The components of a great pitch

Every business needs a steady flow of new ideas to keep the market on their side. Now, you might think the goal is to up your sales by a full 100 percent—but if you fall short of delivering to your investors or managers, it all goes down the drain. With the current pandemic pushing business presentations to digital platforms, how can you come up with a successful pitch that has the same effect as the presentations you do in live conference meetings?

Clear vision

Before anything else, identify the problem you’re trying to solve. And is it even worth solving? Determining the problem at hand will aid you in seeing the bigger picture and knowing what you want to achieve. Understanding your target market and having comprehensive knowledge of the situation will lead to a more definite direction of your pitch.

Solid plan

Have a sturdy execution in mind. Relay concrete strategies, time tables and contingency plans to make sure your proposal is fool-proof. One thing to really work on when creating a pitch is to imagine all possible scenarios and come up with counter-solutions. Weigh out your options and propose exit strategies. See if they’re feasible given the business model you currently have and make sure you’ve covered all loopholes. You have to put your proposal in a position where your approvers will see its sustainability and longevity.

Presentation style

Add personality to your presentation as this will embody your enthusiasm for the work you put in. But although adding a lot of energy to the way you deliver pitch keeps your listeners’ attention, it’s also important to engage them. Reangle your pitch in such a way that it’s an engaging two-way conversation. Stimulating and getting reaction from your audience will break the tension and help everybody loosen up. However, you should go after a presentation style that matches the idea of your pitch and not just for the sake of putting up an animated talk.

Be visual

Let your investors see exactly what you’re talking about. It’s not enough to lead a full hour of speeches containing hard facts and numbers. Your audience will remember it better if they have  a mental picture of your points. Insert infographics, flow charts or graphs with only the main ideas per category.

One powerful picture already says a lot about your pitch so you can also try to utilize it. A psychological concept you can apply is the rule of three as people find it easier to commit an image to memory when it’s in a certain pattern. Remember to use the exact color, contrast and space to make sure that your deck is visually appealing and not overwhelming. 

The one-sentence pitch

How do you summarize your pitch if an investor asks you to explain it in one sentence? Capturing the essential parts of your proposal says a lot about how focused you are in terms of your plan. If you’re able to distill what your vision, actions and values are about, you’re already communicating the core essence of your pitch and capturing the interest of your market. A great pitch isn’t always about the long and intense propositions. Sometimes it’s the simple yet direct ones that get approved.

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Marian San Pedro: