Stop Polishing Turds: Fix Your Message Before Your Visuals

Stop Polishing Turds: Fix Your Message Before Your Visuals
Photo by Stefan Cosma / Unsplash

Focus on your message first. The pretty stuff can come later.

When pitching an idea, it's tempting to jazz it up with fancy slides and cool effects. 

But here's the truth: if your core message isn't strong, a flashy design and killer animations won't save it.

Start by nailing down what you're doing. 

Can you explain your idea in a few simple sentences? 

If not, you need to work on it more. 

A clear, easy-to-understand message will change everything.

Think about your audience. 

What do they care about? \ How does your idea help them? What problems are you solving? \ Can you pull this off? 

Answer these questions first.

Practice telling your story without any visual aids. 

You're on the right track if you can get people excited just by talking. 

Then, when you do add visuals, they'll make a good pitch better.

Substance beats style every time

Get your message right, and the rest will follow.

  1. Nail in a single sentence about what you're doing
  2. Expand it to a pitch that lasts no more than three minutes ( ten slides max )
  3. Replace text in the presentation with images ( as make sense ) 
  4. Never. Ever. Ever. Read from the presentation deck. It's there to support
  5. Go forth and prosper

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