3 Principles to perfect your pitch
Gulf Blue Navigator Cohort member Grace Chia, from BeeX, making her demo day pitch
Over the years, we've helped hundreds of startup founders craft pitches to raise funds, attract partners, and win customers. We have discovered the three ingredients to help you craft a compelling and memorable pitch that wins people over – no matter your industry.
i. Every Good story has characters & an arc
Every story has a hero on a journey. We too often make ourselves the hero by talking too much about ourselves, our business, and our ideas. A great pitch makes your audience the hero.
Our collaborator, pitch coaching expert John Bates, says our job is to “Be Yoda to your listener’s Luke Skywalker.” When you make your audience the hero of their story and position yourself as the guide, they can better see their journey, feel understood, and recognize how your business or idea benefits them.
As you craft your story, consider the beats that make a great tale – the beginning, middle, and end. Help your audience feel the pain of the problem, show them how they can solve it (with your help), and help them imagine how victory feels.
II. Be RESPONSIBLE for Your Audience’s Understanding
There are three sides to every story - what's said, what's heard, and what's understood. If you've ever been in an argument with a loved one, you know the third thing is the only one that matters!
Instead of focusing on the content you want to share and hoping they get it, consider who your audience is and how to meet them where they are. Take time to understand why your audience showed up to hear your pitch and make it a conversation. This will help you translate your big ideas into a vision they can get excited about. Instead of defaulting to jargon and technical examples, meet your audience where they are by finding language that captures their imagination.
III. Stories are stickier than Numbers
People are hardwired for narrative. For most of human history, especially before written language, the only way for an idea to persist and spread was to make it memorable. But today, we default to convincing our audience with logic and numbers, hoping that will be enough. They are important but often not sticky enough to lodge in your audience's mind.
We work with many engineers and scientific founders who have spent decades on their research and idea. Like them, you too have spent sweat, tears, and blood to get to where you are. You already have credibility. You need to establish your “emotional credibility” by crafting and sharing your personal story. This turns numbers into images and connects statistics to emotions. In these stories, our founder clients share why they fell in love with their work and how it is connected with their purpose.
Explore why you do what you do, and weave your stories into your pitch. This will bring it to life and move your audiences in surprising ways.
Bonus: Create an unexpected moment
Our brains don't recall information linearly. If you want your pitch to really stick, work in a surprising moment. This gives your audience a cognitive shortcut to help them recall you and your talk.
If you’ve ever seen Jill Bolte Taylor’s 2008 TED Talk “My Stroke of Insight,” there’s a good chance the part you remember most is the moment she held up a real human brain on stage. We don’t necessarily recommend bringing body parts into your presentation, but a moment of audience participation, a playful prop, or a stunning visual might be the extra finishing touch you need.
Did you know pitch coaching is one of the core services we offer?
We’ve helped hundreds of founders develop strong pitches and stunning pitch decks. Contact us to schedule a call and discuss how we can help you level up your pitch.
