Presentation Skills: You and Your Team

“The way you present to investors not only provides information on your business, it provides investors with insight about you and your team.” 

Follow a few rules when presenting to investors:

• Multiple Team Members Need to Present. You want to show your investors the breadth of your team. If it is only you, investors perceive either that you don’t have a strong team, or that your management style does not allow the team to thrive. Think of it – if you take up all of the air in the room in a rehearsed investment presentation, what must it be like “back at the office”.
• High-level First, then Detail. Investors tune out when they ask an initial question and get a ten minute answer. Short and sweet at first. If they want more detail, they will ask. For example, an investor asks, “Who is your most successful customer?” You should respond, “ABC Company who has realized a three to one return on investment.” They will ask, “Can you tell me more about their program and how your solution helped them save money?”
• Stay on Script. Stick to the flow of your standard presentation. If an investor asks a question about something to be covered later, don’t be shy about letting them know you will be addressing it later. Control the process and leverage your materials and training – and don’t be shy about a tight approach.
• Listen. Let investors finish questions before you answer. Don’t jump in to answer or interrupt. When we are anxious, we tend to jump in all the time and interrupt. When you are patient and deliberate in listening and answering, it shows a management skill that many early stage founders or CEOs lack.
• Have fun. It can be difficult to pursue something as serious as capital raising and remain upbeat at the same time. If investors see value in your business, they also want to see your positive energy and enthusiasm as they know that is what it will take to be successful.
• Ask Them Questions. Imagine interviewing an employee who never asked about your company during interviews. Wouldn’t they want to know more about where they are working? Same is true for investors. Certainly you should have done your research ahead of time on their approach, but if they ask you a question about your pricing model, ask them their opinion. Part of the presentation is the value of the business and part of it is seeing if you click.

The way you present and the way you or your team interact with investors tells a lot about how the company is run. Is it thoughtful, well planned and collaborated, or quick, disjointed and dominated by one person? You get the picture.