Let’s face it–capturing the attention of investors is no easy task. Each year, thousands of pitch decks are presented, yet only a few successfully attract investment. Consulting firms have a unique opportunity to stand out if they can create compelling slide decks. But what's the secret to their success? I'll explore how industry leaders like McKinsey and Deloitte have perfected the art of the consulting pitch deck. You'll see examples that not only illustrate their techniques but also inspire your own presentations.
Achieving the perfect balance between effectiveness and visual appeal in a pitch deck is challenging, and we at Superside have experienced this firsthand. When we entered YC Winter 2016, we crafted a successful pitch deck that played a key role in our success. Learning from examples, particularly how top consulting firms design their presentations, can guide us toward creating compelling pitch decks.
Consider this: a VC analyst typically reviews 3,000 pitch decks each year but invests in only 9. Additionally, 15% of investors view these decks on small screens. Given these statistics, how can one design an outstanding consulting slide? The solution lies in examining proven examples. Superside has curated a list of the 25 best consulting pitch deck examples that can help you make that successful leap.
Consulting pitch decks are designed to effectively communicate the value and capabilities of a consulting firm to potential clients and investors, but making a great first impression is never easy.
Therefore, before starting, we can break down the goal of consulting presentation pitch decks into three crucial points for success.
The first goal of a consulting pitch deck is to introduce the consulting firm to the potential client and to clearly position it in the market.
This includes detailing the mission, vision, core values and unique selling propositions (USPs) of the consulting business. The pitch deck should highlight the firm’s expertise, past successes, competitive advantages and industry credibility to establish a strong initial impression.
The second key factor revolves around showcasing the consulting firm's deep understanding of the potential client’s industry, challenges and needs. This part of the pitch deck aims to resonate with the client by reflecting an insightful analysis of their current issues and how these affect their business.
The deck should also detail case studies, data and examples of previous consulting engagements where the firm successfully addressed similar challenges. This is key in the communication strategy, as it helps in building trust and demonstrating the firm’s capability and expertise.
Finally, the pitch deck should outline specific, tailored solutions that the consulting firm can offer to address the client’s needs or a particular project.
This includes showcasing the new client a clear description of the approach, methodologies and anticipated outcomes of the engagement. The goal here is to make a compelling case for how the consulting firm will add value, highlighting the tangible benefits such as cost savings, revenue growth, improved efficiency, or other critical performance indicators.
All of this key information is necessary not only to win more clients but also to showcase how the strategic decisions of the consulting service can achieve the goals of a customer thanks to consultants.
If you believe creating a winning pitch deck is easy, think again–there are numerous factors to consider before showcasing your consulting proposal.
According to TechCrunch, the most common mistake in unsuccessful pitch decks is an excessive focus on the business mode while neglecting the competitive landscape. Additionally, research indicates that investors now spend 24% less time reviewing pitch decks, making it even more critical to perfect your approach.
So, let's examine three dos and three don'ts of consulting pitch decks that you should follow.
In my experience, creating an effective consulting pitch deck is both an art and a science. Besides following the key factors, dos and don'ts that I mentioned before, it's important to consider your consulting firm's value proposition, action plan, the client's problem, the visualization of data and concepts, the market analysis and more.
It's really more complex than you might believe, which gives us three clear options to create amazing consulting pitch decks:
Using AI tools to create consulting pitch decks has become an increasingly popular practice, thanks to the sophistication and efficiency that large language models can offer. I can name a few AI-driven tools, such as Slides.AI and StoryDocs, that significantly simplify the deck-building process.
However, although I personally support the use of AI for creating pitch decks and presentations, it's important to strike the right balance between AI and human-powered creativity.
That's why we at Superside offer our AI-Enhanced Creative Service, which combines the expertise of our pitch deck and presentation designers with the power of AI. This integration helps to reduce design times, generate more templates and more accurately capture the tone, voice and mission of your consulting firm like never before.
Your next consulting project needs to stand out. However, before you can impress your next client, you must first win over your investors.
Superside's presentation design services have successfully completed over 41,000 projects in recent years for different customers, including AEI Consulting, a firm focused on building, environmental, land and sustainability consulting. We designed pitch decks for them that significantly increased their deal-closing rate.
Our team of skilled pitch deck designers at Superside crafts designs that directly talk to your target audience, including clients and investors. This results in highly effective consulting pitch decks that are sure to secure wins.
The best part? A Superside subscription offers more than just pitch deck design. It includes branding, illustration design, email design, landing page creation and our innovative AI-enhanced creative services, which simplify the process of scaling and ensuring your brand stands out.
It's now time to take a look at some effective and practical consulting slides that have really delivered results. I'll show you examples from McKinsey, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC because they say that learning from the best is the best way to learn.
This McKinsey PPT example is great because of the kind of value it adds through data not easily found elsewhere. They highlight trends clearly, such as market size and social proof with cool and clear infographics.
This consulting slide deck is thoughtful because if you look at slides 30 - 33, it gives an actionable plan and recommendations for each unique stakeholder. This makes the messaging very personalized and it is more memorable because it appears at the end.
Although you wouldn’t expect a company’s anniversary to make for an example-worthy PowerPoint presentation, the way they have incorporated the human touch is a key takeaway from this consulting slide deck.
