1) Plan your investor pitch by writing out all your ideas on paper or a whiteboard without constraints, to allow creative thinking before structuring the presentation. 2) Develop comprehensive content covering everything you want to tell the investor. 3) Once you have fully fleshed out content, refine it by removing peripheral details and prioritizing what would be included in a 1-minute elevator pitch versus a 3-minute or 20-minute presentation.

1. 7 steps to a winning
investor pitch
Source: inc42.com

2. Ditch Google, start with you
Avoid the many free and similar looking templates floating around on the
Web. Your story is unique, which can’t be put in a standard container. Say
bye to the template and start with your own personal story.

3. Plan in analog, stay away from powerpoint
Pull out the pen that you haven’t used in a while now. Let your thoughts
flow freely as you write them on a paper. You can use a whiteboard too. A
powerpoint will stifle creative thinking and stop you from seeing the bigger
picture. Think clearly and see the bigger picture first.

4. Develop your content- more the merrier
What is it that you want to tell the investor? Write down everything on that
whiteboard. Yes, you heard it right, everything. This is not the time for
restraint. It’s like brainstorming. Do not worry about the flow of content
right now. Keep writing.

5. Return of the business plan template
The reason we shunned the template earlier was to start with a fresh mind,
devoid of any bias and idea of what is right or what is wrong. Now that we
have our content up there, we will listen to the experts. Open the business
plan templates just to check if you have missed out anything. By the end,
you have solid content in place.

6. Editing – lesser the better
Before you start to edit, take a break. Then start removing what is
peripheral. If you had only 1 minute, what will you tell the investor? Put a *
next to that content on whiteboard. This is your elevator pitch. If you had
only 3 minutes, now what will you tell the investor? Put a * near all of that
content on the whiteboard. These are your key messages. Keep expanding
the time to 20 minutes and you’ve just the right content you need in place.

7. Structure the content logically
The content is down to 15-20 minutes. Figure out the flow of content. What
will you say first? What next? Will you start with the team or talk about the
team at the end? The answer will vary depending on your stage of business
and your style.

8. Time to open the powerpoint
Your content is now ready and you know the flow as well. Open your
software and start preparing your slides. You will now need a fraction of the
time in preparing slides as you already know the content inside out and the
flow as well.