How to get client feedback on a pitch deck

An agency builds a pitch deck for a client’s funding round or a sales push. The first draft is 22 slides, and the client’s founder, head of sales, and CFO all have opinions. Feedback arrives on a call, in a Slack message about slide 9, and in a PowerPoint file where someone has typed notes in red on top of the slides. The agency spends the next morning working out which of those notes are final.

This guide covers the usual ways people collect notes on a deck, where they slow a project down, and how to run a review round in Fabric with a shared review copy, slide-level comments, and a published final version. It’s written for agencies and consultants, and it applies just as well to a founder gathering notes from advisors. Working with clients covers the wider relationship.

How people usually get feedback on a deck

The most common method is emailing the PPTX or a PDF export and asking for comments. It needs no setup. When three people review, three files come back, each with notes in a different style: PowerPoint comments, text boxes typed onto slides, or a list in the email body that refers to slides by number. If slides were reordered between drafts, “slide 9” may no longer mean the same slide.

Google Slides comments keep all reviewers in one file and many teams use them happily. Agencies working with clients outside Google sometimes find access requests and account issues delay the first round of notes.

A walkthrough call is good for direction and tone. The detailed notes still need writing down afterward, and small points like a wrong figure on a chart are easy to miss when several people are talking.

Step 1: Prepare a review copy and add it to the client’s space

Create a space for the client and a folder for the deck. Sharing the space means the client sees only that space.

Fabric handles PPT and PPTX files, and Google Slides through connections. For a review round, export a PDF of the deck as well and upload both. Commenters can highlight text in a PDF and comment on it, so a client can mark the exact headline or figure they want changed. For slides that are mostly visual, such as a product screenshot or a chart, exporting those slides as images lets the client draw on them and attach a comment to the drawing.

Put the client’s brief, last year’s deck, or any source numbers in the same folder. That helps in Step 4, when you check the revised deck against them.

Step 2: Share it with commenter permission

Click Share and give each reviewer the commenter role. Fabric’s roles and permissions let them mark up the review copy without changing the source file. External people can use shared links without signing up, so a client’s CFO can open the link and comment right away.

Pitch decks often contain unreleased numbers. On the Pro and Team plans you can add password protection by right-clicking the item or folder and choosing Add password protection. Access lasts 6 hours before the password is asked for again. There’s no reset, so save the password before you send it.

Step 3: Collect comments on specific slides

Reviewers highlight text on the PDF and add a comment, or draw on a slide image and attach a note. Each comment sits on the slide it’s about, so a reordered deck doesn’t scramble the references. The annotations page shows how highlights, drawings, and comments appear.

Ask the client to have all reviewers comment on the same copy rather than forwarding it internally. Replies thread under each comment, so the founder and the CFO can settle a disagreement about a revenue figure in one place, and you see the outcome.

Setting a deadline for the round helps. A message such as “comments by Thursday, then we’ll send v2 on Monday” gives the client a clear window.

Step 4: Revise the deck and mark each comment completed

Update the source PPTX, and mark each comment completed once the change is in. The comments then work like a checklist for the round. Upload the new review copy with the next version number so the client can compare. For a final check, open the folder and ask the AI assistant whether the revised deck covers every point in the brief. It’s limited to that folder, and it cites the files it drew from, so you can check its answer against the source.

Step 5: Send the final deck as a link

When the client approves, publish the deck as a link. Click Share, open the Publish tab, click Create link, name it, and choose whether to allow downloads. Downloads are available on every plan. If you update a figure later, editing the source in Fabric updates the published version.

If the client plans to send the deck to investors or prospects, they can create one published link per recipient, each with its own name, and turn on collect engagement analytics. Link analytics show visits per link with dates, location, and device, which needs a Pro or Team plan. How to know if an investor read your pitch deck walks through that setup.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best way to get feedback on a pitch deck from a client?

Share one review copy with all reviewers as commenters, so every note lands on the slide it’s about. Track changes by marking each comment completed.

Can clients comment directly on PowerPoint slides in Fabric?

Fabric stores PPT and PPTX files. For slide-level comments, upload a PDF export so reviewers can highlight and comment on text, or slide images so they can draw on them.

Do clients need a Fabric account to review a deck?

No. External people can use shared links without signing up.

How do I stop slide numbers getting mixed up between drafts?

Ask reviewers to comment on the slide itself rather than referring to it by number. Comments stay attached to the content, so reordering slides doesn’t break the references.

Can I keep a pitch deck confidential while the client reviews it?

Yes. Share it only with the reviewers who need it, give them the commenter role, and add password protection on the Pro or Team plan. Fabric’s privacy and security page covers how content stays private unless you share or publish it.

Can clients comment on a published deck link?

No. Published links are for viewing and optional download. Use a shared link with commenter permission for review.

Can the AI check whether the new deck matches the brief?

Yes. Keep the brief and the deck in one folder, open the AI assistant there, and ask. It answers from that folder and cites its sources.

Can I see who has opened the final pitch deck?

Create a separate named publish link for each recipient with engagement analytics on. Analytics show visits, dates, location, and device per link, on the Pro and Team plans.