Nearly every entrepreneur stumbles through their first few pitches \u2014 it’s a fact of life. Simply put, the process of\u00a0putting yourself in the spotlight and convincing an audience to believe in you can be incredibly difficult, and feel entirely unnatural.<\/p>\n
Over time, after you’ve\u00a0stumbled and\u00a0honed your skills, you’ll find that pitching becomes increasingly easier.<\/p>\n
Now, as a cheat sheet to help you even out the steep learning curve of pitching, take a look these seven bits of advice, all of which are written with first-time founders in mind.<\/p>\n
You may not know it, but you have a \u201cpitching voice\u201d that\u2019s different from how you normally speak. For some, this is great. For everyone else, you will likely sound un-conversational, condescending, or robotic. Recording your pitches can help.<\/p>\n
Are you alone in your living room pitching to a couch full of stuffed animals? I\u2019ve been there\u2026 but your stuffed animals won\u2019t give you the valuable feedback you need to refine your message.<\/p>\n
Nothing replaces practicing in front of real people. However, if you truly don\u2019t feel ready to present to friends and family, film yourself pitching with a phone or laptop. Your expressions and movements are just as important as what you say.<\/p>\n
Investors? Customers? These pitches should have different messaging. For example, depending on your product, you may have to dumb down your vocabulary for customers.<\/p>\n
Think: \u201cThis is what we do and why we do it.\u201d You don\u2019t need to explain every detail of your product at the beginning of your pitch. Just offer up enough details so your audience understands the basic concept. This early message prepares your audience for the rest of your speech.<\/p>\n
Also, there\u2019s nothing wrong with comparing yourself to a larger, more familiar company; it\u2019s okay to say, \u201cWe\u2019re the LinkedIn for teachers.\u201d But<\/strong> only do this with purpose. It\u2019s not worth mentioning competition that no one else has heard of before. You\u2019ll just give your competition free publicity.<\/p>\n Be specific. Walking through a case study can help. Using the \u201cLinkedIn for teachers\u201d example above, your case study might be a third grade teacher who needs help finding a job. What are their problems, and how does your idea solve their problems?<\/p>\n Prove you\u2019re the person to carry this forward and you\u2019ll execute this idea better than anyone else. Your professional and life experiences prove credibility. Also, show that you know your sector by answering these questions: What\u2019s the size of your opportunity? What are the metrics that prove your product will stand out in your space?<\/p>\n This is an error I see all the time. Entrepreneurs often mistakenly diminish the value of their idea by taking up their pitch time to explain the problem. Remember: People care most about your solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nearly every entrepreneur stumbles through their first few pitches \u2014 it’s a fact of life. Simply put, the process of\u00a0putting yourself in the spotlight and convincing an audience to believe in you can be incredibly difficult, and feel entirely unnatural. Over time, after you’ve\u00a0stumbled and\u00a0honed your skills, you’ll find that pitching becomes increasingly easier. Now, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":922,"featured_media":33522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-single-archived.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDefine your customer<\/h3>\n
Make yourself credible<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t over explain the problem<\/h3>\n