10 Pitch Deck Design Tips [You must know]

Our client Ben asked us an interesting question while we were building his pitch deck:

“What makes a pitch deck look like it knows what it’s doing?”

Our Creative Director answered without skipping a beat:

“It should feel like it knows where it’s going, and why every slide exists.”

As a presentation design agency, we work on dozens of pitch decks throughout the year. And if there’s one challenge that shows up across all of them, regardless of industry or funding stage, it’s this: most decks are bloated with fluff and starving for clarity.

So, in this blog, we’ll share 10 pitch deck design tips that fix that problem from the ground up. Practical, visual, and focused on making you look like you actually deserve the room’s attention.

In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.

Why your Pitch Deck's Design Matters

You could have the greatest business idea in the world, and still not get past slide five if your deck looks like a clumsy college project.

Investors aren’t just judging your business. They’re judging your clarity, your taste, and your ability to communicate under pressure. Design isn’t decoration. It’s signal. And in a pitch deck, signal is everything.

A clean, well-designed deck tells the room you’re serious. It says you’ve done the work. You’ve trimmed the fat. You respect their time. On the other hand, messy slides full of scattered text, awkward charts, and inconsistent fonts scream one thing: “We’re not ready.”

And here’s the kicker—most investors won’t give you the benefit of the doubt. They’re seeing 30 decks a week. If yours doesn’t look promising at a glance, you’re already in the maybe pile.

This isn’t about being pretty. It’s about being clear. It's about making sure the message lands before the audience has time to zone out.

Design isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s part of your credibility.

10 Pitch Deck Design Tips [You must know]

If you want your deck to hold attention, spark curiosity, and build credibility slide after slide, design can’t be treated as an afterthought. Below are 10 pitch deck design tips we’ve seen transform weak decks into ones that actually get taken seriously.

These aren’t theoretical. They’re battle-tested, and brutally honest.

1. Design your narrative before you design your slides

Most decks go wrong before the first pixel is placed. Founders jump into PowerPoint or Google Slides trying to design the deck without figuring out what story they’re telling. That’s like decorating a house you haven’t built yet.

Before you design, outline your flow. Nail your big idea. Figure out how every slide supports the story you’re telling. Only once you’re clear on what you’re saying, should you start worrying about how it looks.

We do this with a storyboard—just like in film. No visuals, no design, just structure. It keeps us honest and makes sure every slide earns its spot.

2. Make your first slide impossible to ignore

Most first slides are a waste of space. A logo, a tagline, and a yawning investor. You have 10 seconds to make someone lean in or lean back.

Your first slide should say something that makes them want to know more. It could be a sharp one-liner, a big stat, or a clear positioning statement. Whatever it is, it shouldn’t look or feel like an afterthought.

Think of it like a handshake. Firm, confident, no fluff.

3. Say one thing per slide. One.

If your slide is trying to make three points, it’s making none. One idea per slide forces clarity. It helps the audience focus, helps the presenter speak better, and helps your visuals actually support the message instead of fighting with it.

This is the most common design crime we see. People try to say everything everywhere all at once, and end up overwhelming instead of informing.

Choose one headline message. Then back it up with data, visuals, or explanation—not another headline message.

4. Ditch bullet points and make your layout work harder

Bullet points are lazy. There, we said it.

They’re a default, not a design decision. They make every slide look the same, and they kill any chance you have of building a rhythm or visual interest.

Use grids, columns, icons, highlight boxes—anything that breaks monotony. If you’ve got 3 points to make, don’t shove them into a bulleted list. Give each one space. Maybe even its own slide.

Let the layout do some thinking. Visual hierarchy is half the job of good design.

5. Contrast is your best friend

If everything is bold, nothing is. If everything is colorful, nothing stands out. Contrast tells the brain what to look at first. It’s the secret behind slides that feel easy to read.

Make your headlines bigger. Keep your body text lighter. Use background color shifts to separate sections. And always, always make sure your callouts or metrics pop against the rest.

Most beginner decks fail on contrast. Everything’s the same size, same weight, same tone. It’s visual monotony—and it makes your audience work harder than they should.

6. Respect white space like your life depends on it

Empty space is not wasted space. It’s breathing room.

Cramming every corner of the slide because “we need to show everything” only shows one thing: you’re afraid to edit. Great decks give the content room to speak. They feel open, digestible, calm.

You know a slide is working when it doesn’t feel like it’s shouting at you.

If your slide looks too crowded, it probably is. Give it space. Let the viewer absorb the message without visual panic.

7. Use visuals with a point—not just for decoration

Stock photos of people shaking hands? Charts with no labels? Generic icons pulled from the internet?

Hard pass.

Every visual in your deck should either clarify something, prove something, or simplify something. If it doesn’t do one of those three, delete it.

A photo is useful if it humanizes your story. A diagram is helpful if it simplifies a complex process. A product mockup adds value if it shows what words can’t. But random illustrations just burn credibility.

Be ruthless with visuals. The best decks are the ones where every single asset feels like it belongs.

8. Maintain consistency like a brand, not a template

Templates are useful. But blindly following them makes your deck look like a thousand others. Investors can tell when you’ve used a plug-and-play theme.

Instead, think in systems. Make your own rules and stick to them. Font styles, color usage, image treatments, alignment, icon style—these things should feel intentional.

If you use dark backgrounds, commit. If you use yellow to highlight key phrases, don’t suddenly switch to red. Consistency builds trust. It tells the reader: this deck was built by people who care.

You don’t need to be a designer to do this well. You just need to stop cutting corners.

9. Show your numbers like they matter

Nothing kills momentum like a financial slide that looks like a screenshot from Excel. Your numbers matter. Show them like they do.

Use simple charts. Highlight key metrics. Give context. Use callouts for big takeaways. Avoid visual clutter. And for the love of clarity, make sure your axis labels and legends are readable.

Your financials should look as sharp as your product screenshots. Investors don’t just read them—they judge you based on how confidently you present them.

Don’t just show the numbers. Tell the story behind them.

10. End strong, don’t just stop

The last slide of your deck is your parting shot. It should leave a mark. Most people end with a “Thank You” and some contact info in size 12 font.

You can do better.

Wrap your story with a key insight, a final call to action, a reminder of your vision, or a confident funding ask. Make it feel like the end of a great film—where the credits roll but the impact lingers.

Design-wise, go bold. Let the message breathe. This is the last impression you’ll make. Treat it like it matters.

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Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?

If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.

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