INVESTOR PRESENTATION DESIGN How to be informative, add value and - - PDF document

INVESTOR PRESENTATION DESIGN

Whitepaper:

By Emma Bannister

Founder & CEO of Presentation Studio www.presentationstudio.com 1300 699 609

How to be informative, add value and make a positive impact

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Not exactly what you’d expect from the world’s leading multi-billion dollar enterprises! An investor presentation communicates your fjnancial standing, it’s an important representation of your brand. It tells everyone internal and external to your organisation what kind of quality and service you ofger, whether you are reliable, trustworthy or just plain cheap. Your presentation should NOT look like a ‘Disclaimer Statement’. Google any leading ASX investor presentation and you’ll be surprised at what you fjnd. Slides and slides of numbers, complex information, mixed messages and dodgy looking PowerPoint presentations that look like they’ve been hacked together at the last minute from various departments in the organisation (because they probably have).

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Investor presentations can positively

• r negatively

impact your brand.

In fact, you should invest more care, attention, time and efgort into them because shareholders, customers, clients, colleagues and the public see them time and time again. These presentations live on – in our minds as well as online – long after they are fjrst viewed. Many companies should be embarrassed at how bad their investor presentations look, at how bad they make them look. Is this what you want for your organisation? Your organisation’s brand and identity is a valuable asset and should be treated as such – that’s regardless of your industry, size or how much revenue you turn over every year. Investor presentations should be treated no difgerently to any

• ther marketing collateral or

consumer facing information you put together.

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The aim of

AN INVESTOR PRESENTATION

Investor presentations mean difgerent things to difgerent people. More often than not, we think they are investor pitches that we’re using to try and raise funds for start-ups or capital for a company’s growth. But in the world of listed companies and public corporations, they mean something else entirely. Investor presentations update shareholders and investors on the company’s current fjnancial position and future strategy. They show quarterly or annually fjnancial results, and as such have specifjc requirements they must adhere to. The ASX [Australian Securities Exchange] Listing rules state that you can’t give any market sensitive information (that would impact share price) to an investor that hasn’t been disclosed to the market already. So you usually have to lodge your investor presentation with the ASX before you present or distribute it. There is no legal requirement to put the presentation on your

• rganisation’s website, but it’s

always a good idea to.

Investor presentations update shareholders and investors

• n the

company’s current fjnancial position and future strategy.

i To check specifjc details and requirements on ASX investor presentations go to: http://www.asx.com.au/ regulation/rules/asx-listing- rules.htm

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PREPARATION PROBLEMS

The challenge most companies face, especially larger ones, is pulling the information for an investor presentation together –

• ften at the last hurried minute.

Although a large organisation may have a dedicated Investor Relation team, they are usually run ofg their feet dealing with compliance and fjelding enquiries from shareholders, investors and anyone interested in the fjnances. In smaller organisations, this responsibility usually falls on the company secretary’s or CFO’s increasing workload. In either case, the information needed to create the presentation is usually rushed to those responsible at the very last minute. Information fmoods in from multiple sources, as those tasked with the job of pulling it together scramble to get something – anything – up in time to meet legal requirements. Everyone is doing the best they can, but the best is not usually enough. According to the 2016 KPMG report ‘Corporate reporting

• evolution and integration’,

Australia lags behind other countries when it comes to preparing and releasing well- informed corporate reports like investor presentations.

Leading academic Mary Barth from Stanford University recently found that good integrated reporting is positively associated with both stock liquidity and fjrm value.

UK companies, in particular, set precedence and prepare strategic reports, as well as a director’s report, to give their shareholders more up-to-date and forward-focused information. The same report states that places like the United Kingdom and New Zealand have adopted external reporting as part of corporate governance – so it won’t be long until Australia follows suit. So, given how stretched for time you are, we have compiled the following guidelines to help you prepare an investor presentation that is more informative, adds value and has a positive and strategic impact on your intended audience. Whilst we have focused on investor presentations there are many voluntary and regulatory reports that these guidelines will assist you with, such as:

• Sustainability reports
• Annual reports
• Industry regulator reports

Ready?

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WHAT TO INCLUDE

This message should be reinforced several times throughout the presentation so your audience is left in no doubt about what your key message is. Consider the benefjts of what you’re saying to your investors and shareholders. Does their opinion matter when it comes to a vote? Do you want them to align to your thinking? How clearly have you stated the future scenario that will secure their buy in?

Identify the right, compelling information and present it in the right

• rder, in a

compelling way.

Any presentation (or piece

• f communication) needs to

have a solid structure that is clear and easy to follow and

• understand. It needs to have

lots of signposts that lead your audience through. Your presentation must have a clear message, one point

• r big idea, and no more.

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• 1. Key Message

What is the overall point of your presentation? What’s the one thing you want your audience to remember?

• 2. Company Purpose

‘Why’ does your organisation do what it does?

• 3. Company Vision

What’s your company vision? Where are you going? (Not where are you now.) Sum it up in one sentence.

• 4. Company Strategy

How will you achieve your corporate ambition?

• 5. Business Model

How do you make money? Present this as a simple infographic or visual explanation of the various channels.

• 6. Financial Results

What key fjnancial performance and comparisons – quarterly, annually and projected – do you have?

• 7. Risk and Performance

What competition or external factors have contributed to positive and/

• r negative performance

recently? What future risks do you face?

