Pitch Deck Do’s and Don’ts [Common Mistakes and Best Practices]

Our client Harriet asked us an interesting question while we were crafting her pitch deck:

“How do I know if I’m saying too much or not enough?”

Our Creative Director answered without blinking:

“When your audience starts reading their phones, you’ve already said too much.”

As a presentation design agency, we work on hundreds of pitch decks throughout the year. And in the process, we’ve noticed one recurring challenge: people often try to cram every single detail of their business into 10 slides. As if their audience has the attention span of a Buddhist monk and the curiosity of a forensic detective.

So, in this blog, we’ll talk about the pitch deck do’s and don’ts, the common mistakes we see all the time, and the best practices that actually work when the goal is to get someone to care about your business.

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 Pitch Deck Do’s and Don’ts Actually Matter

Let’s cut through the noise. A pitch deck isn’t a brochure. It’s not a dumping ground for every feature, stat, or founder thought that’s ever crossed your mind. It’s a conversation starter. One that either opens doors — or closes them fast.

We’ve been in the room when things go right. We’ve also been in the room when things go painfully wrong. And almost every time a pitch flops, it’s not because the business is weak. It’s because the deck made it hard to care.

That’s the tricky part no one tells you. Investors don’t read decks. They scan. They skim. They’re looking for reasons to pass. If your story isn’t clear by slide 3, they’re mentally somewhere else — checking emails, booking lunch, moving on.

This is where pitch deck do’s and don’ts actually matter. They’re not fluff. They’re guardrails. A set of invisible rules that separate the decks that land follow-up meetings from the ones that get politely forgotten.

So no, this blog isn’t going to be about generic advice. It’s built on what we’ve actually seen work — and what we’ve watched crash and burn. If you’re raising money, selling an idea, or even just trying to get your team aligned, the stakes are high enough to get this right.

The Real Do’s and Don’ts of a Pitch Deck (From People Who’ve Seen It All)

We’re not theorizing here. We’re speaking from experience — from decks that secured seed rounds in under 30 minutes to others that died a slow death in the inbox. These pitch deck do’s and don’ts are based on real outcomes, not generic templates or advice recycled on LinkedIn.

Let’s start with the Do’s — the things we’ve seen make a difference in real rooms with real money on the table.

DO: Start with the “why now”

Everyone’s got a “what.” Fewer can explain “why now.”Timing is underrated in pitch decks. But let’s get real — no one wants to fund an idea that sounds like it should’ve launched in 2017. Investors want a sense of urgency. They want to know what changed in the world that makes your idea relevant today.

Is there a shift in consumer behavior? A regulatory change? A tech advancement? Put that front and center. Make it impossible to ignore. If you can’t justify timing, the rest of the deck becomes noise.

DO: Make the problem stupidly clear

Here’s what happens when you try to sound smart in your pitch deck — people stop listening.

You’ve got one shot to frame the problem. Don’t write a paragraph. Don’t show a market map that needs a PhD to understand. Just say the thing. And say it like you’d explain it to someone at a bar.

One of our clients once nailed it with a single line:“Booking a warehouse today is like booking a hotel room in 1995.”That’s it. That’s the problem. Everyone in the room nodded. You could feel the clarity land.

The best problem slides are the ones that don’t make people think twice. Don’t try to impress. Try to be understood.

DO: Show what makes you different (without begging for attention)

Here’s a reality check: No one’s unique just because they say they are.

Founders love throwing words like “first-ever,” “only,” and “disruptive” all over their slides. The problem is, most investors have seen 12 other “first-ever” solutions that sound pretty similar. So saying it means nothing unless you show it.

Use visuals. Show a competitor grid that makes it clear you’re solving the same problem in a smarter way. Or walk the reader through the current workflow vs. your way. If your advantage is tech, show a feature that others can’t replicate. If it’s business model, make the economics obvious.

You’re not trying to win a debate. You’re trying to show contrast.

