I, like most people, am constantly updating my pitch deck to include new developments and updates. Good deck hygiene is needed to stay relevant and interesting to your audience, but you do of course run the risk of a scenario (that I found myself in last week) where you're hiding over 80% of your slides, because your deck has turned into a three-figure beast. 

For my sins, I'm trying to redesign and refresh ours. Reading around online, I came across this very helpful piece about the perfect pitch deck. Reflecting on the past year, I thought I'd share a few 'musts' for any B2B pitch deck:

1. Talk about a relevant change in your audience's world

One that shows that the stakes are high and simultaneously creates an urgency for your offering. To do this, you will need to convey that there will be people that adapt to the given change, and people that won't. Likening this to an evolution, where those that adapt will survive, will create high stakes. It is at this point that you can tease "the promised land" as the below article puts it. Tempting as it is, be mindful not to introduce your product too soon - instead talk about how your audiences' lives will be improved as a result of your product.

2. Keep the demonstration of your product/service outrageously simple

As far as I'm concerned, if you can't explain it to your grandparents, then you're doing something wrong. Every element of your narrative should have clear evidence that verifies that what you're saying is both possible and paramount.  

3. Your sales narrative is much more compelling if an authoritative person (relative to your audience) is telling it. 

Social proof is a wildly compelling method of influencing people. Particularly when the people under the microscope are perceived (by your audience) as being high in authority or of special interest. Telling your audience how their competitors are using your product/service will pique their interest and often elicit the FOMO (fear of missing out) phenomenon.