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Create the Perfect Team Pitch Deck Slide for Your Startup

Learn to craft an impeccable startup team slide to captivate investors: dodge pitfalls, enhance visuals, highlight strengths, and truly engage your audience.

Hadar Peretz

6 minute read

How to create a team slide
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Short answer

What is a Team Slide in a Pitch Deck?

A team slide in a pitch deck showcases the key members of a startup, highlighting their roles, expertise, and relevant accomplishments. It's crucial for building credibility and trust with potential investors or stakeholders.

Your Team Reflects You and Your Vision to Investors

When you present a startup to investors, every slide matters, but the team slide resonates on a deeper level.

It's not merely a listing of qualifications; it's a mirror reflecting your leadership, the company's direction, and the collective spirit driving the venture.

Think of it as a silent advocate, speaking volumes about your selection criteria, values, and foresight. Every background, accolade, and face on that slide carries a story, subtly hinting at the company's future trajectory.

Thus, for stakeholders, the team slide becomes more than just a who's who; it's a promising preview of what's to come.

7 Benefits of a Good Team Slide

  1. Builds Credibility: Demonstrating the experiences and accomplishments of your team members enhances the trustworthiness of your business proposal.

  2. Creates a Human Connection: Introducing your team allows investors to connect with the faces behind the venture, emphasizing that they're investing in people, not just ideas.

  3. Highlights Domain Expertise: It shows that your team possesses the skills and background required to execute the business plan successfully.

  4. Reinforces Commitment: Displaying key team members and their roles underlines the team's dedication to the venture.

  5. Boosts Confidence in Investors: A strong team composition assures stakeholders that capable professionals are leading the project, mitigating potential risks.

  6. Supports the Overall Narrative: Integrating the team slide appropriately in the pitch bolsters the narrative, strengthening the story of both the business idea and the capable team ready to enact it.

  7. Sets a Competitive Edge: Differentiating your startup in a saturated market can be challenging. A well-presented team slide emphasizes the unique blend of expertise and passion your team brings, giving you an advantage over competitors.

How to Build an Engaging Team Slide in 4 Steps

Crafting a compelling team slide involves a systematic approach. From its initial layout to its final presentation, each stage plays a pivotal role in ensuring the slide is informative, engaging, and aesthetically pleasing.

1) Define Your Team Slide's Essence

  • Inventory Essential Elements: List down all key components you want on the team slide such as member photos, roles, accomplishments, and any other special mentions.
  • Evaluate Significance and Authenticity: Ensure that the details about each team member are accurate, up-to-date, and pertinent to the pitch's objectives.

2) Set the Design Framework

  • Categorize Design Elements: Sort design elements based on importance, like primary member photos, secondary roles, and tertiary achievements.
  • Typography and Imagery Protocols: Define standards for font usage, image size, and style to maintain consistency. and consider browsing through Storydoc's team introduction slides for inspiration.

3) Position and Sequence for Impact

  • Integrate into Pitch Deck Flow: Decide where the team slide will fit best within your pitch deck for maximum impact. The placement of the team slide in a pitch deck depends on your startup's strengths:
    - Beginning: Lead the team if they have significant achievements, establishing immediate credibility.
    - Middle: After introducing the problem and solution, use the team slide to show who will execute the vision.
    - End: Position the team slide as a strong close, highlighting the team as the key to realizing the venture's potential.
  • Crafting the Team Slide Narrative: Ensure that the slide maintains a storytelling flow, from introducing the core members to showcasing their achievements.

4) Refine and Optimize

  • Iterative Design Refinement: Just like adding finishing touches to a painting, continuously adjust placements, colors, and typography till you get the desired look.
    Storydoc provides pitch deck templates to help guide your decision-making.
  • Feedback Integration: After internal reviews or dry runs, incorporate feedback for enhancement, ensuring clarity and appeal.

5 Key Elements You Should Highlight on Your Team Slide

Every team slide has the potential to be a captivating story that engages investors. Here are the four pivotal elements that can transform your team slide into a compelling narrative.

1) Relevant Experience and Skills

In the world of sports, it's record-breaking athletes like Usain Bolt who capture attention. Similarly, in the business realm:

  • Previous Startups: Detailing past ventures shows resilience and expertise.
  • Industry Accolades: Awards and recognitions highlight your team's excellence in their respective fields.

