What do you do if your public speaking presentation needs to impress investors?

Hi, I'm Lisa G. In my experience as a High-Performance Executive Coach, I've seen countless entrepreneurs miss the mark with investor presentations. Here's the secret: investors' back stories, not just spreadsheets! Craft a narrative that ignites a passion for your business. Research their interests, speak their language (ditch the jargon!), and show why you're the obvious leader to make it happen. Practice your pitch until you ooze confidence (first impressions are gold!). Remember, a captivating story with clear visuals and a masterful Q&A can turn a pitch into a winning investment conversation.

If you want your pitch to impress investors you need to make them care... This starts by explaining the 'problem' your service or product combats. Ideally, explain this problem through stories that connect with the investors own personal experiences. Next introduce your 'solution' in a compelling way. Demonstrate how your product or service solved this problem and the benefits associated with this. Finally, talk about the 'future'. What you believe your company and investors can achieve if you work together. Try to align these points with the investors desires and you'll be on to a winner!

The single most important thing to recognise about investors is that they are busy. Time-poor, under pressure, distracted. You need to wow them with a really tight & concise origin story. And then it's all about the numbers - opportunity, size of market, financial projections. No matter how beautiful, inspired or ground-breaking your product or presentation is, investors will laser-focus on the financials.

Grab their mind, grab their heart and take them on a journey! Your first statement is key. You have to get your listeners to eagerly anticipate your conclusion. Then, briefly extol the industrious nature, growth and future of your business and lead up to how your audience can benefit from becoming involved in that future, both professionally and financially. Make them want to take the journey with you.

When giving a presentation to investors, one should always focus on answering these questions: 1) Does my presentation portray accurate information? 2)Does my presentation give tactics for positive growth? 3) Does my presentation engage with the investors' interests? By providing investors with true and interesting information that will allow the company to grow, you will capture their attention and curiosity. It may help to go through your presentation and answer the questions above using material from the slides. Not only will this ensure you have covered all important information, but you will also become more familiar with the presentation aspects, giving a more natural and believable feel to your presentation.

My business as an End of Life Doula makes the personal story about my experience with the dying the most important part of any presentation. It’s already a topic that many people feel uncomfortable with, yet every person in the room has known someone who died. Also the fact every person in the room 100% will die. Speaking about the richness and beauty that can be experienced at the end of life, with examples of my experience and sharing my emotional experience helps connect to the audience. The odd joke and a sense of humor also work well, as talking about death can be a triggering experience for some. Emphasizing the support and the beauty at then end of life will present a different way of viewing the inevitable.

Storytelling is the oldest form of communication, we can trace it back to cave drawings. They told those stories not only for others to read, but to remind themselves and fuel their own memories. Telling stories and being enthralled by them is in our genetic profile. So use them to guide your audience on their own journey. Here's what I've found to work when crafting a story: -Make it personal and honest. Audiences like to know you're human, they can relate better. -Highlight defeats and victories, tragedy and triumphs. Emotional rides make for better stories. -Have a point that your story drives home that is relevant to the audience. -Use your entire body to tell the story. Voice is great, but 80% of communication is non-verbal.

When creating the narrative, consider that you need to show the picture from a thousand miles and from an inch of it. This means that you should be able to explain the full picture, the large problem you are solving and also how your business touches the customer's daily life. With this, you'll engage with people want numbers and strong data (full picture) and with those that need to be engaged on the human side (inch of the problem).

Crafting an impressive public speaking presentation for investors involves articulating the problem and solution, providing evidence of traction, outlining a compelling vision for the future, and delivering the presentation in an engaging and concise manner. This approach effectively communicates the value proposition and potential of the business to investors, increasing the likelihood of securing funding.

You need to speak to the 2 sides of the brain: the logical and the emotional one. A great balance is often overlooked and it's especially true in professional settings. Some people might be asking a lot about data or numbers, but that doesn't mean they can't be emotionally touched by storytelling. We buy with emotions, we justify with reason.

Remember many investors will make a decision about you in the first five minutes so be prepared that you may only have a short time span to make the pitch. Practice in increments —5, 10, 15. If they cut you off, know how you will close at any point and keep it tight.

I love bringing stuff to presentations. I am very hands-on and I like to reference equipment or methods physically. Furthermore, using visual examples can help drive home a point well over talking about it.

Visual aids significantly enhance your illustration, especially the complex information simply. Virtual animations, high quality graphics are some of the most helpful to make your presentation more impressive. Just for an example, while scrolling social media we see memes regularly. These memes are just illustrations, but we understand the idea, the thought behind it in just fraction of seconds; and this is how significant visual aids are!

