Our client Sabrina asked us a question while we were working on her ROI presentation.
"How do I make sure the numbers don’t just look good but actually convince my audience?"
So, our Creative Director answered, "If you can’t connect the numbers to a real business impact, they’re just pretty digits on a slide."
As a presentation design agency, we work on many ROI presentations throughout the year, and we’ve observed a common challenge with them. People throw in charts, sprinkle some percentages, and call it a day. But here’s the truth: An ROI presentation isn’t about showing numbers. It’s about making people believe in them.
The Problem with Most ROI Presentations
Here’s the brutal truth. Most ROI presentations don’t actually prove ROI. They just dump numbers on a slide and expect people to be impressed.
We’ve seen it over and over again. A deck filled with charts, percentages, and some fancy revenue projections, and yet, by the end of it, half the room is checking their emails. Why? Because numbers, by themselves, don’t convince anyone. They’re just numbers.
The real issue? People forget that an ROI presentation isn’t about showing math. It’s about proving impact. Your audience doesn’t care that you cut costs by 30%. They care about what that 30% actually means for them. Will it make their team more efficient? Will it free up budget for bigger projects? Will it help them hit their targets without working 12-hour days?
If your slides aren’t answering these questions, then congratulations. You’ve just created another forgettable ROI presentation.
How to Make an ROI Presentation That Works
Build a Logical Flow That Guides Your Audience
An ROI presentation isn’t a random collection of data points. It’s a story—one that takes your audience from doubt to confidence. If they don’t follow your logic, they won’t buy into your numbers.
Think about the last time you saw a really persuasive argument. It wasn’t just a bunch of statistics thrown at you. It had a flow, a clear train of thought that made it impossible to disagree with. That’s exactly what your ROI presentation needs.
A good flow looks like this:
The Problem – Frame the issue in a way that makes it impossible to ignore.
The Stakes – Show what happens if they do nothing. Make the cost of inaction feel real.
The Solution – Introduce what you’re proposing and why it works.
The Proof – Use case studies, industry benchmarks, or pilot results to validate your solution.
The ROI – Now, bring in the numbers, but in a way that connects them to the decision-makers’ priorities.
The Call to Action – Make it clear what they need to do next.
This structure works because it does one simple but powerful thing—it leads your audience to one inevitable conclusion: investing in your solution is the right choice.
Start With the Problem, Not the Numbers
Most ROI presentations fail before they even begin because they start with a big number. Something like:
"Our solution delivers a 300% return on investment."
Sounds great, right? The problem is, your audience doesn’t care yet. Numbers, on their own, don’t create urgency. Problems do.
Before you show them how great your ROI is, you need to show them why they need it in the first place. That means leading with:
What’s broken? What inefficiencies, costs, or missed opportunities are hurting the business?
What’s at stake? What happens if they do nothing? Will they fall behind competitors? Lose money? Struggle to scale?
Why now? Why is this the right moment to fix the issue? What’s changed in the market, industry, or company that makes action necessary?
If you get this part right, your audience won’t just listen to your numbers—they’ll be looking for a reason to believe in them.
Make the Numbers Impossible to Ignore
Once you’ve built the case for why your audience should care, it’s time to show them how much it actually matters.
The problem? Too many people think ROI is just about throwing a big number on a slide. A percentage, a revenue projection, maybe a bar chart. But numbers, by themselves, don’t persuade anyone.
What makes numbers persuasive is context.
Here’s how to make your ROI numbers hit harder:
Use Comparisons That Matter – Saying “We saved the company $500,000” is fine, but saying “We reduced costs by 30%, which freed up enough budget to hire 10 new employees” is better. Numbers make sense when they’re tied to real-world outcomes.
Break Down the ROI – Don’t just present a lump sum. Show exactly where the return comes from—cost savings, revenue increases, efficiency gains, etc. If they understand the why behind the number, they’ll believe in it more.
Make It Personal – Decision-makers don’t care about abstract savings. They care about what it means for them. If your audience is the sales team, show how much more commission they’ll make. If it’s an operations leader, show how much efficiency they’ll gain.
Visualize the Data the Right Way – A wall of text with a percentage in the middle of it isn’t going to convince anyone. Use clear, simple charts that highlight the most important takeaways. No clutter, no unnecessary complexity—just the data that matters.
By the time you’re done, your audience shouldn’t just understand your numbers—they should feel them.
Address Doubts Before They’re Even Spoken
No matter how strong your numbers are, your audience will have doubts. Maybe they’ll wonder if your projections are too optimistic. Maybe they’ll question whether the same results would apply to their specific situation. If you wait for them to bring these concerns up, you’ve already lost control of the conversation.
The best ROI presentations anticipate objections and address them head-on.
Think about the questions they’re likely to have:
“Are these numbers realistic?” – Show conservative estimates and real-world examples. If you’re using projections, explain how they were calculated.
“Will this work for our industry/business model/team?” – Use case studies from similar companies or scenarios. If you don’t have an exact match, draw parallels that make it clear why the results still apply.
“What are the risks?” – Don’t avoid this question—own it. Every investment has risks, but if you acknowledge them and show how they’re mitigated, you build credibility.
If you address these doubts before they’re even raised, you take away the audience’s biggest reason to say no.
Don’t Just Show ROI—Make It a No-Brainer
Here’s where most presentations lose momentum. The ROI looks great, the data checks out, but the decision-makers are still hesitant. Why? Because justifying a decision is different from making one.
A good ROI presentation doesn’t just prove value—it removes every reason to say no.
How do you do that? By making the decision feel safe and logical:
Show the Cost of Inaction – Make it clear what they’re losing if they don’t act. Are they leaving money on the table? Falling behind competitors? Wasting resources? The cost of doing nothing should feel just as real as the ROI.
Highlight Quick Wins – If the full ROI takes months or years to realize, show what improvements they’ll see immediately. If they know they’ll see some results right away, they’ll feel more confident moving forward.
Make It Easy to Say Yes – Complicated proposals slow down decisions. If there are ways to start small, test the solution, or roll it out gradually, highlight those options. Make it as frictionless as possible.
If your audience walks away thinking, “This makes sense, and there’s no good reason not to do it,” you’ve won.
End With a Clear Next Step
An ROI presentation isn’t just an informational session. It’s a decision-making tool. And if your audience walks away impressed but uncertain about what to do next, you’ve failed.
The last part of your presentation should answer one question: What now?
Do they need to approve a budget? Sign off on a proposal? Bring in other stakeholders? Whatever it is, make it crystal clear. If they leave without knowing the exact next step, there’s a good chance nothing will happen.
Keep it simple, direct, and actionable. The best ROI presentations don’t just prove value. They get decisions made.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.