what is the meaning of canned presentation

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Canned Presentation - Meaning & Definition

What is canned presentation.

Canned presentation is a type of a detailed and structured presentation where the contents are presented in a systematic and well planned manner. As compared to personalized presentation where there is a room for improvisation and spontaneity there is less scope of changes as all necessary information regarding the product are already included.

This type of presentation becomes useful when the same presentation has to be repeated multiple number of times. Minor changes can be made depending on target audience whenever possible in future. This rigidity also proves to be useful to presenters who feel nervous and might forget key points that need to be presented to prospective clients.

There are few key points to be kept in mind while preparing a canned presentation. The first one is the objective of the presentation. The objective of the presentation should be clearly articulated. The next most important point is the prioritization based on time constraint. The crucial information should be presented based on prioritization. Next necessary task is to do a research on the target audience to understand their underlying expectations and beliefs and make it relevant and effective for the people viewing it. Finally a canned presentation should not use too many high tech tools because the same presentation might be needed to address different audience and the high tech equipment may not be always available. Hence it is always advisable to focus on message

Generally Sales presentation to retailers who may not be always educated to catch up with the little content, so presentation should be self explanatory. Classroom presentations prepared by faculty members, since the lecture materials will relate into some assignments or class exercises. New employee orientation presentation gives them a detailed and structured method to understand the company’s policies and procedures.

Hence, this concludes the definition of Canned Presentation along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team . It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.

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Canned presentation

A canned presentation is one which presents information in a systematic and well-planned manner. Since all necessary information about the company and product are already included, there is not as much room for improvisation and spontaneity as in a personalized presentation.

As rigid as they may seem, canned presentations may come in handy if the presentation is something that will have to be repeated several times. It is possible that minor changes will be made, depending on the audience, or if updates need to be made in the future. They can also be useful for people who may feel nervous and run the risk of forgetting key points that need to be presented to prospective clients.

The first thing to consider when creating a canned presentation is the objective. Another important factor is the time allotted for the presentation. If the presenter is given a very short time for his spiel, it is crucial that all essential information be prioritized. Another necessary task is research on the people inside the audience.

To make any presentation effective, it is necessary to make it as relevant as possible to the people who will be viewing and listening to it. Canned presentations may be rigid in a sense, but presenters can make slight adjustments to make them more appropriate or well-accepted by different audiences.

Although technology can be useful, it is not necessary to make use of too many high-tech tools when creating canned presentations. After all, if this is something that will be presented again to another audience, the equipment might not always be available. In this case, it is best to focus on the message.

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canned presentation

Quick reference.

A prepared and tested sales or advertising campaign demonstration that is committed to memory and used consistently for all prospects.

From:   canned presentation   in  A Dictionary of Marketing »

Subjects: Social sciences — Business and Management

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What is canned sales presentation and its advantages?

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Personalized vs. Canned Video: What to Use & When During the Sales Process [Film School for Marketers Podcast, Ep. 7]

Video is such a crucial tool to use in the sales process.

It adds a whole new level of engagement and trust during the process that plain email just can’t do. As a salesperson, you might be wondering when to use personalized videos vs. pre-made canned videos.

In this episode of Film School for Marketers, we talk about the differences of both, when to use them, and wherein the sales process they’ll be the most effective.

Listen to the full episode here (or scroll down to watch the video):

What is personalized video and what is a canned video?

Personalized video is a video that you’re one time for one person. It’s a message that is personalized to the recipient.

Whereas a canned video is very similar to a canned email template. It’s something that can be used time and time again for a similar audience. Typically the messaging is a bit more general and doesn’t call out the recipients specific name or information.

What type of video should you use for managing inbound leads?

If you are a company that has a large number of inbound leads coming through each day, and your sales team struggles to get back to people quick enough you should consider using a canned video. Reason being, the amount of time it takes to get back to someone is most important and you want to ensure the experience is quick and that you can include a personable element like video.

If you are a company that has a manageable amount of leads coming through each day we recommend you do personalized videos. Personalized videos are always the first option you should go with if you have the time as people will appreciate them even more.

It’s not to say someone won’t appreciate your canned video. In fact, we talk about how you can make a canned video feel personalized with the way you approach your messaging.

Meeting Follow-Ups

We talk about the importance of using personalized video for meeting follow-ups and not canned video. How it can ultimately save sales teams time from having to write out long recap emails. We also talk about how video follow-ups can be a powerful tool for prospects to share with their team cutting down on additional meetings with other people involved and getting a consistent message across to everyone.

Stalled Opportunities

You can use your best judgement on what will work best for your sales process - but it comes down to how your team deals with stalled opportunities. We talk about how you can use both, and how you can setup automation with video to send out if an opportunity goes cold after a certain amount of days.

SOW’s + RFPs

You should always use personalized video for your SOW’s and RFP’s, never canned. We talk about why, and how to best use personalized videos during this stage in the sales process.  

Introductions

We talk about the importance of using video during transitions whether that be in the sales process or in a hand-off post-sale. These are videos that do not need to be personalized and that you can be as effective with when canned. We talk about how this makes a big difference in building trust and ensuring no hiccups occur when introductions to new people on the team happen.

Learn about how I manage our inbound leads here at IMPACT.

We’d Love To Hear From You!

First, subscribe to our Film School For Marketers Podcast.

Second, leave us a review on iTunes or share the love with fellow marketers and sales professionals who could benefit from our content.

Lastly, have a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know!

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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Canned Training Content: When To Use It, When Not To

If you’ve been searching for a solid employee training and development program lately, you may have come across offers for off-the-shelf, or canned, training content. And you may be wondering if it’s better to invest in a prepackaged course or to create a new one from scratch. After all, creating custom material seems time-consuming and could get expensive. Canned content makes it easy to quickly check the “get all employees trained” box on your to-do list. But how do you know it’ll be worth the investment?

In the right scenario, canned content is a great option for companies needing to fulfill their employee training requirements. In this article, we’ll explore the scenarios in which canned content can benefit employee training and development — and those in which it’s best to create custom training content instead.

Generally speaking, people really do care about their own professional learning and development. 93% of employees believe that well-planned training positively affects their development; another 60% of workers spearheaded their own upskilling endeavors in 2020. 

Clearly, employers can do a better job of providing their employees with more robust training resources. Ineffective training leads to disengaged employees, low performance, and higher turnover rates to boot. Your employees want engaging training content that motivates, inspires, and adds true value to their professional lives. Give it to them and they might even brag about your excellent training materials to their friends.

Here’s how to do it:

Canned Content: When To Use It

Ultimately, canned training content comes in handy when you’re facing significant time or budgetary constraints, or if you don’t have the resources to create your own. Here are some examples of those scenarios:

1. You work in a highly-regulated industry.

Certain industries face heavy scrutiny under government regulations. Bank employees, for example, must undergo ​​training under the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program. In cases like this, canned programs tailored to the industry fare pretty well. It’s risky to give only custom-made training content to employees in highly-regulated industries; you don’t want to miss including critical information that would later lead to facing regulatory consequences. Opt for canned training that’s specifically geared towards getting regulatory requirements met.

2. You need to cover a broad, general range of topics.

Bespoke training programs work wonders for employees learning niche topics. But if you’re looking to provide your employees with general, baseline knowledge, like “professional communication” or “how to use Adobe Illustrator,” canned content might just be your best bet. It’ll save you time and resources that can be spent on creating more detailed, custom training programs for specialist topics. If necessary, you can also fill in the gaps with custom content to better tailor the material to your company and employees.

3. You’re on a budget.

Canned courses tend to be less expensive than creating custom content. Creating custom content, on the other hand, requires significant monetary investment: you’ll need to outsource professionals (like designers, writers, and HR consultants) to make sure the content stays relevant and engaging.

4. You’re in a time crunch to get your employees trained.

Creating a bespoke training course is time-consuming work. When you’re in a pinch, canned training content can ensure your employees get their training bases covered.

When Not To Use Canned Content

Canned content, however useful, won’t always meet your employee training and development needs. If you feel like your employees need more than just a basic crash course, partnering with an agency to create custom training content might just be a better option.

Here’s when you should opt for custom content instead of canned:

1. You need to fill very specific knowledge gaps in your company.

As mentioned, canned content works wonderfully for educating employees on broad topics. But if you’re looking to dive deeper into specifics, you may want to opt for custom content instead. Canned content can’t educate employees on your company’s specific processes, policies, and culture, for example. It also won’t give employees insight into how they can succeed in their specific roles.

2. Your employees are already showing signs of disengagement.

Customized content is the way to go if you’re noticing low levels of employee engagement. Tailoring content exclusively to your employees’ roles will not only make the content more interesting to them; it will also show them that you’re highly invested in their success.

