I bet a spend somewhere between 5 to 10% of my time listening to entrepreneurs give pitches, helping entrepreneurs create pitches, or providing suggestions for improvements to pitches.  More often then not I point entrepreneurs to online resources such as the ATDC presentation template or a presentation that I gave at CapVenure on "Communicating With Investors" that made its way onto the Peachseedz Library.   And of course Guy's infamous 10/20/30 Rule of Powerpoint is a mainstay as well.  But yesterday Paul Freet pointed to this fantastic presentation by Canaan Partners called the "Entrepreneur Pitch Workbook" that instantly became a favorite. 

The structure of the pitch section on slides 5 through 11 is a most excellent explanation of the key elements needed in any pitch. Very
specifically follow slide 7.  By the time you are finished with the intro slide everyone in the room should know the basic idea and the value proposition of what your company is doing.  And at the end, the presentation has a nice summary slide of the structure before closing with a billboard slide with contact information.  If you are pitching you want such a billboard up on the screen during Q&A.

An entrepreneur that follows Guy's simpe rules coupled with the objectives based structure laid out by Canaan will be well prepared for a successful pitch.