No One Looks at Your Deck More Than You Do
Shorten your deck, refine your pitch, and save everyone time
โฑ๏ธ Less than 2.5 minutes! Thatโs the average amount of time investors are looking at your deck, according to DocSend.
To make the most of it, hereโs my:
๐ Required Reading List for Drinks Founders Building Decks and Pitching ๐
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐: Your audienceโs attention is a commodity. This book teaches you to respect it by making every word count. Itโs the playbook for a deck that gets noticed, not ignored.
๐๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ: โBrevity is confidence. Length is fear.โ
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐:
โ๏ธ Written by Axios founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz.
๐ Focuses on a concise, easy-to-digest communication style.
Presents information in a โpunchyโ format with bolded keywords.
๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐บ: โOne message per slide. People should absorb your point in 3 second, max. Think of each slide as a billboard. Would someone racing by at 65 miles per hour get the point?โ
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐: Investors love data, but they hate being overwhelmed. This book shows you how to turn dry stats into compelling stories, making your market size and growth projections unforgettable.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐:
โ๏ธ Written by Chip Heath and Karla Starr.
๐ ๏ธ Provides a toolkit for making numbers relatable.
Uses analogies and human-scale examples to simplify complex data.
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐:
๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด - ๐ Instead of saying a nucleus is 1/100,000th the size of an atom, imagine a bee in a cathedral
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด - ๐ถ instead of saying 5 gigabytes of storage is a lot, say itโs equivalent to two months of commutes without repeating a song.
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ - ๐ผ๏ธ Framing a $200 billion gaming industry as 10 times the size of the music industry makes it more impactful than just stating the raw dollar amount
๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐:
Nearly 3 out 4 of people find it hard to understand complex data.
5x more memorable is a number presented with a vivid comparison.
100% of your investors will appreciate you for making the numbers make sense.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ: Your deck is more than just slides. Itโs a communication tool. Use these books to master the language of brevity and clarity, and your ideas will stand out. ๐ฅ