How to Make a Pitch Deck in Google Slides [A Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Jeremy, one of our clients, asked us a very straightforward question while we were working on his pitch deck:
“Can we just make it in Google Slides?”
Our Creative Director answered without hesitation:
“You can, but it’s not the smartest choice if you’re serious about pitching.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on dozens of pitch decks every year, and we’ve seen this question come up often. The common challenge is that most people assume all presentation tools are created equal. They aren’t.
So, in this blog, we’ll first explain why we don’t recommend making a pitch deck in Google Slides, and why we consider PowerPoint to be the superior option for high-stakes decks. But if you still prefer Google Slides for any reason, we’ll walk you through a clear guide on how to make a pitch deck in Google Slides that actually works.
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 We Don’t Recommend Making a Pitch Deck in Google Slides
Let’s be blunt. Google Slides is great for everyday team updates, school projects, or quick presentations where collaboration matters more than polish. But when it comes to a high-stakes pitch deck, it falls short.
A pitch deck is not just another presentation. It’s often the single most important communication tool you’ll use with investors, partners, or decision-makers. You don’t want to walk into that room with something that looks like it was made for a marketing stand-up meeting.
Here’s why we don’t recommend using Google Slides for your pitch deck:
1. Limited design flexibility
Google Slides gives you the basics. That’s fine for a simple deck, but when you need precision in design, layouts, or animation, it feels restrictive. PowerPoint offers far more control over typography, object alignment, custom graphics, and slide transitions. Those details are what make a deck look sharp instead of generic.
2. Offline reliability matters
Pitch meetings don’t always happen with stable Wi-Fi. With Google Slides, you’re relying on the cloud unless you pre-download. PowerPoint doesn’t make you sweat about connectivity. It runs smoothly offline, which means one less variable to worry about when you’re in front of investors.
3. Advanced features you actually need
Serious pitch decks often need more than text and images. Think interactive charts, embedded videos, smart animations that guide attention, or even custom branding features. PowerPoint is built for that level of sophistication. Google Slides simply isn’t.
4. Investor expectations
This one’s overlooked. Many investors are used to receiving decks in PowerPoint or PDF. Sending them a Google Slides link sometimes feels less polished or even insecure. The format you choose subtly signals how prepared and professional you are.
5. Visual impact makes or breaks you
At the end of the day, your pitch deck is about persuasion. The sharper your visuals, the stronger your story lands. PowerPoint has decades of refinement behind it to help you create decks that don’t just look professional but feel professional.
In our experience, the clients who insist on building their pitch deck in Google Slides usually end up compromising on quality. They either spend endless hours trying to make the design look good or they present something that feels “fine” but not exceptional. And in a pitch meeting, “fine” rarely wins.
But If You Still Prefer Google Slides…
That said, we get it. Sometimes Google Slides is the practical choice. Maybe your whole team already works in Google Workspace. Maybe you need live collaboration across time zones. Or maybe you just feel more comfortable in Slides than in PowerPoint.
If that’s you, then the answer isn’t to throw your hands up and accept a mediocre deck. You can still create a strong pitch deck in Google Slides — it just requires more discipline and a sharper focus on the fundamentals.
So, let’s walk through how to make a pitch deck in Google Slides the right way, step by step.
How to Make a Pitch Deck in Google Slides
If you’ve decided to go ahead with Google Slides, you’ll need to approach it with a lot more structure than you would with PowerPoint. Slides will not save you with fancy design tools or advanced features. What will save you is a clear story, disciplined design, and smart use of the features that Google Slides does offer.
Here’s how to make a pitch deck in Google Slides that doesn’t look like it was rushed out the night before.
Step 1: Nail the Story Before Touching Slides
Too many founders open Google Slides and immediately start typing. That’s the fastest way to end up with a weak deck. You need to nail your story first.
Your story should flow like this:
The problem – What’s broken in the world?
The solution – How do you fix it?
The market – How big is the opportunity?
The traction – What proof do you have?
The team – Why are you the ones to win?
The ask – What do you want from investors?
Think of this as your script. Google Slides is just the stage. Without a script, your slides are nothing but random visuals.
Step 2: Use Master Slides to Lock in Consistency
Google Slides has a feature most people ignore: Master Slides. This is where you set up your fonts, colors, and layouts once so you don’t have to fiddle with every single slide later.
Investors don’t care about design details, but they notice when your deck looks sloppy. If one slide has Arial and another has Roboto, if your colors shift randomly, or if your logo keeps jumping around, it screams unprofessional.
