Each presentation is an opportunity to connect, inspire, and leave a lasting impression. I’ve learned and relearned that each time I’ve presented my startup in the past three years. In that time, I’ve participated in 13 pitching competitions, and have won the first place prize in 9 of them, and have taken something home (audience choice, or second place) in every single one. They’re a great way to get funding for an early-stage startup, especially in the Sacramento Valley, and I’d love to share my most important learnings with you. Whether you’re addressing a boardroom, a classroom, or a virtual audience, the keys to success lie in preparation, delivery, and engagement. In this post, I’ll do my best to succinctly explain how I effectively prepare for a presentation and ensure that it’s as impactful as possible.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you create a single slide, ask yourself: Who am I speaking to?

• Tailor your content to your audience’s knowledge level and interests.
  • Adjust your vernacular, ensuring that your audience can accurately resonate with what you’re saying.
• Anticipate questions and prepare thoughtful answers.
  • If you are confident that specific pieces of information will come up during the Q&A, prepare an appendix slide to support your answer. When you have limited time for Q&A, these slides can expedite your response and deepen its impact.

2. Tell a Story

Your audience will quickly tune out if you try to give a lecture on a topic that falls outside of their expertise. Instead of giving a lecture, sweep them up in a story.

• A strong hook can make or break you. Several VCs have gone on record saying “… you have 45 seconds to impress me, or I’m leaning towards no.” (or making similar statements, give or take 15 seconds).
  • For some presentations and pitches, it’s best to start with a “visual” hook. For example, I normally start my pitches for Purpurātus with “For thousands of years, California’s coast has been covered in beautiful kelp forests…” alongside some slides with picturesque imagery of the Californian kelp forests.
  • For some, it might be better to start with a customer story or problem statement. Examples like Airbnb’s pitch deck start with a problem, putting the listener in the seat of a customer.
• Make sure each slide flows into the next. Disconnected idea flows have been the death of countless presentations I’ve witnessed. Make sure that a first-time listener can see the throughline from each slide to the next.
  • I recommend doing at least 2 trial runs of your pitch after you can get through it fluidly, each with first-time listeners.
• Summarize key takeaways at the end.

3. Engage Your Audience

A great presentation is a two-way street.

• Ask rhetorical questions to keep their attention and get them thinking.

Include digestible learnings that they can disseminate. People love to seem like an expert on a wide variety of topics. Give them another topic they can feel knowledgeable about through select sentences with statistics that will stick in their brain. Alliteration can help give them a snappy line to share

4. Engage Your Audience

Slides should support your message, not overshadow it.

• Limit text—use bullet points and avoid paragraphs. If your listeners are reading your slides, you can assume they are not simultaneously listening.
• Infographics are king. When you’re using as little text as possible, the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” is more true than ever.
• Stick to a consistent theme for fonts, colors, and layouts.
• Maintain readability with clear fonts and sufficient contrast.

5. Rehearse and Time Your Presentation

Practice makes you polished.

• Rehearse aloud, I usually do it twice before trying it in front of a colleague, making edits as necessary each time. By the time I present, I aim to have gone through the full presentation at least 15 times, with an audience for 5 of those.
• Time yourself to ensure you stay within limits.
• Refine transitions between slides to keep the flow smooth.

6. Master Your Delivery

Your delivery style sets the tone.

• Speak clearly and be mindful of your intonations. Speechcraft is an interesting thing; do not underestimate how much you can change a sentence’s impact just by shifting your pitch or volume on the first and last word.
• Use natural gestures and facial expressions.
• Make eye contact, even in virtual settings.
• Project confidence, even if you’re nervous. You need to seem like an expert on your topic at all times. When asked questions you can’t answer, instead of “I don’t know,” say “we’re working on that.” Or something similar. No matter what, do NOT overtly lie. It will bite you in the back.

Conclusion: Your Next Step

The best presenters aren’t born; they’re made through preparation and practice. I believe that while following these best practices, you’ll be on your way to delivering impactful, memorable presentations that inspire your audience to action, especially action to have you tell them more.