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Understand the human motivations behind groundbreaking business decisions with host Amy Keene.

Listen to The Closer, Cast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Sarah Green Carmichael. Today I'm talking with

Evan Barron, Evan Loomis, both successful entrepreneurs and co-authors of the new book Get Backed.

Evan and Evan, thank you so much for talking with us today.

Hey, great to be here.

Great to be here.

Thanks, Sarah.

So a big focus of the book is on building the perfect pitch deck, something that you guys

have really honed in your experience as entrepreneurs.

But not only are persuasive slide decks important to entrepreneurs looking for financial

backing, but more and more of us are having to use this medium to get our message across in all kinds of situations.

So I thought we could just start with what some of the essential components are of a persuasive

deck.

You know, there are some major components of any persuasive presentation

especially a fundraising presentation. When you first sit down with somebody

and you're articulating a new idea, it's like who are you and what are you doing?

Or kind of the resounding questions that are on the table.

And so right up front, to be very clear on what you're attempting to do

and who you are and why you're qualified.

A lot of times founders jump right into the problem or the amazing opportunity of the

solution right off the bat, but when you're meeting someone for the first time

...