Presenting Great

Business Plans

For I.C. Stars

Waverly Deutsch, Ph. D.

Two Key Elements

Semantics What you want to say
Content
Syntax How you say it effectively

Structure
Slides
Delivery

Content

Everything you know about your subject

Does not equal your presentation

Elevator Pitch
Purpose: Catch listeners attention
Tools: Two sentences
Content: Clear statement of what you do
Not good: We have developed a proprietary algorithm that models moving
objects as trajectories and uses a dynamic variable to manage uncertainty.
Our technology allows companies to optimize their mobile assets in realtime and develop a whole new class of location-based services.
Better: Our software dramatically improves a companys ability to manage
mobile resources like trucks, service personnel and equipment. The system
builds on standard tracking systems by proactively notifying dispatchers
when schedules are off and enabling them to match resources to
requirements on the fly.
4

Selecting Content
Time available
Audience

Make-up
Size
Interactivity

Theme
Key take-aways
Data

The 10 Minute Business Plan Pitch

Theme: This is a good business investment
Elevator Pitch provides the content
Key Take-Aways:
We solve an important problem

We have momentum

Problem
Solution
Patents/Prototypes
Beta customers
Management team

We are a good investment

Market size
Revenue projections
Barriers to entry/competitive advantage

Nested Diamond Outline

Introduction, Theme and Agenda

Key Take-Aways and Supporting Data

Conclusion and Summary

Two Kinds of Transitions

Between sections
of the presentation

Into your first point

Between key points

To signal the end

Between slides

Smooth the flow

Connect the supporting data
Often the one piece of a
presentation I script
8

Doing Demos
Practice your transition into the demo
Explain briefly what the audience is about to

see
Make sure the technology works smoothly
Limit the amount of data entry you need to do
Show one or two scenarios to get the point
across
Have one team member run the computer
while another talks
9

Notes on Slides
Less is more. Dont make your audience work too hard.
Bullets are useful...
But dont write out your whole bullet. Always have more to say than is written on your slide. Make
sure you use large fonts. A rule of thumb is 16pt minimum for a small room, 20pt minimum for a
large room. Use sans serif fonts (fonts which do not have little tails on the letters exp. Arial not
Times New Roman).
Style is important
But dont choose complex backgrounds that make it hard to find your content. Always use either
light text on a dark background or dark text on a light background. Red and Green are bad colors for
text. Always, always, always double check all spelling nothing makes you look less professional
than spelling and grammatical errors.
Graphics add variety...
And can make many points better than text. Keep graphics simple and always build them as you
make the point of the graphic. Animation, while fun, is distracting to the audience. They stop
listening to you and start trying to figure out what is going on. Avoid clipart that doesnt help you
make your point. Decorations are pure distraction

Simple
style

Clear
text

Meaningful
graphics

Great
slides

10

Notes on Slides
Intro and Agenda slides
Names on Intro slide
Agenda slides optional in this kind of presentation
Less is more
1-2 minutes per slide minimum
Speak to the slide, dont skip over content
High information to ink ratio
Informative titles
Clean 1-2 line bullets
Graphics require time and explanation
11

Presenting Financials
Revenue
drivers

9,000

Product
Revenue

8,000

$ in 1,000s

7,000

Licensing
Revenue

6,000

Gross
Profit

5,000
4,000

EBITDA

3,000
2,000
1,000
0
-1,000

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Total Revenue

$ 17.4

$ 169.7

$ 943.1

$ 4,630.9

$12,603.0

Product Revenue

$ 17.4

$ 149.5

$ 502.4

$ 2,292.0

$ 4,584.0

License Revenue

$0

$ 20.3

$ 440.7

$ 2,338.9

$ 8,019.0

$ 8.0

$ 75.2

$ 366.6

$ 1,500.9

$ 4,998.0

$(88.5)

$(312.3)

$(241.3)

$ 264.6

$ 2,599.7

Gross Profit
EBITDA

Breakeven

12

Delivery Styles
Presenters Role Goal

Situations/Material

Educator

Teaching

Academic settings
Business conferences
Introducing complex new material

Evangelist

Persuading

Consultant to client
Change maker to management team
Legal settings/Some political settings

Motivator

Inciting Action

Key note speeches

Motivational workshops
Political campaign speeches

Salesperson

Closing the Deal

Sales calls, Trade show

Fundraising meeting

Business plan competition

13

Delivery Tools
Voice
Clarity
Volume
Pace
Body Language

Eye contact
Movement
Gestures

14

Useful Practice Techniques

Divide up the presentation and practice

sections
Practice in front of the mirror
Recruit at least two test audiences
Use tools

PowerPoints timer
Tape recorder
Video

15

Handling Q&A
When interrupted during the presentation

Answer concisely
Bring the audience attention back to the presentation
Take control of your time

After the presentation

Really listen to the question

One team member take the lead
Be concise answer the question directly
Work as a team a second team member can add a brief
comment

16

Summary: Specifics for your Situation

Content sell the business

Versus describing product or service

Structure

Solution to a problem
Momentum evidence
Return on investment

Slides

7-10 maximum for a 10 minute presentation

Graphics to illustrate product and milestones, present
financials and market size

Delivery

Salesperson, closing style

Work the transitions, especially the handoffs between team
members
17

Thank you!

Waverly Deutsch
waverly.deutsch@chicagobooth.edu
773-612-1188

18