This consulting slide deck is amazing because of how it presents information as a list, making it easy for the audience to follow. The use of illustrations also helps the audience to grasp the content more effectively, since our brain processes images much faster than words.
This excellent PowerPoint presentation has already been viewed over 11,900 times, just four months after it was uploaded. Screenshots help existing and potential customers easily understand the KPMG system. This is a win-win strategy for any business because it is so scalable (multiple users can self-learn at their own pace and time) and cost efficient (reduces the need for chat support or account management).
Here is another great PowerPoint presentation, simply because of its natural storytelling tone, especially in the first half of the deck. Bullet points also keep it clear and interesting.
This presentation is pure gold in terms of investing in design. Each slide has been designed to make it consistently visually appealing. Extra effort shines through in presenting data via objects (such as cars on tracks) that is relevant to the industry (automobile).
Simple. Clean. Neat. This consulting slide deck is a delight to the eyes because of its clean white background. It prevents the readers from distractions to read the key points. Further, the use of icons helps effectively deliver the content that the speaker wants to provide.
This consulting slide deck makes the list for a simple reason: they included all their contacts and office locations on slide 15. You’d be surprised how many people miss including their particulars so that potential clients or partners can contact them easily.
Management consultant Deloitte provides another great PowerPoint presentation that directly interacts with the audience. Several times in the deck, they’ve asked the audience to take part, with polls. This ensures the audience stays tuned in during the entire presentation.
This consulting slide deck is better than many generic PowerPoint presentation examples because it highlights key takeaways about electronic health records and does not overload viewers with too much information. The important highlights on each slide are in bold.
Sneak previews -- they do not just work for movies, but for PowerPoint presentations as well. This presentation uses a smart technique to give an educational solution it is their target audience.
This consulting slide deck is another design and storytelling win. If you observe carefully, the content is presented to its audience as a journey from the start (slide 7) to the end (slide 21). The information is shown with an infographic, but focuses and explains each component, so that the reader can easily absorb the information.
This gem is another brilliant presentation example. Not only does it provide a step-by-step actionable recommendation (slides 15-18), but it gives a real case study afterwards. Many presentations supply data and recommendations without showing how they apply. Remember, success stories and testimonies boost your credibility.
Something fresh is always great. This consulting slide deck made our list because of the layout it uses on the left-hand side. Having a consistent, simple visual element (like a table of contents) helps engage the audience.
It is difficult to retain information from presentations. This consulting slide deck is a notable example because it gives the audience a summary (slide 19) to ensure that the important learning points are not forgotten.
Whether you are giving a sales presentation or simply sharing information, speak to your audience. This exceptional consulting deck asks questions of the audience that are creative and intelligently crafted. Check out slides 2, 3 and 7.
You don’t have to include everything. You can provide high-value additional content at the end of your presentation. Help your audience know what’s next.
This is a good PowerPoint presentation example because it uses the company’s template and has the logo on every slide. Although it sounds like a small detail, including your logo on every slide increases familiarity and brand affinity, especially if your company is new.
What we can learn from this consulting slide deck (slide 3) is to remember to introduce yourselves... especially if you are presenting to a new group of people! Providing your particulars also enable you to network easily afterwards and boost your professional connections.
Literary techniques can go beyond poems or plays. Use acronyms, alliteration, similes, and metaphors when presenting. In this PowerPoint presentation example, the speaker used 4Ds to help its audience remember the key points. Brilliant.
This pitch deck by EY addresses the complexities of managing employee mobility, focusing on the various considerations that both employers and employees must navigate. It covers essential topics such as risk management, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of mobility programs, compliance with legal requirements and the need for effective coordination and communication.
This pitch deck from EY presents a global outlook on the oil and gas market as we enter 2021 with a sense of cautious optimism regarding global health, the economy, and energy markets. The early approval and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the US and UK have injected hope, particularly highlighted by the swift development and reported efficacy exceeding 90%.
This consulting slide deck outlines the agenda and provides an overview for a webinar focused on the IBOR transition within the asset management industry. The webinar aims to discuss various aspects of the transition, including its current progress, the implications for asset managers and their products, insights from European central banking working groups, and how different firms are handling the migration process.
This EY pitch deck provides an analysis of global power and utilities deal activity in the second quarter of 2019, highlighting a substantial 44% increase in deal value from the first quarter, totaling $26.8 billion. The Americas emerged as the region with the highest deal value, contributing $13.1 billion. Financial investors played a pivotal role, predominantly targeting integrated utility assets for their stability.
Here is the secret from professional consultant presentations: there is no secret. Presentations succeed because they use the same basic rules, whether for a consulting giant or a one-person start-up.
Use these tips to take your presentation to the next level:
Your next consulting presentation could be designed by experts in the field who have created pitch deck templates for consulting firms. Eager to discover more?
Book a free demo and a call with Superside today and see how our presentation design services can elevate your pitch to the next level.
Meet Roger, a content marketer driven by his love for online search, digital marketing, and performance marketing. When he's not immersed in the latest updates on Google, AI and social media, you'll find him passionately crafting strategies to simplify online searches for people, sparing them the frustration of navigating through endless pages. As a marketer, Roger Match has turned into the perfect match for Superside, helping us showcase our purpose, objectives and essence to the world.