Crafting a winning pitch deck for potential investors can be tough, and one the best tactics you can take is to seek out tips and guidance from seasoned entrepreneurs. Don't know any personally? Well, even looking at successful decks created by the pros can help you identify weaknesses and opportunities to improve your own presentation.

We came across two posts on Business Insider sharing excellent insights from Dwolla a few months ago (April 30 2013), and more recently ZenPayroll (Aug 30 2013). These decks highlight a number of technical and structural approaches that can help you turn your slides into a winning pitch deck. Aside from the obvious lessons learned, a few other qualities stand out:

Simplicity. Most of the slides in each deck have a sense of simplicity to them. An audience wants you to get the point, and you can't do it if your slides are encumbered by complicated visuals or exhaustive details. And when you do have to provide technical specs, do it tastefully and in digestible chunks. Keep it simple, get to the point, and move on.

Design. A boring, cookie-cutter slide template won't get the job done. If you can't take the time to brand your company, then the audience might call into question your ability to market the product effectively. A winning pitch deck should have an elegant design unique to your company profile.

Flow. Giving a presentation is like telling a story. If you lack smooth transitions from one idea/slide to the next, your audience could get confused or lose interest. Make sure you establish a flow, both in the slides and in your oral remarks, from start to finish.

Click below to take a look at the Dwolla and ZenPayroll decks. They might give you just what you need to craft a winning pitch deck.

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