Employees who are provided with well-planned training and development resources are 15% more likely to say they are engaged at work. And, as we’ve mentioned before, higher levels of engagement equal a stronger company culture and better performance overall. 

Other ways to keep those engagement numbers up? Incentivize and reward your employees to complete their training. You can offer gift cards, lunches, or other small rewards to motivate your employees to engage in training.

3. Your employees demonstrate various learning preferences .

Some of your employees might be absolutely content learning from canned training material. Others, however, might perform better with training content that aligns with their learning preferences.

An employee’s learning preference (or style) will dictate how they best process and retain information. People tend to fall into one or more of four categories: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic learners. A visual learner, for example, will thrive with visually stimulating material, like well-designed infographics or videos. Auditory learners prefer listening to the material, whereas reading and writing learners fare best by reading text and taking notes. Kinesthetic learners like to get as much hands-on experience and learn by doing.

Canned training content usually won’t cater to the needs of every learning style. Survey your employees and ask them how they best enjoy learning — and if possible, create content that resonates with their preferences.

4. Your employees are hungry for more training resources.

Once a canned training course is over, it’s over. Custom content, on the other hand, can always be refreshed and added to so your employees have on-demand resources available at their fingertips. 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management , companies that make an effort to offer training and development opportunities to existing employees, not just new hires, is the most effective recruiting strategy for hard-to-fill positions in organizations. Employees want to learn and grow within their organizations; they just need to be provided the resources to do so.

5. You have the time and/or budget to create custom training content

This goes without saying — if you have the resources to create bespoke training content for your employees, it’s absolutely recommended. (More on why below!)

The Case For Custom Training Content

Now that we’ve compared the benefits of canned and custom training side-by-side, let’s conduct a small analysis. You’ve probably already come to this conclusion yourself, but it’s worth noting again: leveraging custom training content is almost always the preferred method to train employees.

Personalized training goes a long way and offers benefits that canned content inherently can’t. Some of its key differentiators are:

• It helps out employees with different learning preferences, ultimately increasing the ROI of your training program and showing your employees you’re invested in their professional success.
• It can be tailored to their specific roles, which equips them with specialized knowledge that’s vital to their employee functions.
• You have control over the length of the lessons. Ever seen how peoples’ eyes glaze over after hitting the three minute mark on a video? Your employees will tune out if they’re given training content that’s too long or dense. Creating custom training material means you can keep the lessons short and sweet.
• You have control over how visually appealing the content is. You’ll want to ensure you’re providing employees with well-designed, logically-structured content to keep them engaged.

Comparison Chart

Final words.

In certain scenarios, canned training content serves as an incredibly useful resource. For general training purposes — or when you’re in a budgetary or time crunch — canned content is the way to go. But whenever possible, opting for custom training material can be the key to keeping employees engaged. Your training content doesn’t need to be strictly one or the other, however. Employing a blend of canned and custom training content where it makes most sense is also a good option, especially if you need to cover lots of ground. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to determine what kind of content your employees will fare best with. Whether that means using canned, custom, or a mix of both, tailoring the content to your company’s specific context will ultimately increase your training program’s ROI.

Cecilia Seiter is a content marketer, copywriter, and author at Alloy. She is passionate about the creation of meaningful, fulfilling, and sustainable work cultures.

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Presentation

• Written By Gregg Rosenzweig
• Updated: June 4, 2024

We’re here to help you choose the most appropriate content types to fulfill your content strategy. In this series, we’re breaking down the most popular content types to their basic fundamentals so you can start with a solid foundation — simple definitions, clarity on formats, and plenty of examples.

What is a Presentation?

A communication device that relays a topic to an audience in the form of a slide show, demonstration, lecture, or speech, where words and pictures complement each other.

Why should you think of presentations as content?

The beauty of content creation is that almost anything can become a compelling piece of content . It just depends on the creativity used to convert it and the story that brings it to life.

The long and short of it

Although the length of a presentation in terms of time can depend on the overall approach (Are you talking a lot? Are you referring to the screen in detail or not?), consider the number of informational content slides when tallying the overall presentation length. For instance, don’t include title slides in your tally when conveying length to a content creator.

A general guide to presentation length:

• Short Form (5 content slides)
• Standard Form (10 content slides)
• Long Form (20+ content slides)

Popular use cases for presentations…

Let’s consider TED Talks for a minute: one of the best examples (bar none) of how words, pictures, and a narrative can make people care about something they otherwise might not.

These “talks” pre-date podcasts and blend a compelling use of language and imagery in presentation format to spread ideas in unique ways.

TED Talks have been viewed a billion-plus times worldwide (and counting) and are worth considering when it comes to how you might use video-presentation content to connect with your customers in creative, cool, new ways.

Business types:

Any company that has a pitch deck, executive summary, sales presentation, or any kind of internal document can repurpose them into external-facing content pieces — without pain.

Presentation Examples – Short Form

Here are some short-form examples with curated to help inspire you.

Presentation Examples – Standard Form

Presentation Examples – Long Form

Understanding Content Quality in Examples

Our team has rated content type examples in three degrees of quality ( Good, Better, Best ) to help you better gauge resources needed for your content plan.

In general, the degrees of content quality correspond to our three content levels ( General, Qualified, Expert ) based on the criteria below. Remember though, multiple variables determine the cost, completion time, or content level for any content piece with a perceived degree of quality.

How to Get Exceptional Content That Elevates

If you want to impress your clients, co-workers, or leadership team with your next presentation or product demonstration, to might want to consider working with proven content creators.

At ClearVoice, we have a Talent Network of 4000+ professionals across 200+ industries. That means we can find creators with the exact skill sets and expertise you need to create content that gets results.

Talk to a content specialist today to start the conversation.

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What is a Pitch Deck? Examples, Tips and Templates

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

A pitch deck is a brief presentation that gives potential investors or clients an overview of your business plan, products, services and growth traction.

As an entrepreneur, you probably know this: your company or idea needs financing.

Oftentimes, this financing will come from external sources—i.e. people who aren’t friends or family. This means that you’ll need to communicate your ideas to potential financiers in a way that gets them excited about investing in your business.

In other words, you’ll need a pitch deck .

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit pitch deck templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What is a pitch deck, what’s included in a pitch deck presentation, 8 real-life pitch decks to know, the dos and don'ts of pitch decks, how to create a pitch deck in 3 easy steps, pitch deck faqs, looking for presentation software.

• A pitch deck is a visual presentation that tells the story of a business to persuade and engage potential investors.
• The most common pitch deck slides are introduction, problem, solution, market size and opportunity, product, traction, team, competition, financials and use of funds.
• Learn from the eight real-life pitch deck examples to get inspired about creating your own.
• Visme helps you create pitch deck presentations to secure funding in just three steps: choose a template, customize it and download or present it.
• Sign up for Visme's free online presentation software and start customizing your pitch deck templates now.

A pitch deck, also known as a start-up or investor pitch deck, is a presentation that helps potential investors learn more about your business.

As strange as it sounds, the primary goal of a pitch deck is not to secure funding—it’s to make it to the next meeting.

Surprised? Wait, let me explain!

Securing funding is a multi-step process. A good, informative pitch deck is the first rung on the ladder. You’ll want to present investors with an idea that intrigues them and gets them to engage with you.

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What is a Pitch Deck Presentation?

A pitch deck presentation usually consists of several slides that help you tell a compelling story about your business . You can put one together using a generic software like PowerPoint or use a modern tool like Visme to create an out-of-the-box presentation.

What is an Investor Deck?

An investor deck is a presentation entrepreneurs prepare when seeking financing rounds from investors. It presents valuable information about the business, which is critical when seeking financing or looking to convince the best investors.

Interested in learning more about creating compelling investor decks? Read this article and take advantage of our professional design templates to get started.

It’s tempting to dump information onto investors. As a founder, every part of your business is important to you. But the best pitch decks are ones that are short and easy to follow.

A good rule of thumb is to include no more than 19 slides in a pitch deck.

There are many different opinions about the components of a pitch deck. But when we looked at some successful startup pitch decks out there, we noticed 10 key slides included in most of the presentations.

Create beautiful infographics using this drag-and-drop tool! Sign up. It's free.

Let’s take a look at each of these slides in detail.

1 Introduction

The first slide of your pitch deck is also the most important one. It’s your chance to make a great first impression, so make sure you don’t let this opportunity go.

Keep the introduction slide short and sweet—tell people who you are and why you’re here.

You can also use this slide to communicate the value proposition of your business . Try to articulate it in a single phrase or sentence, like:

“We make video games for doctors.”

“We make Happy Meals for adults.”

“We’re Sephora for pets.”

You get the point.

A good value proposition will make your audience sit up straight and want to listen to the rest of your presentation.

