While not required, pitch decks are an incredibly important tool to help you build support for your project. After reviewing thousands of pitch decks, here are some best practices for creating successful pitch decks for your projects. You can use any software you like but we recommend Pitch or Google Slides.
Tips
Keep It Short - 10 to 20 slides is ideal
Text is the Enemy - Big beautiful images with minimal text works best
Tell a Story - Humans are hardwired for stories, so make your pitch deck tell a good story
Outline for Pitch Deck
This is just a suggested outline. There are countless examples of amazing pitch decks that don't include any of the following. So don't take any of these recommendations as gospel.
Title Page:
Project title
Project logline
The hero image for your project needs to wow!
Inspiration:
Anchor project in something well-known and relatable
“Like Sleepless in Seattle meets Terminator”, “Inspired by”, “In the tradition of”, “Based on”
Or give facts: “Every day 1 million trees are cut down”
Or specific story: “Over thirty years ago John Hull went blind”
The Project:
Succinctly describe your project
What are you actually building?
Avoid jargon and use 3rd grader language
Paint a picture!
Unique Insight:
What makes your project special?
Why does this project need to be created?
Why are you the only team in the world who can make it?
Link to Video:
Last between 30 & 90 seconds
Convey the substance and vibe of your project
Cover the basics
Ideally be actual footage from project, but can come from other existing projects that capture the look and feel or can even be just a recording of project creator
Progress:
How far along is the project?
Highlight important milestones reached
Highlight impressive people, organizations, or IP attached
Highlight impressive partnerships secured
The Team:
What about your team’s background, experience and expertise makes you ideally suited to create this project?
Highlight past success
The Ask:
How much money do you need?
How much have you raised so far?
What else do you need?
Example Pitch Decks
These are not perfect pitch decks, so please don’t copy the exact structure or design. Just use them as a reference and source from inspiration.