WHAT DOES A STRONG INVESTOR DECK LOOK LIKE?

As an investor relations firm, one of the most common mistakes we see with companies is when they aren’t using their investor deck to clearly articulate their value to shareholders. irlabs holds a vault of knowledge and experience (fuelled by successes and mistakes) when it comes to creating an exceptional investor deck to drive business growth and attract interest from investors. Here are some tips on how to ensure your investor deck presentation will help you stand out:

Stay true to your brand

A consistent brand will make you recognizable. Stay on brand by using only your designated brand colours and fonts, and limiting the variety of images and graphics you use. Try not to emphasize your logo too much. Subtle repetition is better than throwing your brand in someone’s face. Your company logo should be present, but not the highlight of the investor presentation. You want the visual focus to be on the key messages — meaning even on the cover page of the presentation, you want to visually prioritize your title or slogan over your logo presence.

Tell a visual story

Key messages can be emphasized through visual storytelling. Great visuals will ensure your brand messaging really resonates with shareholders while strengthening the impact of your communications. Include photographs that speak to your copy! Not only do visuals break up the monotony of text, but they’ll also enrich your storyline. Providing a variety of visuals will keep readers engaged while invoking enough excitement for them to keep flipping through your deck to get to know the company better. Just be sure to only use images that are high quality and professional. Furthermore, video is a great feature to include as a link or QR code. Keep your investor deck dynamic. 

Emphasize what matters

You can do this by using infographics, iconography, photographs, colours, font sizes, frames, etc. Design templates can be tempting (and helpful if you’re feeling stuck) but remember to think outside of the box and put yourself in the shoes of your reader. Design your deck around the valuable content you have to share rather than trying to fit into a pre-set design mold.

Visual storytelling can be a tricky balance, and often lends itself to an overwhelming amount of design elements that might be distracting for your audience. Keep it simple and include a lot of white/empty space to make the slides less straining on the eyes. Provide visual relief from excess text where possible and keep your key message at the forefront!

Translate your professionalism

Ultimately, you want to use your investor deck to give all shareholders a snapshot of the value your company has to offer. Think of the content and copy within your deck as puzzle pieces that must fit together to create one cohesive image. Use principles of effective layout and design for each slide. More specifically, determine the visual hierarchy of your information, choose a consistent layout for various slides, and keep a close eye on alignment to maintain visual balance so your work doesn’t look sloppy or unprofessional.

We recommend that every slide follows the same general formatting in these areas: logo placement, page number at the bottom right corner, and titles and text remaining consistent in font style, size, formatting, etc. Decide on these details for the text and formatting, then keep this consistent throughout the deck as much as possible. Sourcing and referencing is critically important as well, and often overlooked.

Keep it current

An investor deck can become outdated quickly, and at a minimum it should be updated each quarter – ideally every month. Financial results and market capitalization should be current based on public disclosures. Be sure to give your investor deck a scrub for up-to-date statistics and market data, as well as recent timelines and corporate developments.

Ask for help

If you’re struggling to come up with the right messaging for your investor deck or having trouble getting your vision to translate onto paper, it’s always a good idea to seek a professional opinion. irlabs knows how to put together an investor deck that just works and we’ll consider your business’ objectives at every angle to help you present yourself effectively to the people that can change the trajectory of your business.