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If your business idea doesn’t solve an actual problem, what are you doing?

You should identify a problem your target audience faces, a gap that the market is currently not addressing.

A good problem slide will identify two or three problems your product will tackle without being long-winding. Keep the text focused so that investors will have an easy time following.

Airbnb’s ‘problem slide’ from their original pitch desk is a great example.

In this slide, identify a concise and clear solution that investors can easily follow. This is an important slide that makes your product deck captivating.

Airbnb’s solution slide highlights how they aim to solve each of the three problems they pointed out earlier in big and bold letters.

In this slide, identify a concise and clear solution that investors can easily follow.

Airbnb’s solution slide highlights how they aim to solve each of three problems they pointed out earlier in big and bold letters.

Avoid making grand statements like “we are the only ones doing this.” Most people in the room will probably know multiple companies trying to address the problem you’ve identified.

Another good strategy is to offer multiple possible solutions to the problem presented and then move on to the one you have chosen and why. This shows investors your dedication and research.

Instead of uniqueness, focus your presentation on your research, drive, commitment and capability in solving the problem.

But make sure you don’t put all of that on your slide. Keep it simple and to the point, and let these guidelines shape your entire presentation.

Airbnb Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Airbnb that you can customize for your own startup.

Customize now!

Customize this pitch deck template to make it your own! Edit and Download Now

Visme's AI Writer is a game-changer for crafting pitch decks. It provides clear, concise information, making sure your pitch deck impresses every audience. Just explain the tool about what you want write and it will take care of the rest.

4 Market Size and Opportunity

When creating a sales pitch structure, be sure to include a summary of your market research.

The market will determine if you get your funding or not. If you are operating in a small market, investors might find that the potential ROI is too small or too risky to fund you.

Using sources from your research, a solid market slide will graph out past market growth and future potential market growth so that investors can easily see what the potential of your product is.

A good example of a market size slide is from Lunchbox’s pitch deck.

Notice how the slide clearly shows the market size and identifies the opportunity in measurable numbers.

Create a powerful pitch deck in minutes!

• Choose from hundreds of ready-to-use templates
• Customize text, images, logos and more
• Add interactive buttons and animations

This is the part where you show off the actual product or service your business is selling.

If it’s a physical product, add professional photos of your product from different angles. You can also include exploded or cutaway views that highlight the materials and features of your product.

If your product is an app, online tool or service, consider adding screenshots that show off its most unique features.

Dandelion Energy's product slide includes a comprehensive explanation of their product in a concise and easy-to-understand manner with an illustrated graphic.

To take things further, you can also do a physical demo of your product in the middle of your presentation. Or embed a video or link into your slide to do a virtual demo.

TouristEye Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by TouristEye that you can customize for your own startup.

This slide should be all about the growth of your business—the numbers of sales you’ve made, the major goals you’ve achieved till now and the next steps.

Most startups include a hockey stick growth chart in the traction slide of their pitch deck.

This slide in Buffer’s pitch deck is a great example of how you can show off your current achievements to investors.

The traction slide plays a crucial role in crafting a compelling pitch deck for investors as it reduces risk in their eyes. They want to see proof that your business idea or solution has what it takes to be profitable.

Buffer Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Buffer that you can customize for your own startup.

Customize this pitch deck template to make it your own!

• Add your own text, images, logo and more
• Customize anything to fit your brand image and content needs

Your pitch deck outline will include your core team members. The investor is interested in the drive of these people and what makes them unique enough to see this project to its success.

Under each core team member, consider including bullets, descriptions or titles that show why they are central to your mission.

Here’s an example of a team slide from Teton AI's pitch deck.

Keep the members here limited to your core team. Advisors need not be included.

8 Competition

Utilize the competition slide to visually illustrate your competitors and communicate the factors that make your startup special.

Airbnb has a great slide in this regard.

Notice how they use affordability and ease of access as the driving force setting their business apart from other travel or listing companies.

Buzzfeed also does great by showing how they offer more than what their competition can. They use their plan to reach across the aisle and offer the services of multiple competitors as their selling point.

Buzzfeed Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Buzzfeed that you can customize for your own startup.

9 Financials

The financials slide in your pitch deck is one that investors spend the most time looking over.

Your pitch deck outline should contain your company’s projected growth over the next three to five years, along with details about your business model and finances.

Enlive’s pitch deck does a good job at showcasing their income statement projection in this slide.

Create engaging data visualizations for your presentations!

• Upload an Excel file or sync with live data from Google sheets
• Choose from 16+ types of charts, from bar and line graphs to pyramid and Mekko charts
• Customize anything, from backgrounds and placement of labels to font style and color

The use of colors and a bar chart makes the financials easier to understand and definitely look more interesting than a boring spreadsheet full of numbers.

A lot of this information is not set in stone. No one can accurately predict where you’ll be in the next three years, but investors expect to see you outline your plan and show that you have the financial knowledge to reach it.

You can also explain your economic plan here. This includes your operating structure and distribution channels as well as your plan to make money.

10 Investment and Use of Funds

Before you wrap up, don’t forget to tell investors what you need from them.

But instead of just asking for a certain amount of funding, also let them know what you plan to do with the money.

When you justify your ask, it helps build trust and lets investors take you seriously.

Here’s a no-nonsense investment slide from Intercom’s original pitch deck as an example.

Remember to be strategic here. Let your investors know the amount you are asking for, but keep it real. You don’t want to lose out on a big investment simply by aiming too high. Cover your bases.

Intercom Pitch Deck Template

Here's a pitch deck template inspired by Intercom that you can customize for your own startup.

While there’s no universal structure for creating pitch decks, make sure your pitch deck outline contains the slides we’ve highlighted.

When it comes to choosing pitch deck dimensions, you can either use the 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 aspect ratio. When emailing your pitch, ensure the file size isn’t larger than 10MB.

Learning from real examples is like getting advice from experts. By looking at what has worked for other businesses, you can better understand how you should design your own pitch deck.

So, here are some good pitch decks and examples that real-life companies have used recently to secure funding.

1. Finix ($126M)

Finix's pitch deck presents a tailored solution for businesses to manage payments, emphasizing their platform's efficiency and scalability. It effectively visualizes their unique value proposition, revenue model and market opportunity with a sleek and professional design that reflects their purpose well.

2. Softr ($15.7M)

Softr's deck uses aesthetic consistency with clear visuals to highlight their no-code platform's functionalities. Their compelling narrative includes discussion on market trends, competitive differentiation and growth plans, capturing the essence of their vision.

3. Lunchbox ($72.1M)

Lunchbox is a restaurant technology platform that enhances the customer experience by offering online ordering, loyalty programs, and other digital solutions to streamline operations.

They've cleverly included lots of additional visual elements like icons, illustrations, charts and data visuals in their presentation. Everything in their deck shows how they mix food and technology together.

If you want to elevate your pitch deck's visual appeal using unique and high-quality graphics, like this example, Visme's AI image generator is there to help.

It can help you generate any graphic in different formats, like icons, illustrations, drawings, abstracts and more. Use the tool to generate a high-quality graphic to emphasize your pitch deck content.

4. Plum ($82.4M)

With its sleek, minimalist design, Plum's pitch deck establishes its mission to automate wealth management effectively. Their slides are rich with data on target markets, growth strategies and financial projections, reflecting their drive to democratize personal finance. Also, they limited their slides to 9 and still managed to cover enough.

5. Teton AI ($6.4M)

Teton's pitch deck features a clean and professional design, aligning with its focus on cutting-edge AI technology in healthcare. They've used Venn diagrams, charts, shapes and high-quality, relevant images to emphasize their deep learning and computer vision products.

6. Vue Storefront ($38.9M)

Vue Storefront's pitch deck smartly incorporates its brand color – a refreshing green scheme. This not only aligns with their brand identity but also infuses vibrancy and a distinctive sense of innovation into the design.

They used boxes for text organization to convey clarity and structure, making information easily digestible.

7. Party Round ($7M)

Party Round, with a recent funding of $7 million, is dedicated to simplifying the fundraising process for founders.

This pitch deck is smartly designed with a balanced layout that quietly hints at automation and user-friendliness. The use of big letters boldly captures attention, while adding 3D design elements adds a layer of dynamism, creating a visually engaging presentation that stands out.

8. Dandelion Energy ($134.5M)

The color choice of Dandelion Energy's pitch deck aligns with the company's focus on sustainable energy, evoking warmth and eco-friendliness. The deck incorporates visual elements such as bar graphs, images, and an illustration to vividly explain how their geothermal product works.

Now that you’re clear on what a pitch deck is and what a good one contains, let’s take a look at some common dos and don’ts for creating and giving powerful pitch presentations.