2) Track Record and Achievements

Musical legends like The Beatles weren’t built on talent alone; their track record set them apart:

  • Consistent Performance: Highlight the milestones your team has consistently achieved over the years.
  • Notable Achievements: Pinpoint landmark successes that display your team's capacity to excel.

3) Defined Roles and Contributions

Like in a well-coordinated basketball game, every player has a role:

  • Clear Role Definition: Specifying roles like CEO, CTO, or Marketing Head provides clarity about the team structure.
  • Unique Contributions: Shed light on what each member brings to the table, emphasizing their unique strengths.

4) Personal Stories and Backgrounds

Nature thrives on diversity, and so do teams:

  • Educational Background: Highlighting esteemed alma maters or unique training can add credibility.
  • Inspiring Journeys: Personal stories can humanize your team and make them memorable to investors, particularly when paired with team headshots.

5) Advisors and Partners Should Be Highlighted

Startups are not just about their core members. Including advisors and partners in a pitch deck magnifies credibility.

  • The Advisor Edge: Prominent advisors can elevate a startup's perceived value and trust, signaling potential success. Mention your investors, fractional COOs, and others.
  • Partnership Strengths: Strategic partnerships in a pitch deck underscore a startup's ability to collaborate effectively and navigate industry challenges.

What Common Mistakes Should You Avoid in Crafting Your Team Slide?

The team slide is a spotlight moment in your pitch deck, but it's also rife with pitfalls.

5 Mistakes to avoid while creating team slide:

  1. Overloading with Information: Think of a movie crammed with too many subplots. Focus on key personnel and omit minor accolades.

  2. Irrelevant Highlights: Just as a misplaced movie scene can jar viewers, it's essential to highlight only achievements relevant to your venture.

  3. Inconsistent Visual Presentation: In film, a sudden change in setting or tone can disorient viewers. For your team slide, it's crucial to maintain uniform image styles and quality for all team members and stick to consistent fonts and colors.

  4. Lack of Role Definition: It's like a movie where characters pop up without an introduction. Always define each member's role in the startup.

  5. Outdated Information: Remember, just like a movie sequel, it's important to acknowledge prior events. Keep the slide updated as team roles change or as new members join.

Team slide Design Templates

Storydoc's team slide templates offer interactive, easy-to-customize slides that effectively communicate plans to stakeholders.

These templates are versatile, covering various types of team slides, and are more engaging than traditional PowerPoint slides. A 14-day free trial lets you explore their full potential.

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Meet our team
Meet our team slide
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Team members
Team members slide
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Our team
Our team slide
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Employee introduction
Employee introduction slide
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Team introduction
Team introduction slide
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What Are the Best Tools to Craft the Perfect Team Slide Presentation?

The right tool can make the difference between a forgettable slide and one that captivates.

Top tools for team slide creation:

  1. PowerPoint: A classic in the presentation world. Its myriad of templates, design options, and customization capabilities make it a go-to for many.

  2. Google Slides: Cloud-based, accessible, and collaborative. Perfect for teams who are working remotely or need real-time edits.

  3. Canva: Beyond its vast range of social media templates, Canva offers presentation designs that are visually appealing and easy to customize.

  4. Prezi: If you’re looking for a dynamic, non-linear presentation style, Prezi offers zooming storyboards that can make your team slide more engaging.

  5. Storydoc: Turning traditional slides into engaging narratives, Storydoc can be a valuable tool to present your team's story in an interactive and modern way.

  6. Visme: A design tool with a focus on infographics, it’s perfect for those looking to incorporate charts or data visuals into their team slides.

  7. Slidebean: With AI-driven design, it allows for quick and beautiful presentations. Input your content, and let Slidebean handle the design.

  8. Adobe Spark: For those comfortable in the Adobe ecosystem, Spark provides design-centric templates and tools to create stunning slides.

Hadar Peretz

I am a Marketing Specialist at Storydoc, I research, analyze and write on our core topics of business presentations, sales, and fundraising. I love talking to clients about their successes and failures so I can get a rounded understanding of their world.

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