pitching and presenting by michael ellenby
TRANSCRIPT
Pitching and Presenting
•You, Your Audience, Your Pitch
Michael Ellenby@michaelellenby
ABOUT TODAY
You
Your Audience
Your Pitch
WHY LEARN HOW TO PITCH?
A core skill. If you cannot pitch, you cannot sell
“Selling is the transfer of enthusiasm about your product from you to your audience”
You have to be selling all the time – customers, investors, employees
WHAT MAKES A GREAT PITCH?
• Passion • Commitment• Enthusiasm • Confidence • Knowledgeable • Professional • Articulate• Relevant • Call to Action
“You want people to believe you, and believe in you, so they will respond to your ask.”
YOU
Know yourself• Do you enjoy pitching?• Are you good at it?• How do you know?
Are you the best person to pitch?
93% of communication is non-verbal• Prof Mehrabian, 1971 “Silent Messages”
People remember how you made them feel• Body language, vocal variety, tone, eye contact,
movement. Don’t read notes, don’t hide behind podium
How do you want your audience to feel?
• Subjects were asked to listen to a recording of a woman's voice saying the word "maybe" three different ways to convey liking, neutrality, and disliking. They were also shown photos of the woman's face conveying the same three emotions. They were then asked to guess the emotions heard in the recorded voice, seen in the photos, and both together. The result? The subjects correctly identified the emotions 50 percent more often from the photos than from the voice.
• In the second study, subjects were asked to listen to nine recorded words, three meant to convey liking (honey, dear, thanks), three to convey neutrality (maybe, really, oh), and three to convey disliking (don't, brute, terrible). Each word was pronounced three different ways. When asked to guess the emotions being conveyed, it turned out that the subjects were more influenced by the tone of voice than by the words themselves.
BODY LANGUAGE
Shoulders back and down
Warm your voice up, breathe, stretch
Stand grounded
No caffeine!!!
BEING NERVOUS
Driven by your ego
Worrying about your reputation, what people think of you
BEING NERVOUS
Vision - Mission - Your “Why”
Actions
Reputation
Nervousness is just a form of energy
Use it to serve you, to present with passion, commitment and enthusiasm
YOUR AUDIENCE
Know the audience• Who are they? Why are they there?• Tailor your pitch to the audience
Investor pitch is very different to marketing pitch
• If it’s a small group, do your homework!• Tailor your Ask • Understand what they are looking for
Treat your audience respectfully & professionally
Be a good audience member as well
Note: investors watch your behavior very carefully. They are investing in you and your team, not your business plan. You are always on stage.
YOUR AUDIENCE
WIIFM
YOUR PITCH
“You want people to believe you, and believe in you, so they will respond to your ask”
When building your presentation, start with the end goal in mind
Know what you are talking about
Always have your 30 sec elevator pitch ready
YOUR PITCH
Start with your “Why”• Build a personal story - people buy from other people
• Build an emotional connection
• Build a compelling story arc
Then “How”, then “What”• Youtube “The Golden Circle”
Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more
BASIC PITCH STRUCTURE
Tell the audience what you are going to tell them
Tell them• 3 main points (each with 3 sub-points)
Tell them what you just told them
Never read your slides!
ON THE DAY
Be early, be prepared, start on time, end on time• Disaster will strike, have a fallback scenario
It’s all about the audience - WIIFM
Know your objective
WHAT MAKES A GREAT PITCH?
• Passion • Commitment• Enthusiasm • Confidence • Knowledgeable • Professional • Articulate• Relevant • Call to Action
“You want people to believe you, and believe in you, so they will respond to your ask.”
SUMMARY You • 97% of communication is non-verbal, shoulders down & back
• Don’t worry about your reputation, focus on Vision - Mission - “Why”
• Use nervous energy to serve you, and speak from the heart
Your audience• Know your audience! WIIFM
• Tailor the Ask to suit
• You are always on stage
Your pitch• Start with your “Why”, build a compelling story arc, and build a connection
• It’s never about you
• Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. Never read your slides!