But before that, make sure you watch the video below on the top pitch deck design tips for creating the perfect startup pitch.

When Designing 

Do use bullet points on slides..

Remember that this is a presentation with a short time span. Make your sales pitch deck brief and to the point.

Don’t overwhelm your audience with a lot of text. Explain the things you want to explain in detail but don’t cram them onto your slides.

DON’T stuff your slides with text.

As you can see from the examples above, it’s best to have bullets, not paragraphs, on slides.

Furthermore, use large font sizes, lots of visuals and a readable color scheme. This will help you put together an engaging and informative presentation.

DO include your contact details.

Make sure you include your contact information at the end of your presentation to let your audience know who to reach out to for queries.

Here is the contact slide from Facebook’s 2004 pitch deck.

This slide also allows your business to have a ‘face’ and encourages investors to look this person up.

DON’T add too many team members.

In your Team slide, stick to core members. Too many executives can overwhelm; your investors want to know who is piloting the ship.

When Presenting

Do tell a story..

Make sure you present your audience with an engaging narrative that allows them to feel why your business is tackling the problem it is and how this will affect them.

DON’T focus on only the stats.

Without a cohesive narrative and a bigger picture dealing with the why of your business and what it will bring to your customers, all your stats sound dry and boring.

Make sure a purposeful narrative runs throughout your presentation, not just at the beginning. The stats are important, especially financial stats, but they aren’t the only important thing.

DO elaborate and minimize as you see fit.

What is on the slides is important, but so is how you present it.

As you’re speaking, gauge your audience, their interests in the particulars of your business, and what they most care about. Then, tailor your company pitch deck to their needs.

DON’T just read from the slides.

Tailor your presentation to keep your audience engaged and never just recite what is written on your slides.

Remember, investors can read. The reason this is a presentation and not an email is so you can engage with them.

Creating a startup pitch deck doesn’t need to be difficult. If you’re short on time, you can use a design tool like Visme to put one together in literally just a few minutes.

No more starting from scratch and creating slides one by one. You can simply use ready-made templates and replace the placeholder content with your own.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Choose a template.

To get started, sign in to your Visme dashboard and choose a pitch deck template that fits well with your content and type of business.

There are hundreds of presentation templates in Visme’s library, and they’re all fully customizable.

Customize your favorite pitch deck template! Edit and Download

You can also mix and match slides of a similar style using our presentation themes.

Step 2: Customize.

When you find a pitch deck template you like, click on Edit to start customizing it inside the Visme editor.

You can change anything and everything to fit your content needs. The editor is easy-to-use with drag-and-drop functionality. You can use it even without any prior design experience.

Change colors, fonts and images. Swap icons for relevant ones using our free icon library. Add and customize data visualizations to make boring numbers more interesting. Insert animations and links, embed videos, and more.

You can also add, remove or rearrange slides as you see fit. Use Dynamic Fields to keep your personal, company and other key information accurate and consistent throughout your presentation.

The entire customization process will barely take you an hour if you just replace the placeholder content with your own.

Step 3: Download or share.

You can download your pitch deck in image or PDF format, or as a PowerPoint file.

Generate a link to share it privately with specific people, like in an email. You can also publish your presentation on the web so it can show up in search results on Google.

You can also embed the pitch presentation on your company website using a responsive code. Once you’ve shared your deck, you can start tracking analytics to see how many people viewed it or have taken action.

Running out of time? You can generate a complete and captivating AI pitch deck in minutes using Visme's AI presentation maker .

Just describe the type of presentation you want the tool to create and Visme's Chatbot will suggest different template styles. Once you've chosen the most relevant template for your presentation, you can wait for the tool to create the design.

After that, you can preview, regenerate, or open your project in the Visme editor. Once you're sold on the template design, you can further customize it using the wide range of design tools and assets available in Visme's pitch deck maker.

Here are some frequently asked questions that will help you clear any doubts about creating your pitch deck.

Q1. What should you avoid in a pitch deck?

When developing a pitch deck, you should take care of several pitfalls to deliver an effective and impactful presentation:

• Avoid using unnecessary jargon and complex terminologies to keep your explanation simple and clear.
• Don't overcrowd a single slide with too much information, as it can make it hard for your viewers to grasp the key elements.
• Ensure to include the unique aspects of your product or service that set it apart from others in the market.
• While you need to recognize your competitors, highlight what makes your venture different and, perhaps, more appealing.
• Be realistic with your revenue predictions; overly optimistic numbers can cause investors to doubt your credibility.

Q2. How long should a pitch deck be?

The ideal pitch deck should be about 10 to 15 slides long. Each slide should discuss critical business aspects, like problem statement, market size, solution, business model, etc. However, the number of slides may change based on your business complexity and target audience.

Q3. What is the difference between a pitch deck and a business plan?

A pitch deck and a business plan are both critical for startups but serve different purposes:

Pitch Deck: A pitch deck is a brief presentation to give your audience (typically potential investors, partners, or customers) a quick overview of your business plan. It's generally used during face-to-face or online meetings and should be engaging, concise and to the point.

Business Plan: A business plan, on the other hand, is a formal document that details the tactics and strategies you intend to employ to start and grow your business. It covers minute aspects such as your business model, detailed market analysis, organizational structure, cash flow projections, etc.

Q4. What is the best software for creating a pitch deck?

It depends on your business, but you’ll generally want to choose software that blends the ease of use with cutting-edge functionalities. In that case, Visme is the best software for creating a pitch deck with advanced features like data visualization tools , presenter notes , presenter studio , animated graphics and more.

Q5. Cost of making a pitch deck?

The cost of making a professional pitch deck can vary depending on whether you hire a designer or do it yourself. Hiring a designer to create a custom deck from scratch could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

However, tools like Visme allow you to easily create high-quality decks without design experience or costs. Visme offers free online presentation software with hundreds of professionally designed templates for pitch decks and other types of presentations.

Q6. What types of investment pitch decks are there?

There is no universally accepted classification of investment pitch decks into specific types, but they vary based on the nature of the business or the purpose of the pitch.

However, there are a few common types or themes of pitch decks that companies often use:

• Pre-Seed Pitch Deck: This pitch deck serves the purpose of securing initial funding to shape and refine a business concept. This deck outlines the problem, solution, market potential, basic financials and team.
• Seed Pitch Deck: Crafted to attract funding for the launch and early development of the business. It builds upon the pre-seed deck by offering more details on market validation, product development, and initial traction.
• Series A/B/C Pitch Deck: This type of pitch deck is for seeking significant funding rounds for growth and expansion. They provide comprehensive information on market leadership, financial performance, scaling strategies, competitive landscape and potential exit plans.

Q7. What is the difference between a pitch deck and a presentation?

A pitch deck is a type of presentation designed specifically to propose an idea, product, solution or opportunity to potential clients, investors or partners. A presentation, on the other hand, is a content format composed of slides, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be used for pitching purposes.

Q8. What should not be included in a pitch deck?

A pitch deck should not include irrelevant information, unrealistic financial projections, unverified claims, technical jargon and overly complex data or slides. You should also steer clear of presenting negative information like potential risks or challenges without offering mitigation strategies or solutions.

A powerful pitch deck can help you secure the funding you need to make your business idea a reality. This article will give you the confidence you need to design and present a killer investor pitch deck .

If you want to learn more about pitch decks and giving great presentations, check out some of the resources below.

• 17 Pitch Deck Templates Inspired By Real-Life Startups and Businesses
• 15 Expert Tips for Giving a Powerful Business Presentation
• Presentation Success Formula: How to Start Strong and End Powerfully

You can also watch this video on how to structure your presentation to keep your audience hooked till the very end.

If you're looking for an easy-to-use, professional presentation software to help you make a powerful pitch deck, Visme can be just what you're looking for.

You can browse through fully designed pitch deck templates that are inspired by real-life pitch decks of successful companies, such as Airbnb, Buffer and more.

Each template is customizable, so you can easily plug in your own content, graphics and brand assets, and download it in PowerPoint or PDF format, or publish it online.

Ready to create your very own pitch deck? Sign up on Visme for a free account and take it for a test drive!

Create captivating pitch decks in minutes using Visme

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About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

• PRESENTATION SKILLS

Preparing for a Presentation

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• A - Z List of Presentation Skills
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• General Presentation Skills
• What is a Presentation?
• Organising the Material
• Writing Your Presentation
• Deciding the Presentation Method
• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
• Presenting Data
• Managing the Event
• Coping with Presentation Nerves
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Preparation is the single most important part of making a successful presentation. It is an absolutely crucial foundation, and you should dedicate as much time to it as possible, avoiding short-cuts. Good preparation will ensure that you have thought carefully about the messages that you want (or need) to communicate in your presentation and it will also help boost your confidence.

