Stories explain, captivate, disturb and inspire. We are more likely to resonate with a good story than we are bunch of information. “Entrepreneurship is about telling a story that connects the deep needs of a group of people with a repeatable solution.” The stories you tell during your pitch connects the information on your slides together like thread connects pieces of fabric together. Without the elements of story, your pitch deck is just a boring report about your company. Telling stories during your presentation will make your presentation persuasive and motivating. It will get investors interested in the product or service you provide. Here are three primary ways to use stories in your deck as shared by Baehr and Loomis in Get Backed:

  1. To create a narrative arc that ties your slide deck together.
  2. To explain one or more of your slides.
  3. To have as a reservoir of things to discuss and ways to respond to questions during a conversation.

Here are some different types of stories you could tell during your pitch to investors. To use as an example let’s say you created a business selling a new healthy and tasty vegan snack that you feel will be a game changer because there is nothing else like it on the market.

Origin Story

Your origin story is a story about how you came up with the idea for your product or service.

So, if you were telling an origin story about your vegan business, you can say whenever I go to the grocery store looking for vegan snacks the selection is very limited. The snacks that are there don’t look appetizing and are bland in taste. I thought there should be more options than this and vegan snacks do not have to be bland.

A compelling instance of utilizing an origin story is demonstrated by Everlywell, a company that appeared on Shark Tank, offering a solution for obtaining clear results to a range of medical tests. By watching the video below, you can witness how they effectively employed their origin story to engage the investors

Customer Story

Your customer story is a story about how your customers have benefited from your product or service.

At an event where I was selling my snacks, I had multiple customers try them and received feedback that they were the tastiest vegan snack they have ever eaten. One customer told me that by having a tastier snack option it has helped them to stick with their vegan diet plan which was difficult especially when they wanted a snack.

Here is another excellent illustration of how to integrate a customer story into your pitch. It’s worth noting that the story doesn’t necessarily need to be about a real customer. In the following video from Shark Tank, you can witness Bug Bite Thing, a company presenting their business to investors, effectively utilizing a fictitious customer scenario to illustrate the problem their product solves. This approach enables them to vividly showcase the relevance and impact of their solution.

Industry Story

Your industry story is a story about how the industry you are in is changing and how your product or service is taking advantage of that change.

The vegan lifestyle was not always popular but all that has changed. There has been an increase in the desire for vegan foods as more and more people are choosing to be vegan. The plant-based market grew by 27% during the COVID pandemic.

In the following example, PaddleSmash presents their company to the sharks on Shark Tank, seeking investment. It is interesting to observe that instead of focusing on a specific problem they are solving, they discuss how they are taking advantage of the growing popularity of pickleball.

Venture Growth Story

Your venture growth story is a story about the traction your company has been experiencing.

At first, we did not have many sells, but once we started reaching out to people in the community business really took off. At every event, we sell out. We are in multiple stores, and we are consistently having reorders.

<a href=”https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos”>Free Stock photos by Vecteezy</a>

After learning about all the different stories, you can tell during your pitch, you will need to decide which story you want to lead with. The story you led with should be your strongest story that will really capture the investor’s interest and motivate them to want to get behind your company. Here are some tips for when it may be a good idea to tell each type of story during your pitch:

  1. Consider telling your origin story when introducing your company or talking about your team.
  2. The industry story is a great to tell when talking about the opportunity in your industry.
  3. The customer story can be introduced when describing your problem and solution.
  4. The venture story can be given either when talking about your competition, unique advantage, business model, financials, or your ask.

You may not have a story for each type and that is fine. Having at least one strong story can go a long way. If you feel like you do not have time to tell stories during your, remember these stories do not have to be long. Your story can last less than 2 minutes! Hope you found this article helpful. Wish you well on your pitch. If you need help with crafting your pitch deck schedule a free consultation and we will tell you how we can help.

Reference

Baehr, Evan, and Evan Loomis. Get Backed: Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, Launch the Venture of Your Dreams. Harvard Business Review Press, 2015.

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