Lucero Tagle is the co-founder of Pitch Ninjas, an on demand communication coaching platform using one-on-one communication coaching alongside AI and video recording software to help you become a more effective communicator. Lucero completed a Hatch Launchpad programme in 2021.
Pitching your business is a vital skill for any founder and for some the prospect can be a little daunting. The good news is that this is completely normal, and with these top tips from expert Lucero Tagle you’ll be feeling confident and ready to wow investors, customers, and new audiences alike. If your pitch could do with some refining, we have all the resources you need.
What's the Story?
Your story is your superpower. Why did you start the business? What is your personal connection to the problem you’re solving? What makes you so passionate about this area? The personal connection is what will make you stand out, so don’t shy away from weaving your personal experiences into the narrative. By putting storytelling at the centre of your pitch you create a much more compelling package for those you are pitching to.
Your personal experiences can make your pitch so much more relatable, and will resonate more strongly with the people you’re pitching to than your business plan alone.
Know your Audience
Pitches can come in many shapes and forms and you will need a slightly different approach to each. Whether it is the demo day at the end of a programme, or a direct pitch for investment, knowing your audience will enable you to ensure your pitch is ticking the right boxes.
Do your research beforehand and use context clues if you need. For example a three minute pitch to an audience will need to be direct, one-sided, and concise with limited jargon, whereas a 15 minute pitch to a panel of three investors is likely to be more of a conversation and you will need to be prepared to go into more detail and back up any data or claims that you present.
If you are able to get information on who exactly you will be pitching to you can be prepared to answer questions relating to their specific fields of interest and tailor your pitch accordingly.
What's in a Deck?
Pitch decks are crucial to doing your business justice during a pitch, and finding the balance between too much information and not enough can be a hard sweet spot to find. A good pitch deck should be concise, visual, and professional. Attention spans are limited and you don’t want the audience to be reading off slides rather than listening to you: pitch decks should support your pitch, not run the show.
You can use online templates to put together a strong pitch deck, and be sure to leverage all the tools at your disposal including AI.
Don’t be shy about getting as many eyes on your deck as possible – a great method to prepare for your pitch is going through it with a child and seeing if they find it easy to understand. It should be easy for anyone to come away with a clear idea of what your business is without any prior knowledge.
Timing is Everything
Whatever the scenario, there will be a time slot for your pitch, and it is important to use this time wisely. It is quite common when pitching to want to spend a lot of time exploring the problem you are addressing, setting up the context for your business and why it exists.
While this is something you want to address, it should not take up the majority of your pitching time. The solution and your product or service is what investors are really interested in, and things relating to the here and now: your business model, your income streams, your go to market.
There is obviously a lot to balance to ensure you give each section fair coverage, and the key to this is practice. Once you have a structure whereby each slide gets a set amount of time it becomes easy to get into a good rhythm, and the more you practise the more natural this will become.
The Q&A
This can be the most nerve-wracking part of any pitch because it is not something you can ever completely prepare for, but you also don’t need to go in completely blind and there are a few responses you can have prepared for tricky questions.
The first step is to be as prepared as you possibly can – make sure you know your business inside out and that you know the relevant data and figures.
Consider your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis beforehand as the questions you are asked may draw on the weaknesses and threats identified.
Lucero suggests having a live document where you crowdsource common questions in pitches, either from friends, fellow founders, or the internet. This can give you a sense of what to expect and how to prepare.
Finally if you do get a question you can’t answer, don’t panic! Investors and judges will be able to see straight through any bluster so don’t try to make up an answer on the spot.
A good response to something like this is: “thank you so much for that question. I’d appreciate it if we can take it offline because I’ve got some thoughts around it and some things that I want to dig into before I answer that question.”
You're Ready
Now you have the blueprint of a perfect pitch all there is to do is get out there and practice! The more you get the chance to do your pitch, the more natural it will become and the stronger it will be. Being able to convey a concept or idea in a concise, accessible, and impactful way is a real skill and once you master it there will be no stopping you.
For more support you can reach out to Lucero at Pitch Ninjas, or apply for a 1:1 Consultation with one of our expert partners. Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter and community platform to be the first to hear about upcoming pitching competitions.
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