There are a number of aspects that you need to consider when preparing a presentation. They include the aim of the presentation, the subject matter, the audience, the venue or place, the time of day, and the length of the talk. All these will affect what you say and how you say it, as well as the visual aids that you use to get your point across.

The Objective

Whenever you are asked to give a presentation or speak to a group of people, you need to start by asking the purpose of the presentation.

In other words, what is the presentation expected to achieve, and what outcome(s) do the organisers and the audience expect?

These outcomes will shape your presentation, because it must be designed to achieve the objective and deliver the desired outcomes.

For example, you might be asked to give a talk to a gardening club. You might be told that the purpose of the talk is to fill a regular meeting slot, and that the members of the club have expressed a desire to learn more about pruning. You therefore know that your talk needs to be entertaining, fairly light, but knowledgeable, and that your audience wants to learn something new.

As you prepare your presentation, make sure you keep asking yourself:

“How is saying this going to help to achieve the objective and outcomes?”

The Subject

The subject of your presentation or talk about comes from the objective. They are linked, but they are not necessarily exactly the same thing.

For example:

The subject may be given to you by the organisation that has invited you (such as talking about pruning to the gardening club).

You may be knowledgeable in a particular field (perhaps you have an interest in local history).

The subject may be entirely your choice within certain limitations (you might, for example, be asked to give a presentation at an interview on a project which you feel has particularly developed your skills).

The Audience

Before preparing material for a presentation, it is worth considering your prospective audience.

Tailoring your talk to the audience is important and the following points should be considered:

The size of the group or audience expected.

The age range - a talk aimed at retired people will be quite different from one aimed at teenagers.

Gender - will the audience be predominantly male or female?

Is it a captive audience or will they be there out of interest?

Will you be speaking in their work or leisure time?

Do they know something about your subject already or will it be totally new to them?  Is the subject part of their work?

Are you there to inform, teach, stimulate, or provoke?

Can you use humour and, if so, what would be considered appropriate? If you are in any doubt about this, it is probably best to avoid anything even remotely risqué.

It is important to have as much advance information as possible about the place where you are going to speak.

It can be helpful to arrange to see the venue before the event. It does much to quell fear if you can visualise the place while you are preparing your talk. However, even if you cannot visit, you will probably find it helpful to know:

The size of the room;

The seating arrangements (for example, theatre-style, with rows of seats; or round-table);

The availability of equipment, e.g., microphone, laptop and projector, flip chart;

The availability of power points and if an extension lead is required for any equipment you intend to use;

If the room has curtains or blinds. This is relevant if you intend to use visual aids, and so that you can ensure the correct ambiance for your presentation;

The position of the light switches.  Check if you need someone to help if you are using audio/visual equipment and need to turn off the lights;

The likelihood of outside distractions, e.g., noise from another room; and

The availability of parking facilities so you do not have a long walk carrying any equipment you might need to take.

If this information is not available ahead of time, it will help to get there a bit early, to give you time to set up.

There will often be no flexibility in the time of day that a presentation is made. However, it does affect what you can do, and how you might organise your presentation, because of the likely state of your audience (see box).

How time of day can affect your audience

The morning is the best time to speak because people are generally at their most alert. However, as it gets towards lunch time, people begin to feel hungry and lose concentration. This is particularly true if the event has not included a coffee break.

After lunch, people often feel sleepy and lethargic. If you are given a slot immediately after lunch, it is a good idea to get your audience involved. A discussion or getting your audience moving about will work a lot better than simply presenting a lot of slides. A flip chart may also be a more useful tool than a laptop and projector, especially if it means you can open blinds and use natural light.

Towards the end of the afternoon, people again tend to lose concentration as they start to worry about getting home, the traffic or collecting children from school.

Evening or Weekend:

Outside regular office hours, people are more likely to be present because they want to be rather than because they have to be there.  There is a better chance of audience attention in the evening. However, if the presentation goes on for too long, people may have to leave before you have finished. People will also be less tolerant of a poor presentation because you are in their time, not their employer’s.

Length of Talk

Always find out how long you have to talk and check if this includes or excludes time for questions.

Find out if there are other speakers and, if so, where you are placed in the running order.  Never elect to go last.  Beware of over-running, as this could be disastrous if there are other speakers following you.

It is important to remember that people find it difficult to maintain concentration for long periods of time. This is a good reason for making a presentation succinct, well-structured and interesting. Aim for 45 minutes as a maximum single-session presentation, and preferably leave at least 10 or 15 minutes for questions. Nobody minds finishing a session early.

Providing Information in Advance

Always check what information you will need to provide in advance.

Organisers of big events and conferences often like to have all the PowerPoint presentations several days ahead of the event. This gives them time to load all the presentations, and make sure that they are properly branded for the event.

Some events also need speakers’ biographies ahead of time, to put in conference literature. When you are asked to give the presentation, make sure you ask what is needed by when—and then supply it.

You will not be popular if you turn up on the day and announce that you have completely rewritten your presentation on the train. It is entirely possible that the organisers may even not be able to accommodate that, for example if the audio-visual is being supplied by a separate company or by the venue.

And finally…

Being asked to give a presentation is an honour, not a chore.

You are representing your organisation or yourself, if you are self-employed. You are also not there by right, but by invitation. It is therefore important that you put in the time and effort to ensure that you deliver what your audience wants. That way, you may just be invited back another time.

Continue to: Organising the Presentation Material

See also: Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation? Preparing for Oral Presentations Managing the Presentation Event Coping with Presentation Nerves

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > How many slides does your presentation need?

How many slides does your presentation need?

When you’re creating a presentation, it’s important to consider the amount of information you’re sharing with your audience. You don’t want to overwhelm them, but you also want to be comprehensive and ensure that you’re covering all your bases. Whether you’re giving a 10, 15, or 30-minute presentation, see how many slides your presentation needs to get your point across.

Rules and guidance for PowerPoint presentations

PowerPoint is a powerful visual aid for introducing data, statistics, and new concepts to any audience. In PowerPoint, you can create as many slides as you want—which might sound tempting at first. But length doesn’t always guarantee a successful presentation . Most presentations last around 10-15 minutes, and anything longer than that (such as a 30-minute presentation) may have additional visual aids or speakers to enhance your message.

A handy rule to keep in mind is to spend about 1-2 minutes on each slide. This will give you ample time to convey your message, let data sink in, and allow you to memorize your presentation . When you limit each slide to this length of time, you also need to be selective about how much information you put on each slide and avoid overloading your audience.

For 10-minute presentations

Ten minutes is usually considered the shortest amount of time you need for a successful presentation. For a shorter 10-minute presentation, you’ll need to be selective with your content. Limit your slide count to approximately 7 to 10 slides.

For 15-minute presentations

When preparing for a 15-minute presentation, concise and focused content is key. Aim for around 10 to 15 slides to maintain a good pace, which will fit with the 1-2 minute per slide rule.

For 30-minute presentations

A longer presentation gives you more room to delve deeper into your topic. But to maintain audience engagement, you’ll need to add interactivity , audience participation, and elements like animations . Aim for around 20 to 30 slides, allowing for a balanced distribution of content without overwhelming your audience.

Tell your story with captivating presentations

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Using the 10-20-30 rule

The 10-20-30 rule is an effective way to structure your presentation. It calls for no more than 10 slides and no longer than 20 minutes (as well as a 30-point font).

Tips for crafting an effective presentation

No matter how long a presentation is, there are guidelines for crafting one to enhance understanding and retention. Keep these tips in mind when creating your PowerPoint masterpiece:

• Avoid overload: Ensure that each slide communicates a single idea clearly, avoiding cluttered layouts or excessive text.
• Pay attention to structure: Think of slides as bullet points with introductions, endings, and deep dives within each subject.
• Add visual appeal: Incorporate images, charts, and graphics to convey information without using too many words to make your audience read.
• Engage with your audience: Encourage interaction through questions, polls, or storytelling techniques to keep your audience actively involved.
• Put in the practice: Familiarize yourself with your slides and practice your delivery to refine your timing and confidence.

Ultimately, the ideal number of slides for your presentation depends on the allocated time frame and how detailed your content is. By striking a balance between informative content and engaging delivery, you can create a compelling presentation that can teach your audience something new.

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Group presentations can go smoothly with these essential tips on how to deliver a compelling one.

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Canned Reports vs. Ad-hoc Analysis: Which to Use and When [Infographic]

So how can you keep up with increasing demands (and stay sane)? The key to saving your time and energy is determining which reports can be "canned," or automatically generated based on pre-set specifications. 

Either way, you can maximize efficiency:

• For insights that can be canned, you can automate pre-built reports.
• For all other use cases, give business users the ability to perform quick and easy ad-hoc analysis.

