REFINING YOUR INVESTOR PRESENTATION
The investor presentation is an important tool to showcase your company and communicate why it is a worthy investment. A well-designed and articulated presentation is vital to building investor confidence, so curating a strong presentation should be a top priority.
Here are six tips for creating the perfect investor presentation:
Good Design is Powerful
The aim of your presentation is to capture the attention of your stakeholders. Stay “on brand” with consistent visual elements like fonts, colors, logos and imagery. Use a combination of text, images, graphics and videos to convey your message. An aesthetically pleasing presentation will pique investors' interest and leave a lasting impression.
What’s Your Story?
Investors will remember “your story” long after your presentation is over, so make sure you’ve crafted a clear and compelling narrative that highlights how you are different from your competitors. Be certain you cover the who, what, why and how of your company. This is your best opportunity to articulate your core values. For example, if you have an ESG program, this is your chance to talk about what you’re doing and why it’s important to your business.
Focus on Strategy
In addition to a clearly articulated and intriguing story should be an explanation of how the business creates value for shareholders and management’s vision for the future. Investors are choosing to invest in you, not necessarily for where you are today, but for where you’re going in the future. Investors should come away with a clear understanding of your company’s investment thesis, its competitive differentiators, and a plan for generating long term value. Some of the best investor presentations give granular detail around growth drivers and opportunities, a long-term strategic roadmap, a clearly defined capital allocation plan and a path or bridge illustrating how targets will be reached.
Listen to Investors
Good investor relations and communication is not a one-way street and your presentation should not be either. Listen to the investor community to understand what they value about your company, what metrics they find important and why they may have reservations. The more you encourage honest feedback, the more you will receive. With investor feedback, you’ll be better able to refine your message and present a story that investors want to hear.
Don’t Lose Your Audience with Sloppy Data
Data can be an incredibly efficient way of getting a message across, however presentations of data are among the most common sources of investor distrust. Whenever presenting data, be clear about what you are showing and why. Your analysts and investors should not have to guess at your studies’ primary objectives. Also, be sure to consider what types of charts most effectively show your work. Pie charts with too many slices, bars with redundant or illegible labels, or poorly grouped columns are all common data presentation pitfalls that can often be remedied with just a few clicks.
Stay on Task
Do not overload your investors with too much information. Make certain to limit the content of your presentation to the task at hand. You do not need a slide to answer every question that any investor could possibly ask. Investors and analysts have busy schedules, and you are not the only company vying for their attention.
A powerful investor presentation can quickly establish trust through efficient and transparent communication. Instead of overloading your audience with too much information and complex data, take investor feedback and present your content in a way that answers their questions in a concise, cogent way that gives them no choice but to invest!