DO: Get to traction early — even if it’s scrappy

You don’t need hockey stick growth to impress people. But you do need something. A beta launch. A waitlist. An early pilot. A quote from a real customer who used your product and never looked back.

One of our clients had zero revenue — but had cold-emailed 400 companies and got 50 qualified leads. We turned that into a traction slide that screamed momentum. That helped them close their first round.

Traction doesn’t have to mean revenue. It has to mean movement. That’s what matters.

DO: Tell a story, not just facts

A deck full of facts is not a pitch. It’s a white paper.

What people remember are stories — real ones. A founder who faced the problem herself. A customer who found relief through your product. A turning point that changed everything.

Slides are just visual cues. The real persuasion happens in the story you wrap around them. Every number, every chart, every quote — it should feel like it’s part of a bigger arc, not just tossed in for credibility.

We once helped a client reposition a pitch from “Here’s our AI software” to “Here’s how a frontline manager with zero data skills saved 12 hours a week using our tool.” That story got them into rooms the original deck never did.

Now let’s talk about the Don’ts — and trust us, we’ve seen them all.

DON’T: Overexplain everything

If your deck looks like a novel, you’re doing it wrong.

Founders often assume that if they just explain enough, people will finally get it. But that’s not how attention works. If someone can’t understand your slide in 5 seconds, it’s not insightful. It’s confusing.

You don’t need to include every customer insight, every feature detail, every data point from your research. Focus on what matters most at this stage. Everything else is for follow-ups.

Less really is more. Leave room for questions — that’s where interest starts.

DON’T: Use generic TAM slides

You know the ones. “The global [industry] market is $300 billion and growing.” That’s not useful.

That’s Google.

What matters is your actual addressable market — the people you can reach with the product you’ve built today. Investors don’t fund “eventually.” They fund “realistic now.”

Be specific. Narrow it down. Show you’ve done the math. A clear niche is way more believable than a vague landgrab.

DON’T: Stack buzzwords

This one’s painful to read. “We are an AI-powered, blockchain-enabled, Web3 platform disrupting the creator economy and democratizing data for Gen Z communities.”

What does that even mean?

We get it — you want to sound current. But buzzwords don’t build trust. Clarity does. If you have to use a buzzword, earn it. Explain it. Show what it looks like in real use. Otherwise, it sounds like noise, and your credibility drops with every slide.

DON’T: Skip the team slide (or treat it like filler)

Investors don’t just fund ideas. They fund people.

A team slide isn’t about listing resumes. It’s about showing that the people behind this thing actually know what they’re doing. Highlight relevant experience. Connect the dots. Why this team, for this market, right now?

If no one has domain expertise, say how you’re solving for that. If you’ve worked together before, make that clear. The team slide should never feel like an afterthought.

DON’T: End with a limp CTA

You’ve walked them through the problem. The product. The traction. The opportunity. And then you end with “Thank you.”

Why?

Close like you mean it. Ask for what you want. Be specific. “We’re raising $1.5M to expand our go-to-market team and onboard 10 pilot customers in Q3.” That’s better. That’s clear. That tells people how to move forward.

A vague ending signals a vague founder. And vague founders don’t get funded.

DON’T: Assume the deck will do the job for you

This might be the biggest trap of all.

Your pitch deck is not your salesperson. It’s the door opener. It’s the thing that earns you a conversation — not the thing that closes the deal.

Don’t obsess over making it perfect. Obsess over making it clear, sharp, and memorable. The goal isn’t to answer every question. The goal is to make people want to ask more.

If you’re hoping your slides will carry the whole pitch, you’re already outsourcing your own conviction.

That’s the real list. These pitch deck do’s and don’ts are the result of seeing what actually gets attention in real funding conversations — not what gets clicks on a content site.

We’re not saying there’s one perfect formula. But we are saying there’s a consistent pattern in what works. Cut the fluff. Make the story clear. Be bold without being loud. And respect the fact that your audience doesn’t owe you their time — you have to earn it, slide by slide.

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