Using Master Slides is how you avoid that. Set your brand colors, pick two fonts, and define layouts for title slides, content slides, and image-heavy slides. This gives your deck a polished feel without you having to micromanage every slide.
Step 3: Keep Slides Ruthlessly Simple
One idea per slide. That’s the rule.
Here’s the mistake we see constantly: people cram their entire business plan onto a single slide. They think investors will read it. They won’t. They’ll either tune out or ask you to explain it anyway, which means the clutter only hurt you.
Google Slides is not forgiving when you overload it. Fonts shrink, spacing breaks, and suddenly your deck looks chaotic. So follow this principle: if a slide takes more than five seconds to understand, cut it down.
Practical ways to simplify:
Replace text with icons or visuals where possible.
Use bullet points, not paragraphs.
Keep charts stripped to their essential data point.
Clarity is your best design tool in Google Slides.
Step 4: Build the Core Slides
Let’s break down the six critical slides every pitch deck needs, and how to make them work in Google Slides.
1. The Problem Slide
Make it human. Don’t say “The B2B SaaS market is inefficient.” Say “Most businesses waste 20% of their software budget on tools employees don’t even use.” Use a short, sharp headline and one strong stat or visual.
2. The Solution Slide
Show your product, but don’t dump every feature. A clean mockup or screenshot with three key benefits works better than a wall of text. If you have a demo video, embed it directly in Google Slides.
3. The Market Slide
Keep it real. Avoid inflated “trillion-dollar industry” claims. Instead, show TAM, SAM, SOM with a clean chart. Google Slides lets you link charts directly from Sheets, so your numbers update automatically if they change.
4. The Traction Slide
This is proof you’re not just another idea. Revenue growth, partnerships, customer adoption — whatever progress you’ve made, show it visually. A simple upward trend line often says more than five text slides.
5. The Team Slide
Investors back people, not just products. Add headshots, short bios, and one line about why each person matters. Keep it tight — don’t add your entire org chart.
6. The Ask Slide
Be specific. Don’t just say “We’re raising funding.” Say “We’re raising $2M to scale product development and expand sales. This will get us to 10,000 paying users in 18 months.” Clarity inspires confidence.
Step 5: Use Collaboration Wisely
Google Slides’ biggest strength is collaboration. You can work with your co-founders, designers, and advisors in real time. But that also means you can end up with chaos if everyone edits freely.
Here’s how to keep collaboration under control:
Assign roles. One person owns content, one owns design, one reviews.
Use comments instead of editing directly when giving feedback.
Keep a “final draft” version locked so last-minute edits don’t wreck your flow.
Collaboration is an asset only if it’s structured. Otherwise, your deck becomes a group project gone wrong.
Step 6: Don’t Overuse Animations
Google Slides has basic animation tools, but they’re easy to abuse. A pitch deck is not a magic show. Investors don’t want text flying in from the left or charts spinning onto the screen. It looks gimmicky and distracts from your story.
If you use animations at all, keep them subtle and purposeful:
Fade in bullet points one at a time to control pacing.
Highlight key numbers with a simple appear effect.
That’s it. Anything more is overkill.
Step 7: Always Export to PDF
Here’s a critical tip: never send your pitch deck as a Google Slides link unless you absolutely have to. Export it to PDF before sharing.
Why? Because a Google Slides link looks casual, like you just whipped up a deck on the fly. A PDF feels final and professional. It also guarantees your formatting won’t break if someone views it on a different device.
Use Google Slides for building and rehearsing. Use PDF for delivering.
Step 8: Tailor Versions for Different Audiences
Not every investor or stakeholder needs the same level of detail. Some want to dive into financials. Others care more about your vision.
Google Slides makes it easy to duplicate and tweak versions of your deck. Use that flexibility. Create a “short deck” for email sends (10 slides max) and a “long deck” for live presentations (12–15 slides).
By tailoring, you respect your audience’s time and maximize your odds of being heard.
Step 9: Rehearse Like It’s a Performance
A pitch deck is not meant to stand alone. It’s meant to be presented. That means you need to rehearse your delivery until the slides feel like a natural extension of your pitch, not a crutch.
Open your deck in Google Slides and practice talking through it. Time yourself. Refine your phrasing. Anticipate questions. Your confidence in delivery often matters more than the exact slide design.
Step 10: Keep Iterating After Every Pitch
Your first version won’t be perfect. And that’s okay. After every meeting, note which slides landed and which caused confusion. Then refine.
The advantage of using Google Slides is that iteration is easy. You can quickly duplicate, tweak, and test new versions until your deck becomes sharp enough to consistently win attention.
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.