So, how do you know which reporting requests are good candidates for canned reports? And which requests are better suited for spontaneous ad-hoc analysis? You can view the flow chart to get a quick answer ! In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at each type of reporting and how to maximize efficiency.

What is a canned report?

The key difference between a canned report and ad-hoc report is reusability. For reports on data pertaining to a recurring set of specifications  or corporate interests, you will want a prebuilt or “canned” report that you can easily create (and recreate) using your organization's BI tool.

Canned reports are typically distributed across a wide audience with polished formatting. These reports are short and sweet, batched and scripted data for weekly or monthly metrics. For example, a good candidate for a canned report would be a monthly reporting package produced for a CFO and finance managers that displays data on how the company is measured (e.g. balance sheet, P&L, operational metrics, cash flow).

How to produce canned reports

If you're producing reports for the finance  department or any functional area that requires very highly formatted reporting ,  Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting is a popular tool for creating, automating, and distributing book-quality management reports.

Compliant with all regulations and external requirements, these automated reports can be delivered immediately or scheduled for later distribution. The tool also enables you to generate multiple reports from single report structures.

Financial Reporting is included in Oracle’s EPM suite of products and BI suite of products , meaning you can access multidimensional performance management data sources and turn the enterprise data into insights.

If your needs go beyond financial reporting, you might consider a business intelligence tool ,  like OBIEE, BICS, or Data Visualization.

What is an ad-hoc report?

Ad-hoc reporting is a business analyst’s quick and off-the-cuff tool for drill-down analysis on the fly , usually contained to a small number of power users. These reports represent more of a snapshot in time. You'll get a look at the details of the data, comparing different variables to explain results made evident in canned reports.

For example : A canned report will show a company’s revenue and whether it is lower or higher than expected; an ad-hoc drill-down can be used by financial and business analysts to understand why this occurred.

How to produce ad-hoc reports

Oracle Smart View is specifically designed for business users who need to have a conversation with the data. This tool  provides a common Microsoft Office interface for accessing and integrating data from Oracle's EPM and BI products. Users can start with templates to help begin the process or a blank sheet where they can begin building grids of data with drag-and-drop functionality. 

These ad-hoc analysis capabilities are invaluable for business analysts who need to interactively investigate data contained in sources such as OBIEE, Oracle Essbase, Planning, and HFM. 

Reducing time spent on reporting

Take one of our clients — a retail grocery chain with 66 stores   —   as an example .  IT management was faced with a legacy BI system that was slow and fell short of providing the answers that business analysts needed to perform their highly specialized roles.

To support more agile and accurate business decisions, they needed the right tool — a modern reporting and analysis solution with high-volume, high-speed data handling capabilities. The company needed to:

• Deliver customized reports with less IT staff time and effort.
• Ensure data quality with fewer IT assets and resources.
• Make business data easier to visualize, understand, and report on.

By giving business analysts the ability to perform sophisticated ad-hoc analysis , the IT team reduced their number of customized reports from approximately 300 to 30. And the analysts could get back to what they do best — supporting the organization’s business goals. Find out how in the full case study .

Which do you need, canned or ad-hoc?

Get the Flow Chart to find out!

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Trump and Biden's first presidential debate of 2024, fact checked

By Arden Farhi , Hunter Woodall , Jui Sarwate , Julia Ingram , Layla Ferris , Laura Doan , James LaPorta , Daniel Klaidman , Alexander Tin , Pete Villasmil, Sierra Sanders

Updated on: June 28, 2024 / 9:46 AM EDT / CBS News

Here's the fact check of some of the statements made by President Biden and former President Donald Trump during the first 2024 presidential debate , which took place in Atlanta on Thursday, June 27. The two tangled on topics including immigration, the economy, abortion and their respective records. Mr. Biden seemed to ramble during many of his responses.

CBS News  covered the debate live as it happened . 

Trump claims "we had the greatest economy in the history of our country": False

Trump : "We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And we have never done so well. Every- everybody was amazed by it. Other countries were copying us." 

Details : Trump's claim is false that during his presidency the U.S. had the greatest economy in the history of the country by many of the common metrics used to judge economic performance. The claim struggles when looking at GDP. If the 2020 pandemic  is excluded, growth after inflation under Trump averaged 2.49%, according to figures from the  World Bank . This is far from the GDP growth under Democratic President Bill Clinton of 3.88%, according to  World Bank data . Including the time period after COVID spread, that average drops to 1.18%. 

Trump's claim also falls short when compared to historical figures. Growth between 1962 to 1966 ranged from 4.4% to 6.6%. In 1950 and 1951, GDP ranged between 8.7% and 8%.

Under Mr. Biden, annual GDP growth is averaging 3.4%, according to the  Associated Press .

*An earlier version of this fact check misstated World Bank figures for growth after inflation under Trump at 2.65%, rather than 2.49%, and 1.45%, instead of 1.18%, and also rounded the growth number for Clinton. This has been updated.

Unemployment

Trump's claim is also false even when evaluating the unemployment rate.    In February 2020, a month before the COVID pandemic affected the economy, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5% — which was the lowest since December 1969 — but not the lowest ever. When Trump's term ended, the unemployment rate was 6.3%.

In 1953, the unemployment rate fell as low as 2.5%. Under Mr. Biden, the unemployment rate is 4%, according to the  most recent data  from May 2024. 

In January 2023 and again in April 2023, the unemployment rate was 3.4%, lower than the best month during Trump's term.

Stock market performance

On Jan. 19, 2021, the  S&P 500-stock average  closed at 67.8% above where it had been the day before Trump was inaugurated in 2017. 

According to  Investopedia ,  at the end of President Barack Obama's first term in office, the S&P closed 84.5% higher. Additionally the S&P gained 79% during President Bill Clinton's first term, and 70% during President Dwight Eisenhower's first term. So far, under President Biden, the  S&P 500 has increased almost 40% , according to calculations on June 13. 

By Laura Doan and Hunter Woodall 

Biden claims he's the only president this century that doesn't have troops dying anywhere in the world: False

Biden: "I'm the only president this century that doesn't have any — this decade — that doesn't have any troops dying anywhere in the world." 

Details : At least 16 U.S. service members have died while serving overseas during Mr. Biden's presidency. Thirteen U.S. service members  died  in an attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan in August 2021. Three soldiers were  killed  in an attack in Jordan in January of this year.

By Layla Ferris

Trump claims he did not refer to U.S. soldiers who were killed as "suckers and losers": False

Trump: "First of all, that was a made-up quote. 'Suckers and losers,' they made it up."

Details : Current and former U.S. military service members have detailed to CBS News multiple instances when Trump made disparaging remarks about members of the U.S. military who were captured or killed, including referring to the American war dead at the Aisle-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as "losers" and "suckers."  

A senior Defense Department official and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer with direct knowledge of what was said detailed how Trump said he did not want to visit the cemetery because it was "filled with losers." These accounts were backed independently by two other officials — a former senior U.S. Army officer and a separate, former senior U.S. Marine Corps officer.   

In another conversation on the trip, Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines who died in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood as "suckers" for getting killed.  The Atlantic was first to report Trump's comments in 2020. His former chief of staff John Kelly later confirmed to CNN the essence of what Trump had said.

By James LaPorta and Sierra Sanders 

Biden claims 40% fewer people are crossing border illegally, better than when Trump was in office: Partially true         

Biden: "I've changed it in a way that now you're in a situation where there 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally; it's better than when he left office."

Details : Since Mr. Biden issued a  proclamation  banning most migrants from asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border in early June, illegal crossings there have dropped. In the past week, daily illegal border crossings have averaged roughly 2,000, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data obtained by CBS News. That's a 47% drop from the 3,800  daily average  in May.

During the height of a spike in migration faced by the Trump administration in 2019, Border Patrol recorded an average of 4,300 daily illegal crossings,  government data  show. But there were months during the  Covid-19 pandemic  when the Trump administration averaged fewer than 2,000 illegal border crossings.

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Trump claims migrants coming to U.S. and "killing our citizens at a level...we've never seen before": Misleading

Trump: "People are coming in and killing our citizens at a level like we've never seen before." 

Details :  Some migrants who are believed to have entered the U.S. along the southern border in recent years have been charged with murder and other heinous crimes in different parts of the country. They include the suspect in the high-profile murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley .

But while the data on this question is not comprehensive, available  studies  have found that migrants living in the country illegally do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. 

Government  statistics  also show a very small fraction of migrants processed by Border Patrol have criminal records in the U.S. or other countries that share information with American officials.

On COVID, Trump claims more people died under Biden administration than his: True, but needs context  

Trump: "Remember, more people died under his administration — even though we had largely fixed it — more people died under his administration than our administration, and we were right in the middle of it, something which a lot of people don't like to talk about. But [Biden] had far more people dying in his administration."

