How We Work with IR Teams on Their Highest-Stakes Presentations
Q1 went fast. If it felt like a doozy, you’re not alone.
For IR teams, it’s been heads-down through earnings while navigating what’s become the new normal: a volatile trade environment, AI noise from every direction, and a market that keeps testing your messaging. You’ve wrapped up the quarter and you’re already gearing up for the next one.
On our end, it was a busy quarter. We’ve been deep in the work with IR teams across investor days, earnings, and conference prep.
Every quarter, we swap our weekly IR article for a selfish one. Instead of sharing IR insights, we walk through how we actually work with IR teams on their investor presentations. If you’ve ever considered bringing in an IR presentation partner, here’s what that looks like.
Question 1: When do IROs typically bring in a firm like OUTKREATE?
A few common situations include:
- You’re preparing for an upcoming Investor Day and need a presentation that doesn’t just inform investors, but shifts perception and makes your company story stick.
- You’re new in your role, or there’s been a CEO or CFO change, and leadership wants more effective earnings storytelling along with upgraded presentation materials.
- Your general investor deck is showing its age. The equity story is not compelling. If it’s not helping you attract or convert new investors, it’s time to update and up-level it.
Across these situations, we help IROs craft investor presentations that land with clarity, conviction, and confidence. Our team of senior experts partners with you on both narrative development and visual design.
Question 2: Why not do it in-house? Why bring in an outside partner?
Having worked with multiple IR teams, including those at mid and large-cap companies with strong internal design resources, we’ve seen three key reasons they turn to us.
- Internal teams aren’t built for investor storytelling.
Internal design and comms teams excel at customer and employee messaging, but investor materials are different. They demand clear judgment, not just execution. You’re selling a thesis to a discerning audience. The story must be financially sharp, credible, and visually confident. This requires a hyper-focus on investor presentations, which is where we come in.
- It’s hard to find time for strategic work.
Much of the year is consumed by earnings prep, follow-ups, NDRs, conferences, and leadership requests, leaving little space to step back and refine the story. We bring expertise and speed so important initiatives like revamping investor materials actually move forward.
- For big moments, you need a true extension of your team.
Take Investor Days for example. They are complex and high-stakes. You already have a lot on your plate to get these events right. We take on the heavy lifting when it comes to the presentation work: story development, slide design, iterations, and coordination with internal leaders. You focus on the bigger picture. We focus on the deck. It’s an effective divide and conquer approach.
Question 3: What outcomes can we expect from working with you?
Here are a few recent projects that show the kind of outcomes we drive. Each one was a true partnership: we bring the presentation expertise, the IR team brings the business knowledge. The best results happen when both sides are fully in it.
- Campbell’s Investor Day: Built a consistent, confident story across multiple speakers for a large, comprehensive presentation. Campbell’s went on to win the IR Impact Award for Best Investor Event. Watch CIRO Rebecca Gardy share how we helped shape the deck. [Watch video]
- FICO Earnings Presentation: We transformed FICO’s earnings deck from a prepared-remarks companion into a standalone communication tool. The slides now carry the narrative. Prepared remarks were cut roughly in half, not because content was removed, but because the deck does the talking. [See before-after]
- Hershey at CAGNY ‘25: Helped Hershey’s leadership address commodity and tariff headwinds with clarity and transparency at a major investor conference. Instead of dodging tough questions, the presentation tackled them head-on. [View case study]
- Armstrong Investor Presentation: Sharpened the investor narrative and elevated the visual design of Armstrong’s general investor deck, turning a solid investment case into a more compelling one. [View case study]
- Sonoco Investor Day: Delivered end-to-end presentation development for Sonoco’s 2024 Investor Day: narrative, content, and a fresh visual identity across seven presenter sections. [View case study] [See before-after]
Question 4: What are your core services?
Three types of projects make up the bulk of our work:
We support the full arc from conception to delivery. That includes the agenda, key messages, content development, and the complete presentation design.
Here’s what we presented at NIRI ’25 on best-in-class Investor Day storytelling: Investor Day Framework
We bring a proven structure to shape your earnings story, simplify the message, and build a slide system that works quarter after quarter.
Useful resource: Earnings Presentation Framework
Used for NDRs, conferences, and general outreach. We sharpen the investment thesis, clarify the message, and elevate the slide design.
Useful resource: Investor Presentation Checklist
Question 5: What does the timeline and process look like?
Every client situation is different, but here’s what we typically recommend:
Investor Days:
Recommend kicking off presentation development 12 weeks before the event. This gives us the runway to enhance the story, enhance / develop content, design slides, and iterate across multiple presenters. We run Investor Day projects in three clear phases.
Earnings Presentations:
Start 5 to 6 weeks from your earnings date. The first half focuses on developing the outline and content. The second half is about designing a repeatable presentation system you can run each quarter.
Our recommendation: Best to connect and start right after you’ve wrapped up your current earnings. That gives us the full runway to build something strong before the next cycle.
Investor Overview / Conference Decks: Also 5 to 6 weeks. First half on content and narrative. Second half on design.
A note on planning ahead:
Our capacity is limited, and we work with a select number of IR teams at any given time. For Investor Days, we recommend reaching out at least 6 months in advance so we can block the right resources. For earnings and investor overview projects, the earlier you engage and block our bandwidth, the better positioned we are to deliver our best work.
Question 6: How are you using AI?
AI is changing how we work with IR teams. We use it to accelerate thinking, not replace judgment.
We use a variety of paid, professional AI tools, and we ensure your confidential information remains secured.
Research and synthesis
We use Claude and Gemini to analyze publicly available earnings materials, conference presentations, and podcast appearances to understand how leadership talks about the business in their own words. This helps us build messaging that feels authentic and aligned from day one.
Narrative and storytelling development
We use Claude to develop and pressure-test outlines, draft strawman slides, and create an initial version of the presentation that gives IROs something concrete to react to. It’s always better to refine a draft than start from a blank page. This approach speeds up brainstorming significantly, and we’ve found that IROs respond better when they’re reacting to a version rather than building from scratch.
Design
Our designers use AI responsibly and selectively. We use Gemini’s NanoBanana to build custom photography and visual assets that companies often lack. Designers also use AI to prototype layouts and quickly get up to speed on complex industry terms and business models.
Here’s what we don’t do.
- We don’t use AI with confidential or material non-public information.
- We don’t rely on AI for facts or data validation. We use it strictly for synthesis, structure, and narrative framing.
AI helps us get to smarter stories and engaging visuals faster while keeping trust and confidentiality non-negotiable.
Question 7: I want to learn more. What next?
Let’s talk. If you’d like a quick, informal review of your current investor materials, we can walk through what’s working, what’s not, and share a few quick wins.
Learn more about OUTKREATE’s Investor Relations Solutions
We help Investor Relations teams to ELEVATE presentations for any occasion – be it your Investor Day, General Overview, Quarterly Earnings, Investor Conferences, ESG Updates.
Thinking of UPGRADING your Investor Materials?
TALK THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION CHALLENGE
How does your Presentation measure up?
Do you have a major event or a high-stakes meeting coming up? Do you need a sharp narrative and bold design?
Let's connect and we can take a closer look at your presentations. We'll share with you actionable ideas along with real examples that you can apply to improve odds of success.