How can you use design to create an emotional connection in pitch decks?

1 Know your audience

Before you start designing your pitch deck, you need to understand who your audience is, what their needs and goals are, and how they will perceive your pitch. You can use tools like personas, empathy maps, or customer journey maps to create a profile of your ideal audience and empathize with their pain points, motivations, and emotions. This will help you tailor your design to their preferences, expectations, and context, and avoid any potential pitfalls or misunderstandings.

2 Define your story

A pitch deck is not just a collection of slides, it is a story that you want to tell your audience. A story that has a clear structure, a compelling narrative, and a strong hook. You can use frameworks like the hero's journey, the three-act structure, or the problem-solution-benefit model to define your story and outline your key points. Your story should have a beginning that captures attention, a middle that builds interest and trust, and an end that calls for action and leaves a lasting impression.

3 Choose your visual style

The visual style of your pitch deck is more than just aesthetics, it is a reflection of your brand identity, personality, and values. You want to choose a visual style that is consistent, coherent, and appropriate for your audience and your message. You can use elements like colors, fonts, images, icons, and shapes to create a visual style that supports your story and conveys your tone and mood. You can also use tools like mood boards, style guides, or templates to help you define and apply your visual style.

4 Use contrast and hierarchy

Contrast and hierarchy are design principles that help you create clarity, emphasis, and focus in your pitch deck. Contrast is the difference between elements that makes them stand out from each other, while hierarchy is the order of importance that guides the eye and the attention of the viewer. You can use contrast and hierarchy to highlight your key messages, data, and benefits, and to create a logical flow and structure in your pitch deck. You can use techniques like size, color, weight, alignment, spacing, and shape to create contrast and hierarchy in your design.

5 Add emotion and personality

Emotion and personality are design elements that help you create a connection, engagement, and trust with your audience. Emotion is the feeling that you want to evoke in your audience, while personality is the character that you want to project in your pitch deck. You can use emotion and personality to make your pitch deck more human, relatable, and memorable, and to show your passion, enthusiasm, and authenticity. You can use techniques like storytelling, humor, metaphors, analogies, and testimonials to add emotion and personality to your design.

6 Test and iterate

The final step in designing your pitch deck is to test and iterate your design based on feedback, data, and results. You want to test your pitch deck with real or potential audience members, and measure their reactions, responses, and actions. You want to iterate your design based on the insights and learnings that you get from your tests, and improve your pitch deck until you achieve your desired outcomes. You can use tools like surveys, interviews, analytics, or A/B testing to test and iterate your design.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?