How To Create A Pitch Deck Narrative

How to create a pitch deck narrative? In a world where venture capitalists are inundated with pitch deck after pitch deck and more compelling business ideas, you’ve got to stand out to make a difference.

People use many ways to stand out and sell their pitches but to capture the investor’s mind hook, line, and sinker, you have to use stories.

Entrepreneurs have to learn to appeal to the investors far beyond just the facts with a well-crafted narrative that is believable and touching.

It is well known among those in marketing and politics that facts tell, but stories sell. The reason stories have a huge impact on our lives is because humans are innately drawn to stories. Every culture has taught its life lessons through stories.

The phenomenon is not isolated to investors in the boardroom; consumer research shows that 92% of consumers want brands that use stories in their ads.

The same research details that messages delivered as a narrative were 22 times more memorable compared to those that just had facts.

Storytelling truly allows your pitch deck to really communicate and connect with your audience on the issues that truly matter to them. It creates an emotional connection which increases the likelihood of getting a positive response.

A great narrative in a pitch deck raises the company above the problem it solves today and places it in the hearts of the investor and the common public as a timely solution to the world.

The narrative should be the picture and the actual value the company is bringing to the world. Truly effective pitches have been the ones that have utilized these aspects.

Check Out These Examples of Excellent Narratives

A credit company like Square does not market itself as a credit reader. But rather claims to “enable everyone to participate and thrive in the economy.” Now that is much more appealing to an investor and consumers.

You can see the same story replicated for Linkedin, a social network for professionals. Still, it weaves around the narrative that it “connects professionals to make them more productive and successful.”

The running theme is a story that creates a mystique around the company that enables it to really make headways into the hearts and minds of the investors.

This is why every entrepreneur should know how to create a pitch deck narrative.

Keep in mind that in fundraising, storytelling is everything. In this regard for a winning pitch deck to help you here, take a look at the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered. Thiel was the first angel investor in Facebook with a $500K check that turned into more than $1 billion in cash.

Remember to unlock the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below.

Why You Should Have Compelling Stories on Your Pitch Deck

We have demonstrated the power of stories and weaving a good narrative in capturing your audience’s attention. But what really makes this method so effective?

Well, the value of storytelling and narratives cannot be overstated in sending out a message. Especially when you need your message to stand out and attract investors with your pitch.

Good narratives have the power to do five things for your pitch deck. Stories have the power to capture the innate side of us.

And, draw us to the message as they have been part of our journey since the beginning of human history.

• Stories enable an emotional connection between the presenter and audience, hence making the process more fluid.
• A good pitch deck narrative takes the investors on a journey to keep them connected to a character. It may enable them to share value and determination to get the character to succeed.
• Storytelling is a powerful learning tool and helps present the story firsthand from the consumer’s perspective or the entrepreneur’s perspective.
• A narrative can be an essential tactical tool that lets entrepreneurs have an opportunity to engage the investors.

When you evaluate the power of a great pitch deck narrative, you can see the large companies that have succeeded with a good pitch deck.

Study the Narratives from Top Companies

You can evaluate some great pitch decks such as Facebook, Airbnb, and Kabagge to feel how stories elevated their pitch decks.

The stories are well crafted, with each of them clearly highlighting the problem that faces their target audience. Facebook begins with a compelling quote while Kabbage shows a deep understanding of its customers backed by stats.

Airbnb directly hammers the narrative home from a personal point of view. Their stories explain why the problem matters and the repercussions of not having an immediate solution.

Then they segue into the next part of showing that their idea is the perfect solution. They back up their stories as authentic and authoritative with facts and ideas. Essentially, they know how to create a pitch deck narrative.

Common Story Types

Research has managed to isolate the most successful story types to help you create the perfect pitch for your audience. Some of the stories that have gained much traction have seen to be either the hero’s journey, the consumer’s tale, or the Industry’s Point of View.

1. The Hero’s Journey

The hero’s journey is one of the most powerful stories as it allows you to detail your own story. It helps explain where you’ve come from and the motivation for your story.

The narrative is most suitable for innovative concept pitches, new products, and charities. That’s because it highlights your real-life experiences and allows the audience to connect with you.

You’ll enable that connection as you highlight your experience and display your passion and motivation for the project.

The narrative arc begins with a challenge that’s laid before its hero. As you follow the story, you can feel the hero’s journey in solving the problems.

The main intent is to paint a great vision of the future and the outcome. These kinds of stories make it feel that everyone will be victorious together.

It is able to detail qualities of the hero such as generosity, ingenuity, smartness, or any other quality that may help sell the pitch idea. The hero’s story makes it easy to sell to the entrepreneur, the committee, or current and future partners.

2. The Customer’s Tale

If the entrepreneur’s vision works, then you bet the customer’s point of view can do much more The customer tale focuses on your product or service from the customer’s point of view.

