Business · Fundraising & communication
The Best Prompt for a Pitch Deck
The best prompt for a pitch deck makes the model build an argument before it builds slides. This one asks for the story in five sentences, then an outline where each slide has a headline that states a claim, the evidence from your inputs that supports it, a suggested visual and a speaker note. Missing proof is marked rather than made up, and the reply closes with the hard questions the audience is likely to raise.
Pitch Deck Outline Prompt
Produces a slide-by-slide deck outline with a one-sentence claim per slide, the proof behind it, and the questions your audience is likely to ask.
- Works with
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Complexity
- Multi-part reply
- Variables
- 7
- Version
- 1.0
Customize this prompt
Fill in what you know. Anything left blank stays as a [bracketed placeholder]. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
7 variables · fields marked * matter most
# Role You coach founders on fundraising and partnership pitches. You have sat on the receiving side of many decks and you know that the audience skims: each slide gets a few seconds to make one point. # The company - Company and what it does: [Company and what it does] - Problem and solution: [Problem and solution] - Traction and proof so far: [Traction and proof so far] - Team: [Team] - What we are asking for: [What you are asking for] - Audience: [Audience] - Slide limit: [Slide limit] # Step 1: The argument Before any slides, write the pitch as five sentences: the problem, why now, what we do, why us, what we want. If one of those sentences cannot be written from my inputs, say which one and why. # Step 2: The outline Build a deck within the slide limit. Choose the slide order that suits this company's strongest material; if traction is the best asset, bring it forward. For each slide give: - Headline: a complete sentence stating the point of the slide, not a label. 'Studios lose a day a week to scheduling' rather than 'Problem'. - On the slide: at most three short bullets or one number. - Proof: the specific input this slide relies on. - Visual: one suggestion (chart type, screenshot, diagram, photo) and what it should show. - Speaker note: two sentences on what to say aloud that is not on the slide. # Step 3: Pressure test - The eight questions this audience is most likely to ask, hardest first, with a note on which ones my inputs can already answer. - The weakest slide in the deck and what evidence would fix it. # Rules - Use only the facts and figures I gave you. Never invent metrics, customer names, market sizes, growth rates, partnerships or credentials. - Where a slide needs proof I have not supplied, write [MISSING: what is needed] in the Proof line. Do not fill it with an estimate. - No superlatives or buzzwords. If a claim would not survive the question 'how do you know?', cut it or mark it. - One idea per slide. If a slide needs more than three bullets, split it or trim it. - Do not write financial projections. Describe what the financial slide should contain and which of my figures feed it. # Output format Step 1 as a numbered list. Step 2 as numbered slides using the five labels above. Step 3 as two short lists. Nothing else.
Use it when you are
- Outlining a seed or pre-seed investor deck before opening slide software
- Restructuring an existing deck whose slides are labels with bullet lists underneath
- Preparing a pitch for a partnership, accelerator application or demo day
- Rehearsing for investor questions by seeing which ones your material cannot answer yet
Why this prompt works
Five sentences first
If the pitch cannot be said in five sentences, slides will not rescue it. Step 1 forces the argument into the open and tells the model to report which sentence it could not write from your inputs. That is often the most useful line in the reply, because it names the hole in the story.
Headlines that make a claim
A slide titled 'Market' makes the reader do the work. Requiring a full-sentence headline, with an example of the difference, means someone flipping through the deck without you in the room can follow the argument from headlines alone, which is how many decks are first read.
A Proof line on every slide
Each slide has to name the input it rests on. When there is none, the model writes [MISSING] with a description of what is needed. This blocks the most damaging failure in AI-written decks, an invented growth figure or customer name, and shows you where the deck is thin.
Order follows your strongest material
There is no single correct slide order. The prompt lets the model lead with traction, team or problem depending on what you supplied, which avoids a template deck that buries your best evidence on slide nine. The slide limit still applies, so the model has to choose what to leave out.
It ends with the questions
Pitches are won or lost in the discussion after the slides. Listing likely questions hardest first, and noting which ones your inputs already answer, gives you a preparation list and a preview of where the audience will push. The weakest-slide note points to the fix that matters most.
How to use it
- Write traction as plain figures with dates, including losses such as churned customers. Leave nothing vague that you would have to defend in the room.
- State the ask precisely: the amount or commitment and what it pays for.
- Pick the audience and slide limit, then run the prompt in a new conversation.
- Check the five-sentence argument before reading the slides. If it is wrong, correct it and ask for the outline to be rebuilt.
- Collect the [MISSING] items and decide for each one whether to find the evidence or cut the slide.
- Build the slides yourself in your presentation tool and rehearse answers to the question list aloud.
AI model compatibility
| Model | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Expected to work | No model-specific adjustment needed. Paste the prompt as written. |
| Claude | Expected to work | If you paste an existing deck's text for restructuring, put it inside <current_deck> tags below the company section so it is treated as material to rework, not as instructions. |
| Gemini | Expected to work | Google's prompting guidance favors a stated output format. Keep the five slide labels exactly as written so every slide comes back in the same shape. |
“Expected to work” means the prompt uses plain, model-independent structure and has been reviewed for that — not that it has been run on that model. A model is marked Tested only when a test record is published below.
Worked example
Scenario: A two-founder software company preparing a first investor deck. The company and figures are invented for illustration.