Details : More than 460,000 people had died from COVID-19 by the end of the week that Biden was inaugurated in 2021, while more than 725,000 have died in the three years since then, according to data from the  CDC . However, research has found that the counts of COVID-19 deaths, especially in the early days of the pandemic, were likely  undercounted .

By Julia Ingram and Jui Sarwate

In discussing abortion, Trump claims former Virginia governor, a Democrat, supported killing babies: False

Trump: "If you look at the former governor of Virginia, he was willing to do this — he said  'we'll put the baby aside and we'll determine what we'll do with the baby'.. .meaning we'll kill the baby."

Details : In a 2019 radio interview then-governor of Virginia Ralph Northam, in discussing late-term abortions,  addressed a hypothetical scenario in which a fetus was severely deformed or wasn't otherwise viable. He said, "the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired." 

Northam did not say the fetus should be killed. Killing a newborn baby — or infanticide — is illegal in every state, and not a single state is trying to change that. 

By Laura Doan and Daniel Klaidman

Trump claims Biden "went after" his political opponent in New York "hush money" case to damage him: False        

Trump: "[Biden] basically went after his political opponent (Trump) because he thought it was going to damage me, but when the public found out about these cases, 'cause they understand it better than he does, he has no idea what these cases are, but when they found out about these cases, you know what they did? My poll numbers went up, way up."

Details : There is no federal jurisdiction over a state case. The Manhattan district attorney's office is a  separate entity  from the U.S. Department of Justice. The department does not supervise the work of the Manhattan D.A.'s office, does not approve its charging decisions, and it does not try the D.A.'s cases.

By Pete Villasmil

Trump claims he brought insulin prices down for seniors: Misleading

Trump: "I'm the one that got the insulin down for the seniors. I took care of the seniors."

Details :  During Trump's time as president, Medicare created a voluntary program  in 2020  between some plans and insulin manufacturers that agreed to cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month. Around  half of  Medicare Advantage or stand-alone prescription drug plans ended up participating by 2021. 

David Ricks, CEO of insulin drugmaker Eli Lilly, has taken credit for pioneering the idea with Trump administration officials at a congressional  hearing  and in an  interview . In the same interview with STAT, Seema Verma, former Medicare agency chief in the Trump administration, gave Ricks the credit for the cap: "He is an unsung hero. He was actually the mastermind of all of this." 

Medicare  ended  the policy in 2023, after Mr. Biden signed into law the  Inflation Reduction Act , which capped insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries — not just for the portion of plans participating in the program. The law capped insulin costs at the same amount of $35 per month.

By Alexander Tin and Hunter Woodall 

Trump claims Biden wants open borders: False

Trump: "He wants open borders. He wants our country to either be destroyed or he wants to pick up those people as voters." 

Details : When he took office, Mr. Biden reversed numerous Trump-era immigration policies, including a program that required migrants to await their asylum hearings in Mexico. U.S. Border Patrol has also reported record numbers of migrant apprehensions along the southern border during Mr. Biden's presidency. But Mr. Biden has never endorsed or implemented an "open borders" policy.

In fact, Mr. Biden has embraced some restrictive border policies that mirror rules enacted by his predecessor. In 2023, his administration published a regulation that disqualified migrants from asylum if they crossed into the country illegally after not seeking protection in a third country. 

Earlier this month, Mr. Biden enacted an even stricter policy: a proclamation that has partially shut down asylum processing along the border. His administration has also carried out over 4 million deportations, expulsions and returns of migrants since 2021, according to  government data .

Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. Most who cross into the U.S. illegally are not on a path to permanent legal status, let alone citizenship. Even those who apply and win asylum — a process that typically takes years to complete — have to wait five years as permanent U.S. residents before applying for American citizenship. There's no evidence to suggest that the Biden administration's border policy is based on a desire to convert migrants into voters.

Biden claims Trump wants to get rid of Social Security: False        

Biden "[Trump] wants to get rid of Social Security. He thinks there's plenty to cut in social security. He's wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare, both times."

Details : Trump has repeatedly  said  he will try to protect Medicare and Social Security. Trump said in a March 21 Truth Social  post  that he would not "under any circumstance" allow Social Security to "be even touched" if he were president. Trump had said in a CNBC  interview  on March 11 that "there is a lot you can do" in terms of "cutting" spending under Social Security. Mr. Biden  said  the comments were proof Trump aimed to make cuts in the programs, but a Trump campaign spokesman  said  Trump was referring to "cutting waste and fraud," not Social Security entitlements.

Trump claims Biden has the "largest deficit" in history of U.S.: False

Trump: "But he's (Biden) got the largest deficit in the history of our country."

Details : The national deficit was the largest it had been in over two decades under Trump's administration, not Mr. Biden's, according to  data from the U.S. Treasury . The deficit peaked in fiscal year 2020 at $3.13 trillion, and declined to $1.7 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2023.

By Julia Ingram

• Presidential Debate
• Donald Trump

Arden Farhi is the senior White House producer at CBS News. He has covered several presidential campaigns and the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. He also produces "The Takeout with Major Garrett."

More from CBS News

Disappointed Democrats stick with Biden after rough debate performance

Election 2024 post-debate: The road ahead for Biden and Trump

The Biden-Trump debate was held. Now what?

Biden says he doesn't debate as well as before but knows "how to tell the truth"

• Presentation Skills
• Skills & Tools

Presentation skills can be defined as a set of abilities that enable an individual to: interact with the audience; transmit the messages with clarity; engage the audience in the presentation; and interpret and understand the mindsets of the listeners. These skills refine the way you put forward your messages and enhance your persuasive powers.

The present era places great emphasis on good presentation skills. This is because they play an important role in convincing the clients and customers. Internally, management with good presentation skills is better able to communicate the mission and vision of the organization to the employees.

Importance of Presentation Skills

Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The importance of good presentation skills is established on the basis of following points:

• They help an individual in enhancing his own growth opportunities. In addition, it also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for the business professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an individual to mold his message according to the traits of the audience. This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Lastly, business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances of success, but also enable him to add greatly to the organization.

How to Improve Presentation Skills

Development of good presentation skills requires efforts and hard work. To improve your presentation skills, you must:

• Research the Audience before Presenting: This will enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, in case of an analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your presentation.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present. Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by repeating the main points.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This can reduce the degree of audience engagement.
• Take a Workshop: Most medium and large businesses allow their employees to take employee development courses and workshops, as well-trained employees are essential to the success of any company. You can use that opportunity to take a workshop on professional presentation skills such as those offered by Langevin Learning Services , which are useful for all business professionals, from employees to business trainers and managers.

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Solar charges, new prices and government handouts mean your power bill will change from today

And so, the first day of the new financial year is in and Australia's armies of accountants and tax professionals are sharpening their pencils.

It's a time for so many of the wonderful things life has to offer — dusting off and unscrambling old receipts, trying to learn (again) how to use spreadsheets, and wondering where all the time went.

But it's also an important time of the year for your power bills.

You might not know it, but July 1 is arguably the key date on the calendar for Australia's energy industry, or at least its consumers.

This year in particular there are a few things happening, and they all have implications for how much you'll pay for power:

• New power prices come into effect;
• New government handouts kick in, and;
• There may be changes to how your solar is charged.

What's happening to power prices?

For about one-in-10 households, the new financial year has a direct and immediate effect on the price they pay for their power.

That's because July 1 marks the date new benchmark power prices come into force.

Almost 10 per cent of residential customers are on so-called default market offers, which are set by the Australian Energy Regulator for New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia.

In Victoria, they're set by the Essential Services Commission.

While the default rates might only directly capture a smallish share of the market, they act as the barometer by which all other prices are set.

What's more, July 1 often marks the date on which retailers change new contract offers.

That's where the action really happens, given the vast majority of households are signed up to these market contracts.

Unlike the past couple of years, when benchmark prices uniformly rocketed during and in the aftermath of the 2022 energy crisis, there's a variety of new prices across the states this time around.

New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia will all see decreases in the benchmark price for electricity.

And it's nothing to be sneezed at for beleaguered consumers who have been smashed by higher costs of living on all fronts.

In Victoria, for example, the fall amounts to as much as 7 per cent — or $100 — compared with an annual bill last year.

On the flip side of this equation is Queensland, where households in the populous south-east corner of the state will get hit by another, albeit relatively modest, increase in prices.

For residential customers in south-east Queensland, reference prices will edge up 4.2 per cent — or $83 — on last year.

In Western Australia, prices charged to households by the state-owned power providers Synergy and Horizon will increase by 2.5 per cent.

