneurial skills. It needs to be clear, persuasive, and include a compelling call to action.
3️⃣ The sales pitch
Sales Pitch – Corporate Slide Decks
A sales pitch typically includes an introduction to your offering, a compelling value proposition, real-life examples, and a clear call to action. It will showcase the value of your product or service convincingly to attract the audience for lead generation.
4️⃣ The product pitch
A product pitch is a presentation that highlights the features and benefits of a specific product. It typically includes
- Product introduction to the product
- Market opportunity analysis
- Analyzing competitors
- Revenue model
The pitch should also address a specific problem that the product solves and explain how it meets customers’ needs.
5️⃣ The Twitter pitch
The Twitter pitch is a condensed version of your business idea, summarized in just one or two phrases. With the rise of social media, the trend of crafting a pitch in 280 characters has gained popularity. It is a modern adaptation of the elevator pitch, designed to be even faster and more concise.
9 amazing slides for corporate slide decks
1️⃣ Overview, vision and mission
When designing corporate slide decks, it is essential, to begin with an introduction to your company. This should include a clear explanation of your organization’s vision and mission.
2️⃣ Problem statement and solution
The main goal of any pitch is to provide value and present ideas that can meet the customer’s needs. Clearly outline the problem that your product or service aims to solve. Demonstrate how your offering can be the solution to the customer’s problem or how it can address their specific challenges.
3️⃣ Market research
Include a slide discussing marketing opportunities, your go-to-market strategy, and your marketing plan for reaching potential customers. Outline how you plan to promote your product or service, identify your target audience, and explain the process of customer journey. These elements help in effectively communicating your marketing strategy to potential investors or stakeholders.
4️⃣ Competitor analysis
When designing a pitch deck, it is essential to include an overview of your competitors and highlight your company’s competitive advantage. This should include key factors that set your company apart and establish its unique value proposition. By showcasing these differentiators, you can effectively communicate why investors should choose your company over others in the market.
5️⃣ Revenue or business model
A slide outlining business’s revenue and financial aspects is a must. This should include plan for generating revenue, pricing model, customer acquisition channels, and addressing any associated costs. This provides a comprehensive understanding of your business’s financial potential and viability.
6️⃣ Financials
Financial projections should cover at least three to five years and provide a clear picture of the milestones your business aims to achieve and the potential outcomes. This is especially crucial for startups, as it helps investors understand the future trajectory of your business.
7️⃣ Team
This slide should feature headshots of team members and provide information about their work experiences to establish their expertise. This helps investors, clients, and customers understand the people driving the company and their qualifications.
8️⃣ Contact information
When designing a pitch deck, providing your audience with clear contact information is crucial. This includes including your email address and other relevant contact details so potential investors or partners can quickly contact you. Additionally, it is recommended to prominently display your company’s website and social media channels on the header of your pitch deck. This increases visibility and allows interested parties to learn more about your company and stay connected with your updates.
9️⃣ Call to action
Including a clear call to action at the end of your presentation is crucial. This is the most essential part of your pitch, as it tells your audience what action to take after hearing your presentation. Whether investing in your business, partnering with you, or supporting your cause, communicate the desired action and motivate your audience to take it.
It is essential to consider the business’s specific objective, industry, and target audience. While the mentioned slides can help create a compelling presentation for various business pitches, it is crucial to remember that each deck should have its unique style and format based on the desired goal and required action.
10 proven tips for better corporate slide decks – suggested by presentation experts
1️⃣ Think about your main message
Think about your main message, structure its supporting points, practice and time it—and then start thinking about your slides. The presentation must stand on its own; the slides are just something you layer over to enhance the listener experience.
2️⃣ Create a consistent look and feel
Corporate Slide Decks – Consistent Look
A consistent design theme, color scheme, and font selection make the presentation visually appealing and help convey the message effectively. While content is crucial, the visual aspect of a presentation can make or break its effectiveness. Establishing a brand identity and maintaining consistency across all marketing materials, including presentations, is vital.
3️⃣ Topic transitions
When delivering a presentation, it is crucial to consider the transitions between topics. Smooth transitions ensure that the audience can follow the flow of the presentation and understand how each topic relates to the overall message. Effective topic transitions can be achieved by using transitional phrases or sentences.