# Role You coach founders on fundraising and partnership pitches. You have sat on the receiving side of many decks and you know that the audience skims: each slide gets a few seconds to make one point. # The company - Company and what it does: Tallyroom, scheduling and payments software for independent fitness studios - Problem and solution: Owners of small studios use separate tools for class booking, payments and waitlists and reconcile them by hand. Tallyroom combines the three at a flat monthly price per location. - Traction and proof so far: 40 paying studios nine months after launch; two studios have cancelled; a signed pilot with a regional franchise group covering five locations - Team: Two founders: one ran a pilates studio for six years, the other is an engineer who previously worked on payment systems - What we are asking for: 600,000 pre-seed round to hire two engineers and reach 200 paying studios - Audience: Seed-stage venture investors - Slide limit: 10 slides # Step 1: The argument Before any slides, write the pitch as five sentences: the problem, why now, what we do, why us, what we want. If one of those sentences cannot be written from my inputs, say which one and why. # Step 2: The outline Build a deck within the slide limit. Choose the slide order that suits this company's strongest material; if traction is the best asset, bring it forward. For each slide give: - Headline: a complete sentence stating the point of the slide, not a label. 'Studios lose a day a week to scheduling' rather than 'Problem'. - On the slide: at most three short bullets or one number. - Proof: the specific input this slide relies on. - Visual: one suggestion (chart type, screenshot, diagram, photo) and what it should show. - Speaker note: two sentences on what to say aloud that is not on the slide. # Step 3: Pressure test - The eight questions this audience is most likely to ask, hardest first, with a note on which ones my inputs can already answer. - The weakest slide in the deck and what evidence would fix it. # Rules - Use only the facts and figures I gave you. Never invent metrics, customer names, market sizes, growth rates, partnerships or credentials. - Where a slide needs proof I have not supplied, write [MISSING: what is needed] in the Proof line. Do not fill it with an estimate. - No superlatives or buzzwords. If a claim would not survive the question 'how do you know?', cut it or mark it. - One idea per slide. If a slide needs more than three bullets, split it or trim it. - Do not write financial projections. Describe what the financial slide should contain and which of my figures feed it. # Output format Step 1 as a numbered list. Step 2 as numbered slides using the five labels above. Step 3 as two short lists. Nothing else.
What a good response should contain
- A five-sentence argument, with the 'why now' sentence flagged as unsupported because no timing evidence was given
- Ten slides with full-sentence headlines, each carrying a Proof line that cites the 40 studios, the pilot or the founders' backgrounds
- A market slide whose Proof line reads [MISSING] and describes the sizing evidence needed, with no figure supplied
- A financial slide described in terms of what it should show, without projections
- A question list that opens with challenges on the two cancellations, market size and how new studios are acquired
This is an illustrative scenario showing how to fill in the prompt and what to look for. It is not a recorded model output. Recorded outputs will be published here once this prompt has a test record.
Testing and editorial review
Status: Untested. Reviewed for structure and clarity by the editorial team. No recorded model test yet.
No test record has been published for this prompt yet. When it is tested, this section will show the model and version, the date, the inputs, the actual output and notes against our seven-point rubric. We do not publish numerical scores.
| Author | TheBestPromptFor Editorial Team — The editorial team writes, reviews and maintains the prompts and guides on TheBestPromptFor. Prompts are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed against published editorial standards. |
|---|---|
| Published | November 15, 2026 |
| Last reviewed | November 15, 2026 |
| Last tested | Not yet tested |
| Version history |
|
Limitations and things to check
- The output is an outline, not designed slides. Layout, charts and visual polish are still your work.
- The model does not know what a particular investor or panel expects. Check any submission guidelines and adjust the slide list.
- A persuasive structure cannot compensate for missing traction. Expect [MISSING] items if the business is early.
- Statements to investors can carry legal weight. Verify every figure in the final deck and take advice on financial or forward-looking claims.
Alternative prompts
Business
Business Plan Draft Prompt
Turns your idea, customer and known numbers into a structured plan draft, with every unverified figure flagged instead of invented.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
Business
Competitor Analysis Prompt (From Your Own Research)
Organizes the competitor information you have collected into a comparison, a positioning read and a list of what you still need to find out.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
Marketing
Product Launch Plan Prompt
A two-turn prompt: the model asks its key questions, then builds a launch plan with a message, dated timeline, readiness check, metrics and risks.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
Content Writing
Conversion Copywriting Prompt
Works out what a page must make the reader believe, then writes the copy in that order using only the proof you supply.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
Related resources
Guide
How to Write a Good AI Prompt
The five parts of a complete prompt (goal, context, task, constraints, output format), with a worked rewrite and a pre-send checklist.
Guide
How to Improve AI Responses
A diagnostic approach to weak AI answers: name the fault, trace it to the gap in your prompt, then follow up precisely or rewrite and start again.
Frequently asked questions
How many slides should a pitch deck have?
There is no fixed rule, and audiences differ. The prompt offers limits between eight and fifteen because a constraint forces choices about what matters. If you are submitting to an accelerator or fund that publishes a format, use their number and tell the model which slides are mandatory.
Why doesn't the prompt write my financial projections?
Projections depend on assumptions about pricing, costs and growth that only you can justify, and a model will produce plausible numbers with nothing behind them. The prompt describes what the financial slide should show and which of your figures feed it, leaving the model to you.
Can I use this to improve a deck I already have?
Yes. Paste the text of your current slides beneath the company section and add a line asking the model to restructure it under the same rules. The headline and Proof requirements will show which existing slides are labels without a claim or claims without evidence.
Sources and references
- Prompt design strategies — Google AI for Developers
- Prompt engineering overview — Anthropic
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