Have the perfect pitch!

1. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE AS INDIVIDUALS

⇒ Present yourself ⇒ Use storytelling to help them link your project to reality; ⇒ Get their attention: what’s the problem, how big is it, how can it be solved?

2. BE CREDIBLE

⇒ Use evidence: How can you solve the problem? What’s your plan to do it? Will your project to make money and how much? Who’s your competition? Why does your team have the right know-how to solve the problem?
⇒ Show that you know your business, your market, your technology, your competition and you have already thought about what could go wrong and how to avoid or solve it.
⇒ Prove that you will be the right team to bring this idea to the market and make money out of it.

3. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

⇒ Rehearse and prepare for Q&A
⇒ Keep your audience engaged with the audience as individuals: stop, ask questions, keep eye contact,
⇒ Note who’s nodding who’s resisting, be positive, clear and credible.
⇒ Prepare for Q&A think of tricky questions and your answers in advance.

4. CALL TO ACTION

⇒ Specify what do you want from them?
⇒ At the end of the pitch the audience needs to feel you’ve reached out to them: Ok I understand what you do, this looks interesting and professional, the team looks credible, I’m prepared to find out more and talk to them again if they call me, I might recommend them/ write about them/invest in this idea.

What are investors really looking for? List of must-haves to get investors’ confidence

⇒ Ability to recruit. This means that you’re managing your money well and that growth isn’t just a wish but an actionable goal
⇒ A skilled team. Possible investors will be asking you: “Are they good enough to become market leaders? Will this team’s soft and hard skills be enough to take this start-up to another level?” It’s crucial to highlight your team’s strengths as early and as well as possible.
⇒ Underlying market growth. Is this SME a game changer? Is it going to enhance its market? If you answer “Yes” to both questions, make sure investors know that!
⇒ A scalable business model. If your business has the potential to multiply revenue, expand to different markets or even travel to new locations, mention it and explain how!
⇒ A solid financial plan. You might have a great idea, but that’s not enough. You need a plan that includes fixed and variable costs, projection of profitability, key resources, and all other financial details that are important for potential investors. A financial plan will help you describe concretely how you will implement your vision and goals.
⇒ Long term value. Will the company’s health and well-being last in time? Don’t skip this step when talking to an investor and your company might just be the one they invest in

Prepare your pitch? Answer these 3 questions

The magic recipe to deliver a good pitch is to keep three questions in mind.

Keep your answers short and simple so that the messages are clear to your audience.

1. What are you selling?

⇒ Whoever is listening to you needs to understand, in a few seconds, what is your business and what you are selling?

⇒ Be straight forward and brief.

2. What are your customers?

⇒ Show that you have done proper research on your market. Who are you selling your product to? Why do they need this?

3. Why should they pay for it?

⇒ What need or problem are you solving by bringing your project on the market? If by now your audience is convinced…this will be the validation that your project is amazing.

How to take your pitch from good to amazing

⇒ If you’re making money, you should mention it! If you have investors among your audience, this is even more crucial! They need an answer to this question: is this worth investing in? Let the numbers speak by themselves. Use figures!

⇒ Accept that scripting the presentation doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes you should go with the flow and be genuine. Prepare yourself beforehand nevertheless (you can try practicing in front of other people before) and make sure you stick to your timeframe.

⇒ Engage with the audience. You want your audience to give you all the attention. Look at them. Ask questions, note who is resisting and look for nods when presenting an idea.

⇒ Use storytelling. If your product is too technical and there’s a high probability of being completely unknown to 99% of your audience, just tell a story. Puing products in real life situations helps to keep the audience engaged.

⇒ Prepare as much as you can for Q&A. Prepare for trick questions and enquiries for more information. If you don’t know the answer – don’t give a blurry response. Just let the audience know that you haven’t approached your work from that perspective.

⇒ Be clear, positive and credible.