Don’t try to cram cogent arguments into the slides of your deck. Keep the slides simple, visual, and minimal. Put cogent arguments, talking points, and prose in the notes that accompany each slide.
How? Check out Dan Cook’s Laws of Productivity (pdf) for a great example:
(If you don’t see the embed above, see The Laws of Productivity on Scribd.)
You now have a deck that you can send in emails or present in person. An investor can read the slides and notes and imagine a presentation. And you can present the slides while you refer to the notes. Bon Appetit.
# Jonathan · Oct 23, 2008
In http://venturehacks.com/articles/sending-decks you recommend against sending decks.
# Nivi · Oct 23, 2008
Hi Jonathan, we actually said “Whether you send a deck depends on who wants the meeting most. ” =)
# Jan Schultink · Oct 23, 2008
There is even potential to cut more bullet points in this deck and increase the use of images. Less is more.
# PaulSweeney · Oct 24, 2008
Great slide show, and really very interesting. Can’t tell you how many pre-start outs burn out due to 24 month dev programme with 6 month code crunch :(
# Ryan · Oct 31, 2008
What about the number of slides? From the first deck article I assumed the slides would be maximum 12. This has 37!
# Nivi · Oct 31, 2008
When you’re presenting, cover roughly 10 topics. The actual number of slides don’t matter.
When you’re mailing a presentation, it should include roughly 10 slides.