Visual aids should enhance a presentation, not deliver it or become a crutch for the presenter. Think back to your days in education - the most boring lectures were those where the teacher read off Powerpoint slides. Taking the text out of a book and putting it onto a screen doesn't enhance the experience. Visual aids should highlight significant points and illustrate important numbers or metrics. The right graphs can illuminate dull statistics. A simple declaration on a screen may resonate throughout the speaker's lengthier talk. Visual aids must highlight, not dominate, the presentation.

Interactive storytelling with a blend of power punch message in the first 20-seconds, pausing for dramatic effect during transition points, and presenting data in such a creative way that it shows the logic behind your rationale.

We often hear "Practice makes a man perfect" and this is what I believe. Often times "Hard work beats talent", so rehearsing regularly makes you confident and clear. The more confident you are, the more impressive you become in front of the investors. If you are under-prepared or under-confident, there is a high chance you are going to lose the pitch and the investment.

A mentor of mine once told me “We don’t ‘rise to the occasion, we ‘fall to our level of preparation.’” In all disciplines, effortless mastery involves countless hours of practice.

Memorize your script focusing on the top three points you want to make. It’s easier to remember. In reality, the listener can only retain so much. Ensure your materials are equally tight and deliver the information which is most important to the listener in an engaging easy to read format.

Rehearsal can literally make all the difference. There is a saying: 'Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard.' If you are a great presenter and confident in doing it well, still rehearse to make it even better, but never be underprepared and overconfident. And if you generally feel self-conscious when presenting, read the above quote again!

-Show the investors how the investment will derive lucrative returns through genuine research backed up by reliable data -Prove to them that this won't be a one-time or temporary return, but a consistent pattern beyond a certain timeline in the long run.

Be very attentive to audience queues. Give them lots of room to interrupt and permission to ask questions. The goal is for the engagement to give them a feel for your collaborative style and what it's like to be in business with you. Feel free to ask them direct questions like: What part of this conversation are you most interested in? Is there anything here that gives you pause?

Gamification is a huge part of successful interaction. Fun is key to learning and if you can engage with your audience in meaningful ways they’ll remember your speech. Some say people don’t remember what you said but HOW you made them feel.

Be ready to adapt. Investors are often short on time and extremely focused on what they specifically want to know. Be ready to jump to any part of your presentation they ask about. Be ready to speak off the cuff on the topics they raise. Be prepared to redirect the conversation if critical information is being jumped over. Practicing your presentation in the order it was designed is important but being ready to adapt to your potential investors interests and questions is critical.

Attracting the investor is a crucial part of the presentation 1) Attractive Title and pictures 2) Follow the 7 7 rule a) Maximum 7 slides should be a part of the ppt b) 1 slide should contain only 7 pointers c) 1 sentence should not be more than 7 words d) Lastly Present it in less than 7 minutes 3) Do not have a defensive behavior when communicating 4) Always communicate information that is backed by research and data 5) Engage with the investors as on their experience, and be an attentive listener 6) Practice Practice and Practice (Be ready for the worst questions)

For all presentations, particularly for the one aimed at the investor, I divide-up the presentation into 3 parts: 1. What (objective / focus / purpose) of the presentation 2. Why should the investor listen to you / give you attention/ what problem are you solving / what's your BIG idea. I always try and start with 'why' 3. How - once you have their attention, then details out your plan and CTA You can never go wrong with this structure.

To impress investors with your public speaking presentation, focus on clear communication, compelling storytelling, and showcasing the value proposition of your project or business. Highlight key metrics, market opportunities, and the potential for return on investment. Practice extensively to deliver your message confidently and address any questions or concerns effectively during the presentation. Additionally, incorporate visual aids and data to support your points and engage your audience visually. ?

Investors want to hear more of convincing facts and stats. If your public speaking presentation needs to impress investors, gather enough of that and put your best foot forward before chipping in stories and anecdotes to evoke emotions in addition to the logic presented. The neat & systemic arrangement of your power point presentation slides and the coherence of your flow of thoughts will undoubtedly impress the Investors. Lastly, ensure you are clear and concise, don't speak for too long saying unnecessary things, use few minutes of your time to speak on the core and crux and be done speaking with few more minutes left.

When it comes to investors, customise your slides with visual aids, current affairs which they understand and are aware of to make your point. Use your own graphs, but don't be very very detailed. Use simple graphs which give them the gist, as a positive result as much as possible and then it's all in your delivery of speech. Be confident, and make an impression that shows you know your stuff, even if you dont, that being said, research everything you put on your slide atleast twice. Else if you can't answer, the confident becomes overconfidence.