It is an excellent pitch that can help demonstrate to the investor that the product has a market value. Here the customer highlights their story on the problems they encounter and the everyday solutions they have tried to fix their problem.

The customer explains the problems they have had to persevere so the audience can relate to their own lives.

Compelling customers must engage to verify and clarify that the problem is widespread to create a foundation for the business idea. You should know how to create a pitch deck narrative around that business idea.

The main idea is to show how much the product or service has transformed a customer’s life and hence it can disrupt the market. The story idea works well with tech startups, concept pitch decks, and consumer goods.

3. The Industry’s Point of View

The narrative weaves around the shortcomings of the industry and paints the need for a revolution or a new service in the industry.

It details the role the startup can play in the industry based on the current industry trends. The story is much about the factors checking off boxes to the investors and letting the investors connect the dots – filling in the gaps in the story.

This narrative is meant to demonstrate how financing in the startup is the most logical decision for potential investors.

The story includes telling the investors about the cash flow, sales revenue, profits, and any other traction data to get them hooked. It is a great pitch deck narrative for startups in growing industries or those experiencing serious changes.

Would you like more information about how to nail your pitch deck narrative? Check out this video I have created explaining in detail how it works.

How To Get Started with a Pitch Deck Narrative

Now that we have examples and methods used to tell a story, how do you string the story together?

The procedure is easy to follow, but it requires attention to detail from the entrepreneur. Let’s take a look at how you can incorporate storytelling into your pitch deck.

1. Start With a Relatable Character

The first step then is to come up with a character that is relatable, so potential investors can get emotionally invested in your pitch.

It is wise to give your character a name as investors are more likely to relate to a named character than an anonymous person.

The characters can be real or hypothetical as long as they are relatable and likable. Take some time to create a character name and background information.

2. Get the Investors Involved

A grand narrative should create tension before presenting a solution. It should be well structured from the beginning to the end. You can get them involved by giving them a background on the character’s typical routine. Introduce the problem.

It is your duty to bring the character from the story into the investor’s mind. And, to do that you should learn how to create a pitch deck narrative.

Use vivid pictures to show how the character’s life feels. Sensory words can be effective at describing the problem that needs to be addressed the segue into the after picture once the problem is solved.

You can share the solution and show how the solution works by incorporating statistics and facts to back up the story. A testimonial from a real-life customer can boost the pitch deck narrative to another level.

A part of getting the venture capitalists to cozy up to your idea is to share your team members and how effective they could be in solving the problem.

3. Think Like an Investor

Once you have the story and your character it is time to figure out how the character can penetrate the audience’s mind. Get into the mind of an investor and think like an investor to clearly articulate your story in a way that addresses their concerns.

Explain the problem you are trying to solve, who will benefit from the solution, and rate how the product or service will scale in demand. Clearly explain your business model and any expansion plans.

Give them a range of how much you intend to raise and the marketing structure for your business.

4. Create an Outline and Structure

When you are done with the initial research it is time to plan the slides. You should arrange the slides logically to give the story as much impact as possible.

The average number of pitch deck slides is around 12. You can include slides such as the problem slide, solution slide, and more.

5. Create an Outline and Structure

Once you have gathered the content and you have the structure in mind it’s time to write and format the pitch deck. Keep the text short and captivating.

Be concise and straight to the point. Use the narrative to introduce key concepts. Use large fonts to format the pitch deck so that text is legible. Present each idea in a single slide.

6. Add Visual Elements

Creating great pitch deck content is just a first step in selling your story. You can enhance the visual element to increase the attraction and believability of your story.

Elements such as images, chart graphs, and graphs can help to fortify the story as formidable and workable. Icons can be used to show different sections and introduce new topics.

The images should be appropriate and emotionally connect with the audience.

Tips for Creating a Good Pitch Deck Narrative

If you have gone through all of these instructions, you are ready to create a killer pitch deck for your company. But if you want to increase the effectiveness and get an investment in the shortest time possible you can:

1. Use Templates to Save Time: Creating a pitch deck from scratch is time-consuming and requires considerable skills such as PowerPoint and writing skills.
2. Add Your Brand Themes and Colors: You have to keep everything consistent using company themes and colors throughout the pitch. The grand theme and brand awareness will help market your brand to your audience and make the pitch deck appear stylish and professional.
3. Use White Space: White space is the negative space around objects. The white space helps your message stand out as it keeps the audience glued on the current slide and reduces distractions.
4. Keep Images Consistent with the industry: They say an image tells a thousand words, but the wrong image can tell a thousand words of how unprepared your team was in making the pitch deck. Keep the images relevant, professional, and attractive.

A great pitch deck narrative is essential in securing funding from investors. Take your time and learn how to create a pitch deck narrative from the tips we have shared to get funding for your next big idea.

You may find interesting as well our free library of business templates. There you will find every single template you will need when building and scaling your business completely for free. See it here.