How to Create Great Pitch Books

Every pitch book is different. 

Every business is different. 

Every investor is different.

Despite this, people repeatedly make the same mistakes when creating pitch book slides.

These five essential rules, drawn from our experience of creating great investor pitch books, will help you impress.

How to create a great pitch book

1. Start with the big picture

2. Know how you’ll use your pitch book

3. Tell your story in the headlines

4. Make it all interesting

5. Make it easy for your audience

 1.     Start with the big picture

To build on the Eurythmics song:  Behind every great pitch is a great message. Make sure you have one big clear message underpinning your pitch.

And one clear message for each slide. Creating these is the hardest part of putting an investment pitch together, but it is also where the most valuable work is done.

When you have clear messages throughout, clear messages underpinning your pitch and clear messages in all your headlines, it’s much easier for your reader to understand your pitch.

 

 2.     Decide how you will use your pitch book

Are you creating:

•  A handout to be read afterwards?

• Something to be projected on a screen?

• Or a document that you go page by page?

These three uses require different documents. SO, design your document for the use intended.  One size does not fit all.

This is possibly the biggest mistake made in pitches.  We see it again and again, whether in investor pitches or business pitches.

Remember:  a pitch to be read at a desk vs a pitch to be presented should be as different as a book and a movie.

Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash

   3.     Tell your story in the headings

Think like a journalist. Make your headlines count.  Your headlines need to grab attention and inform.  They need to be interesting and push your story forward.

The headline writer at a newspaper is one of the best-paid jobs in journalism.

Great headlines will make it easier for others to understand your pitch and will make it easier to tell your story.

Work with someone who can write great headlines for you.

 4.     Make your pitch book interesting

That may sound obvious.

But, we usually find extensive padding in investor pitches.  Take out everything non-essential and keep only what the investor needs to know.

Say less, and say it better is a good rule of thumb.

Move pages to the appendix if you are not sure.

 5.     Check that you have made it easy for your audience

Imagine you are your audience sitting reading your document.  You are short of time, under pressure and lazy. So, does your document pass these tests:

• Is the document easy to read?

• Does the important information leap out?

• Does it answer all the top questions that investor will have?

Keep improving your document until it is as easy to read as a newspaper.  And make sure you don’t make any of these common pitch document mistakes.

 

These five golden rules will help you create great pitch books.

And, if you want help with your pitch books, we would be delighted to discuss what we can do.  Call Louise Angus, our Client Services Director today on +44 20 7018 0922 or email her below.

How can we help you?

We help firms and fund managers improve their pitch books.
From small private companies to some of the biggest firms in Europe, we create value wherever we work.

We work on short-sharp projects that add huge value.

It does not cost much, and will repay itself many times over.  Find out more today.

To improve your pitch book, speak to our Client Services Director Louise Angus today or call her on +44 20 7018 0922.

Tell her what you want and we will help you improve your story to investors.

Other valuable resources to improve your talks and presentations

How to start your speech and presentations
The So What Test – an essential tool
Improve your fundraising presentations How do you make boring topics more interesting?
How to give high-impact presentations
Presentation structure – a quick guide PowerPoint presentations – The alternative
Avoid Death by PowerPoint
Presentation Coaching Course

About Benjamin Ball Associates

Benjamin Ball Associates helps clients to pitch, present & persuade.

Over the last 10+ years the award-winning BBA team has supported hundreds of firms globally to present powerfully to investors. We have developed a robust toolbox of techniques that we use to help our clients become clear, confident communicators.

We’ll help you create a powerful first impression that hooks and engages your audience immediately and we’ll coach you to deliver clearly, confidently and with impact.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email louise@nullbenjaminball.com to find out more and discuss your upcoming investor pitch.

 

Contact us to improve your pitch book