• 8. Operations Review

How do you deliver your operations, safely and sustainably?

• 9. Market Overview

What factors are unique to your market? Include geographic, demographic and market size information relevant to your industry.

• 10. Current Focus

What’s your current focus based on the company’s vision and strategy?

• 11. Growth Opportunities

What are your strategic growth plans for the future? When, where and how will you implement them?

• 12. Summary

What are the key points you want your audience to take from this report? Summarise top-line information and again reinforce the overall point

• f your presentation.

i Company vision statement: Telstra

Purpose

Create a brilliant connected future for everyone Be a world-class technology company that empowers people to connect

• Deliver brilliant

customer experiences

• Drive value and growth

from the core

• Build growth in businesses

close to the core

Vision Strategy

A solid investor presentation

STRUCTURE:

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Cut

THE CLUTTER

What gets left out is as important (if not more important) as what goes in. Some companies are clearly better than others at informing their investors through presentations. Many believe that sharing everything and blinding their audience with numbers is the best way to be transparent and

• pen – that couldn’t be further

from the truth! This will only put the people you are trying to engage ofg, and make them lose interest faster. KPMG has identifjed three clear stages to compile successful corporate reports:

• 1. Remove the clutter/noise
• 2. Include insightful reporting

that focuses on value

• 3. Integrate reporting to

supporting information At Presentation Studio, we see a signifjcant trend in companies understanding the value of ‘removing the noise and clutter’ from their presentations to present clear and consistent messages. Your design must support the speaker. Don’t drown the audience in words and mixed messages. This is how you make the material useful, easy to read and understand as well as provide clear actionable insights that add value and impact.

Use simple language (no fjnancial

• r company

jargon) and infographics that visualise your key points and highlight the benefjts.

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Don’t avoid

THE NEGATIVE

It’s far too common to read in the media about a company in crisis for trying to fudge results or avoid responsibility for a bad situation. Don’t risk a PR scandal! It’s important not to try and hide or cover up negative information or numbers. Be future focused and take

• wnership of the problem.

Explain the steps you’re implementing to turn things around to minimise loss. Provide your shareholders and employees with confjdence and respect going forward.

“Businesses need to work harder to connect to people and be very clear about their purpose as a business. They need to have a well understood sense

• f purpose and to

be very transparent about how they contribute positively to the economy and society.“2

Brian Benari, Challenger

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THINK PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE,

not boring PowerPoint

The goal of your investor presentation is to accurately and professionally update your audience on the fjnancial position and strategic direction

• f your company. So you

want this to be a positive and memorable experience – for good reasons, not bad. Over 83% of human learning is visual.1 We learn to read and store long-term information in our brains through visual

• images. So if you want your

audience to retain your information, you have to learn to think visually. This also means happy shareholders and stakeholders. Content heavy presentations are confusing. There’s no point doing all the work

• n the words and numbers,

if you overcrowd your visuals with facts and stats, lots of words and dense text that is barely readable. Remember your presentation must be clear, easy and simple to follow and understand. Give your key messages priority on your slides.

A clear and easy to read layout means clear and easy to read results.

www.presentationstudio.com You need infographics to explain numbers, icons to create a visual connection for your audience and images that great an emotional connection. Not hundreds of noisy, crowded slides, squashed charts and data. You want your slides to look like a professionally laid-out magazine, and it must be on brand with the correct colours, font and image style. Finding good investor presentations that demonstrate how to do this is hard – which proves how many organisations are struggling with this. Most presentations online fail to represent the brand and of the

• rganisation they represent.

However, the following three examples are a standout job and set a good example to follow.

• Scentre Group
• PepsiCo
• Australia Post

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TIPS

Here’s how to put together an investor presentation and stand

• ut for the right reasons.
• 1. Follow a simple,

easy structure.

• 2. Use navigation points,

like a visual map, to highlight what areas you are talking about. 3. Avoid long-winded sentences of text. 4. Cut the clutter and reduce the amount

• f content.

5. Spread out your information over several slides. 6. Show relevant reporting cycles of comparative data.

• 7. Use timelines with icons,

infographics and videos that explain or demonstrate products or processes. 8. Consider options like live streaming to reach a wider audience and allow shareholders to view content when they like. 9. Present your presentation like a professional magazine that matches your brand. 10. Avoid rushing it – getting help from Presentation Studio will save you time, efgort and provide value in the long term.

Top 10

www.presentationstudio.com We specialise in writing and designing presentations that give you a competitive advantage. If you would like more information or support with your next presentation, reach out and say hello. www.presentationstudio.com hello@presentationstudio.com

Say hello to us!

Connect with

PRESENTATION STUDIO

www.presentationstudio.com Consider your investor

• presentation. How well does

it deliver your key messages and valuable insights for your shareholders? Print out this table and map

• ut where you sit right now,

then drop us a line to talk through areas you might like to improve. Basic Intermediate Professional World-class Key message Absent Mixed Few Singular Purpose Vision Strategy Business model Financial results Risk Operations Market overview Current focus Growth Summary

MEASURE UP?

How do you

www.presentationstudio.com i Reference: “Presenting Efgective Presentations with Visual Aids” by U.S. Department of Labor Chanticleer CEO Survey www.afr.com 10.12.16 www.aira.org.au www.asx.com.au/documents/rules/Chapterv03.pdf www.asic.gov.au/rgQ11 www.charteredaccountants.com.au