12 Rules for Pitching on Stage

That deck may work beautifully in an inbox. On stage it has a different job.

Your investor deck is built to be read. Your event deck is there to support you while you speak. The audience should be listening to you, not decoding paragraphs and charts on the screen behind you.

So don’t just trim a few slides off your usual deck. Rework it for the room.

Twelve things I tell founders before they go on stage:

1. Pick one message.
   You have minutes, not hours. If the audience remembers one thing about your company, what should it be? That’s your pitch.
2. Build everything around that one thing.
   Decide the single idea, then find the clearest path to it. What do they need to understand first? What evidence backs it? Then, and only then, split it into slides.
3. Let the slides support you, not replace you.
   Fewer words. One idea per slide. Highlight the point that matters instead of writing out every claim. Slides should make you easier to follow, not compete with you.
4. Don’t try to explain everything.
   You won’t have time for every feature, every segment, and the diagram you love. Choose what matters for this pitch. Leave the rest for the conversations after.
5. Keep charts brutally simple.
   A chart should land in a second. Don’t make people study it. Point to the number, the trend, or the comparison that matters. Often one or two well-placed numbers beat a busy chart.
6. Nail your first and last 20 seconds.
   Your opening earns attention; your close decides what sticks. Don’t burn the start introducing yourself. Open with something that pulls people in, and know exactly how you finish.
7. Prepare for the questions you’re dreading.
   Write the 10 to 15 questions you’d least like to hear, and prepare answers. If you don’t know, say so, then explain how you’d find out. A clear, honest answer beats a bluff you can’t defend.
8. Back up the deck.
   Test it on the actual screen first. Then export a PDF, keep it locally, email it to yourself, and stash a copy somewhere you can reach fast. Never let the pitch hang on one laptop, one file, or one connection.
9. If you’re demoing, have a fallback.
   Live demos fail. The wifi drops, the product misbehaves, the thing that worked ten minutes ago dies on stage. Keep screenshots or a short recording of the part that matters.
10. Don’t read your slides.
    If you’re reading what’s on the screen, the audience doesn’t need you in the room. The slide supports you; it isn’t your script.
11. Practise your pace.
    Nerves speed you up. Overcorrect and you crawl. The fix is simple: say the pitch out loud, several times, before the day. Know where you pause and how long each part runs.
12. Remember what the event is actually for.
    The stage is the introduction. The real value is in the meetings and follow-ups after. So before you walk up, have three things ready: a deck you can send on the spot, a link to your product or demo, and an easy way to book time with you.

A good event pitch doesn’t need to explain your whole company. It needs to make the right people want the next conversation.

Here’s the 60-second version. Screenshot this before you go onto the podium:

• One message the audience must remember
• Whole pitch built around that message
• Slides support you, not a script to read
• Everything non-essential cut
• Charts that land in one second
• First and last 20 seconds scripted
• 10 to 15 dread questions, answers ready
• Deck backed up: PDF, local, emailed, spare
• Demo fallback: screenshots or a recording
• Pace practised out loud
• Ready to hand over: deck, product link, booking link

Now go break a leg out there.

P.S. Got an important pitch coming up and want a second pair of eyes on the deck? We can help. Let’s talk.