4️⃣ Concise and simple
Overloading slides with too much information can quickly overwhelm your audience and detract from your message, making it easier for them to understand and retain key points. Instead, keep your slides simple and concise, with only the most critical information highlighted. This lets your audience focus on your delivery and engage with your message.
5️⃣ Meaningful photos
Corporate Slide Decks – Meaningful Photos
Utilize imagery that amplifies significance to augment your presentations. Look out for uncomplicated, impactful visuals that reinforce your message in the audience’s psyche without drawing focus from your verbal delivery. Select photographs that i. powerfully convey the topic at hand and ii. are simple in their composition. Whether you choose a metaphorical or literal representation, ensure that it is relevant to your dialogue and that pairing with your words is readily apparent to your viewers.
6️⃣ Use transitions for a purpose
When creating a PowerPoint presentation, using various effects and transitions can be tempting to make your slides more visually appealing. However, it is essential to remember that these elements should be used sparingly and purposefully. Overusing effects and transitions can distract from the content of your presentation and make it seem unprofessional.
7️⃣ Masking effect
By masking out specific information and highlighting only what is essential, you can ensure that your audience remains focused on the key message for discussion. Masking can add visual interest to your presentation.
8️⃣ Try panning large images
Instead of resorting to the undesirable options of scaling an image to an unreadable size or cropping it, a more sophisticated solution can be employed. By utilizing the panning technique, the image can be displayed vertically while simultaneously being discussed. This can be achieved in Keynote by implementing the Move effect, which can be accessed through an object’s action panel.
9️⃣ For video, don’t use auto-play
🔟 Create simple charts and graphs
Corporate Slide Decks – Charts
Although it is permissible to add an image of a chart to a presentation, it often disturbs the overall aesthetic of the deck in an unappealing manner. If the graph data is straightforward and additional time is available, a more visually pleasing alternative exists. By recreating the chart using the native presentation application, the resulting product will be significantly more aesthetically pleasing.
Wrapping it up
Creating an effective corporate slide deck is a crucial aspect of business communication that requires careful planning, creativity, and attention to detail. Following the tips and best practices outlined in this post, you can improve your corporate slide designs and create more engaging and impactful presentations that resonate with your audience.
Pay attention to clear messaging, high-quality images and graphics, and the overall layout and design. By following these tips, you can take your corporate presentations to the next level and effectively present your business ideas to stakeholders.
Are you looking for design tips to professionally enhance your corporate slide decks? See our portfolio for design inspirations.
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FAQs
1. What is a corporate slide deck?
A corporate slide deck is a presentation that is typically used in a business setting to convey information, data, or ideas to an audience. It usually consists of a series of slides that may include text, images, charts, graphs, and other visual elements. Slide decks are commonly used in meetings, conferences, and sales presentations to provide a visual aid and support the speaker’s message.
2. Why Are PowerPoint Presentations Called Decks?
The term “deck” is often used to refer to a PowerPoint presentation because it originated from the idea of a deck of cards. Just like a deck of cards, a PowerPoint presentation consists of a series of slides that can be shuffled, rearranged, and presented in a specific order. The term “deck” has become a common slang term for a presentation in the business world.
3. What is the purpose of a slide deck?
The purpose of a slide deck is to visually enhance a presentation and provide key information in a concise and organized manner. It helps the presenter communicate their message effectively and engage the audience. A slide deck can include text, images, graphs, and other visual elements to support the content being presented.
4. How Many Slides Should Be in Your Presentation Deck?
The number of slides in a deck can vary depending on the purpose and content of the presentation. However, it is generally recommended to keep the number of slides between 10 and 20 to maintain audience engagement and avoid overwhelming them with too much information.
5. What is the standard slide deck size?
The standard slide deck size is 16:9, which means the slides have a width-to-height ratio of 16 units to 9 units. This is the most commonly used aspect ratio for presentations and is optimized for widescreen displays. However, it’s important to note that you can also choose other aspect ratios, such as 4:3 or custom sizes, depending on your specific needs and the devices you will be presenting on.