Richard Foxworthy, the boss of energy savings website Bill Hero, said the modest changes either way would be welcome news to consumers battered by years of double-digit price hikes.

Still, Mr Foxworthy noted that while prices had shot up quickly during the "dark days" of the energy crisis, they were falling much slower despite a slump in the wholesale cost of energy.

"Wholesale prices have now unwound and are pretty much back to baseline and have been for quite some time," Mr Foxworthy said.

"Retail prices — surprise, surprise — have been much slower.

"So while we can expect to see some moderate price declines — that's what we're anticipating — prices are still high with a long-term view."

What are governments doing about it?

Amid the sustained high prices for electricity, governments are, to varying degrees, stepping in to try to cushion the pain.

Perhaps most notably, the federal government will be handing out $300 to almost every Australian household — noting that some households claim they will miss out for reasons such as not being connected to the grid.

It won't be cash in your hand.

Rather, the money will be automatically taken off your bill.

And it won't happen all at once.

Instead, the $300 will be deducted in $75 increments for every quarterly bill over a year.

But it's not just the Commonwealth that's showering the largesse.

In Queensland, where the state Labor government faces a bruising election in October after almost 10 years in office, households are being given an extraordinary $1,000 energy rebate.

The assistance, along with the handout from Canberra, means Queenslanders will be paying much less for their electricity this financial year even with the increase in underlying prices.

It's a similar story in Western Australia, where gushers of resources and GST money have enabled the state government to shell out $400 as a "credit" against every householder's power bill.

The latest giveaway marks the fourth year in a row in which the WA government has forked out in such a way, meaning average consumers in the state have been paying some of the lowest prices in the country.

Other states such as South Australia and Victoria, which had hefty rebates for the financial year that's just ended, have not extended that relief.

Mr Foxworthy said the handouts were a "sugar hit" that would no doubt be gladly received by consumers but he said the money could have been better used.

"It seems like a huge, missed opportunity," he said.

"If those funds could have been deployed towards helping people install better insulation, install more energy-efficient appliances, decarbonise their homes by replacing gas appliances with electric alternatives, those kinds of things.

"It's kind of like to give a man a fish or teach them how to fish.

"So, you know, thanks very much federal government, you've given us a nice fish. But that's not going to last us very long into the future."

What's this about solar panels?

Millions of Australians over the past 14 years have, to a certain extent, tried to take matters into their own hands by installing solar panels to cut their bills.

It's been a successful strategy for the most part thanks, at first, to generous state and federal incentives that encouraged people to adopt the technology.

More recently, the plunging costs of solar panels have enabled people to install ever larger systems on their roofs to maximise the power they can produce.

Those two trends, plus one or two other things besides, have driven an extraordinary boom in rooftop solar uptake across Australia, where more than one in every three homes has a system.

But with the rapid spread of so much solar has come some significant challenges.

And none is bigger than the proverbial tidal wave of rooftop solar output that crashes over the system in the middle of every day — a phenomenon that is threatening to overwhelm the low-voltage poles-and-wires network in some places at some times.

To deal with that phenomenon, things are changing this financial year.

From this month, solar households across much of New South Wales may well have to pay for the right to export some of their output in the middle of the day.

Under a change that was approved by the regulator, poles-and-wires distribution companies Ausgrid, Endeavour and Essential will apply what is known as two-way pricing.

It involves customers paying 1.2 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity their solar panels put back into the grid during the sunniest hours of the day — between 10am and 3pm.

But there are a couple of caveats.

For starters, the charge only applies over a certain monthly threshold of solar exports ranging from 192 kilowatt-hours to 212kWh.

As well as this, those same households can be paid 2.3kWh if they can deliver electricity into the network when it badly needs the supply — between 4pm and 9pm.

At the moment, it appears to just be New South Wales homes affected by the change, although both South Australia and Queensland have indicated they could update their tariffs in 2025.

Victoria has so far resisted imposing such costs.

Even so, one reader told the ABC his solar panels exported as much as 750kWh into the grid during the height of summer, suggesting some customers could be on the hook for added costs all the same.

Either way, experts say the changing settings for solar tariffs — and tariffs more generally — show how it is becoming increasingly important to make better use of Australia's abundant daytime solar resources.

Finn Peacock, the founder of SolarQuotes, said the likes of two-way pricing — and export limits for certain types of big new systems — were a reflection of the remarkable success of Australia's solar industry.

Mr Peacock said there were now so many households with solar panels, they were capable of generating so much power that it was, in fact, pushing the distribution system to the edge of its capabilities at times.

He said the changes were relatively minor in the scheme of things, adding they would be more than offset by the benefits provided by solar.

"The problem they're trying to solve — and it's a good problem in my opinion — is that solar uptake has been so fast," Mr Peacock said.

"There's so much solar in the network that the network does struggle at times to take all of that energy.

"We do need to do something because if we don't, the network will break.

"So, doing nothing is not an option."

How do I get the best deal?

It's something of a cliche that consumers should shop around for the best deal if they want to minimise their power bills.

But, according to Mr Foxworthy of Bill Hero, it's also fundamentally true.

Mr Foxworthy said falling wholesale prices had set energy companies "back on the acquisition trail" for new customers.

Consequently, he said, they were throwing around offers to try to entice people across.

He said this latest acquisition spree was often taking the form of cash incentives rather than cheaper electricity.

His advice: take advantage of retailers' offers. And never be loyal.

"Our view is that incentives can actually be better for consumers because you get the benefit of that incentive up-front, typically," Mr Foxworthy said.

"If you switch to a new retailer, some of them are offering $300 incentives just to sign up, and they'll pay that out to you sometimes in the very first month that you're with them.

"So it's actually a realistic strategy to find a plan where the value is tied up in an incentive, sign up to that plan, pocket the incentive.

"It would give you typically one, two or three months more or less of free electricity while that incentive credit is being consumed.

"Then just switch again to some other plan, potentially another plan that has its own incentives."

• X (formerly Twitter)
• Alternative Energy
• Solar Energy

Some Gen Xers can start dipping into retirement savings without penalty, but should you?

Accessing your life savings is about to get a lot cheaper, but that doesn't mean now is the time to crack open your nest egg..

Retirement no longer feels far off for Generation X – those born between 1965 and 1980. A fortunate few may have already exited the workforce and many more will follow in the next two decades.

Soon, they'll be checking off retirement milestones like applying for Social Security and Medicare . But there's another milestone that's equally important, and the oldest members of Gen X will begin reaching it on July 1, 2024 .

Most retirement accounts charge what's known as an early withdrawal penalty to discourage savers from taking their money out too soon. This penalty is 10% of the amount withdrawn, and it applies to all savers who are under 59 1/2 and do not have a qualifying exception , like making a first home purchase or paying a large medical bill.

Early withdrawal penalties can take a serious bite out of your savings, especially if you make several of them. But they'll soon be a thing of the past for the eldest members of Gen X who will reach 59 1/2 years of age in the latter half of 2024.

It's great news, but it's important to realize that no-penalty withdrawals doesn't mean free withdrawals. If you're taking money out of a tax-deferred account, like a traditional IRA or 401(k), you will still owe taxes on your money. It's possible that taking large sums out could even push you into a higher tax bracket than you were anticipating.

You also have to consider how your withdrawals will affect your long-term financial security. You may be eligible to take money out of your retirement accounts, but doing this just because you can could drain your savings prematurely. It's best to leave your funds in your retirement account until you reach your chosen retirement age.

Gen X finally tops boomer 401(k)s: But will it be enough to retire?

What to do if you need your money sooner

It'll still be several years before all members of Gen X have the opportunity to take penalty-free retirement account withdrawals. But there are still some ways to access your cash early if you need to.

First, if you have funds in a Roth IRA , you can withdraw your contributions tax- and penalty-free at any age. This is not true of earnings. You cannot withdraw earnings penalty-free until you've turned 59 1/2 and have had the account for at least five years.

Those with 401(k)s may be able to access some of their retirement savings early by taking advantage of the Rule of 55 . This says that if you part with your employer in the year you will turn 55 (age 50 for certain public safety workers) or later, you can access your 401(k) funds from that employer only penalty-free.

Substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs) are also an option. This is where you agree to take equal payments from your retirement account until you reach 59 1/2 or for five years, whichever is longer. There are several ways to calculate your SEPPs, but once you commit, you're locked in. Failing to take required SEPPs results in the government retroactively charging you all the early withdrawal penalties the SEPPs were supposed to help you avoid, plus interest.

Perhaps the best option for those who can swing it is to fund your expenses another way until you're at least 59 1/2. It could be from a job or through selling investments you've held in a taxable brokerage account. Just make sure you understand the tax consequences of your decision before you go ahead with it.

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