See this photo?
It’s from an investor pitch forum circa 2017. That’s my client on the stage. He just clicked to slide 2 (the key slide).
All those people watching are investors, and they’re trying to follow along. My client’s job is to prevent any of them to think by the end, “I don’t get it.”
This group IS following along, and it’s because of the slide they are looking at. That photo of a woman named Molly.
When slide 2 of your pitch deck is a PERSON, you are in business. The business of telling a good story. A PERSON is a HUMAN. We connect right away. We can imagine their feelings, their struggles. We can RELATE. Instantly.
That’s power. It’s probably the power you are missing. It’s the power to prevent, “I don’t get it.”
When you introduce a person on slide 2 and then talk about WHO has the problem you’ll solve, all kinds of things happen in your audience’s heads. Investors start saying to themselves…
📍 “Oh. So it’s people like Molly who have this problem. He just said she’s a bookkeeper in a large Fortune 500 company. I know people like Molly…”
📍 “Yeah, that pile of papers near her desk? That has to be an awful way to come to work! I bet she wastes a ton of TIME and the company’s MONEY sifting through that all day. Oh wait – he just said that. So yep, I’m on track…”
📍 “Geez, this poor woman needs a solution. She’s so overworked, and the mundane tasks are way below her pay grade. I bet he’s got a way to fix this.”
When you tell a story with a “Molly” and yes, give the person a name, you are giving a glimpse at your target audience (those slides come later). You also foreshadow market slides.
You are explaining the pain.
**Most founders skip over or assume the audience already knows the pain the way you do.** (hint, they don’t – and even if they do, you must to repeat it so they enter into the pain during the pitch WITH you. )
Slide 2 is where it’s at. It’s where the story starts. It’s probably what you’re missing. Get good at your slide 2 storyline NOW.
Stop guessing. Stop stressing. Stop worrying. Stop wondering. Start Nailing It.
